32 48 Hours
The joys and pains of getting aero
The prime road routes and trails of Ontario’s Peterborough and the Kawarthas
Iwas 10 km into my first ever time trial race. My heart rate had been climbing and my shoulders and forearms were killing me as I did my best to stay in the aero tuck as I climbed up a hill. There were still 5 km to go and the Garmin put my average speed at 40 km/h. With the downhill behind me, I was going to have to suck it up and dig deep to maintain my pace. I had only two thoughts: “Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” and “I’m loving it!” How did I end up here? Health reasons. Let me explain: like all bike racers, I have a painful condition known as, “acquire-itis.” This fiscally debilitating condition afflicts me upon entering bike shops, browsing cycling websites or watching cycling on TV. This past winter as I suffered through a miserable two months on the trainer my acquire-itis flared up. Fortunately, there was a cure: something to take away the pain. And no, a new carbon stem or aero bar or pair of sunglasses wouldn’t do. This was a serious case of acquire-itis, and the only cure was a new bike.
But what bike to buy? Being already in possession of two race bikes, one city bike, one cyclocross bike, one track bike, and one mountain bike (relegated, of course, to the back of the garage – I’m a roadie!), there was only one natural choice: a time trial bike. The realities that I had not ever ridden in aero bars nor gone to compete in a TT had little effect on my decision. I was going to buy a TT bike. Oh, and the helmet too (naturally). Just a few months later my matte black bike arrived at the shop, looking lethal and ready to be ridden at Tony Martin-like speeds. The road was my oyster – at least as soon as the snow melted. Six months later, I had completed my first race and have learned a lot about this very different cycling discipline. Having raced road, ’cross, track and now TTS, I have to say this type of riding and racing is truly unique. It starts with the bike. Riding a TT bike is not comfortable. When I got the bike fit (which takes a long time), I was told to not expect to be comfortable. “You need to get ready to suffer,” said the fitter, and he wasn’t talking about the wattage. Riding aero means you are putting your weight on your forearms and absorbing all the road chatter as your elbows aren’t able to cushion you. It took me more than 400 km of riding the bike to get to the point where I could do a full hour in aero.
“You will never do a coffee shop ride on this bike.”
My body was also not used to pedalling in the aero position. On a good day, I can generate 300 watts for a 20-minute effort on my road bike, but when I started to ride the TT bike I literally couldn’t get more than 200 watts at all. I was trying to turn the pedals but my muscles simply didn’t know what to do. Gradually, I got more used to it, but my upper-end power never meshed with my road bike abilities. And there are some things that never got comfortable. You will never do a coffee shop ride on this bike. The hoods do not exist. The brakes suck. Climbing is also an exercise in misery. Ever wonder why the pros ride their road bikes in uphill TTS? You never want to stand and wrestle a TT bike up an incline. You also don’t want to go downhill fast on it either. Descending in aero feels like you are one rock away from flying forward over your handlebars. And the drops aren’t much better – they lack any sort of brake hoods that you could brace against. Despite all these differences, the TT bike has one incredible thing going for it: speed. When you are in the aero tuck the bike just accelerates like crazy and maintains speed with ease. Riding at 40 km/h on a flat is, while not easy, not difficult. And when you find a long stretch of highway at -2 per cent, it’s like you’re in paradise. If you’re thinking about getting a TT bike, my advice is to borrow someone’s and try it for a while. You’ll get a sense of the pros and cons of this totally different type of riding. When your aquire-itis starts acting up, you can decide whether a TT bike is the way to cure it.