Bike session: how to get better at riding aero
Now is the ideal time to get out on the race bike and practise going aero. Here’s the how and why
If you’ve spent the winter months just riding your road bike without even touching your tri rig or spending time on the aerobars then you’re leaving a lot of free speed on the road.
How to improve your aero bike position… off the bike at home
Riding aero: how to improve your aerodynamics on the bike leg
How to get more comfortable in the aero position on the bike
This is because your body accounts for 80% of drag, so if you have great fitness but a really bad aero position then you’re wasting a lot of free speed. The lower you can get your drag coefficient then the faster you’re going to go when it really matters – on race day.
So for this workout we’re looking at doing small blocks on the aerobars while building your fitness. The idea behind the workout is that you’ll start to build the drills up each week so you can eventually sustain one complete block of 18mins without recovery.
To get fast at cycling, your ultimate aim is to optimise speed/power and aerodynamics – that’s how you’ll conserve energy for the run on race day and what I always do with every athlete I coach
THE SESSION
WARM-UP
8mins easy @90-100rpm
MAIN SET
6 x 3mins moderate
Focus on holding your head and shoulder position, keep the cadence @80-90rpm
3mins easy recovery between sets, cadence 90-100rpm
COOL-DOWN
10mins easy, @90-100rpm
Adapt for beginners
If you’ve never used tri-bars before then stay on the turbo trainer. Once you’ve built confidence then get out on the
open road.
Adapt for Ironman
Repeat the session twice and once you’ve mastered the 3mins, increase to 4mins and reduce the recovery period between efforts.
220 Triathlon Team
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