Just wanted to see if anyone else trains “heavy” and races lite? I picked up my son the other day on my TT bike and rode about 12 miles to get him (empty trailer), and 12 back (him in it = +22lbs). My average speed was down for the ride (as expected) but I found it to be an awesome training tool. I must have looked pretty crazy in my aero position pulling a Burley behind me. Oh well, it was fun and my son loved it, THAT is what counts!
Just tighten your brakes a bit, or if you have a rear cutout make it a little two tight;) As good as a trailer but waaaay lighter;)
I have a buddy who does hill climbs with sand in his bottles, seriously…
people ask me why i carry 4 waterbottles on my bike…it’s training…on race day there is one (max 2 @ IM).
it’s mostly mental…but does make a difference.
When my boys were young enough to fit in a trailer we went for rides “To get icecream”. The icecream store happened to be in the next town. lol I got a great workout, the boys had a blast & Mom got a break. Everybody won.
Interesting note though, the trailer & the weight took time to get up to speed but once there it was surprisingly fast. The difference came when there was the slightest of an incline. At that time, I wanted a triple in a bad way.
Have fun with your son 
Ulrich is said to train with a water bottle or two full of lead pellets.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…we can all say he needs to lose wait, yada, yada, yada…that’s still pretty hard core in my book.
Sounds cool. I’m working on a trailer myself. While I don’t think I’d hook it to Svetlana (my Talon SL tri bike)…the road bike is screaming for company like that. There is a hill here on Quantico Marine Corps Base between my house and the commissary that has a 15+ percent grade on parts of it…I’ll be glad I have the compact cranks at that point with a trailer behind me.
Firend of mine spent a month riding around New Zealand on his Softride. Pulled a trailer full of all his gear the whole time. He said some of the descents were insane. Came back in the spring, didn’t ride much at all the rest of the year except for races and still had some pretty good bike split that summer.