Early this week the Russian installed his old aero bars on my bike (In addition to being a professor at a prestigious university, my personal chef and my sherpa, he is also my bike mechanic). We (meaning the Russian and I somewhat) thought it would be a good idea for me to learn how to use aero bars before Pumpkinman. I hear 56 miles goes by much faster when you're traveling at higher than 13 mph (my normal speed).
In case you were wondering, this is what scary looks like from the top:
Of course I am excited about the prospect of learning to ride on them - I do think that they will improve my speed (they better!). Though I will look even more like a poser (The Russian's word) than I already do, I hope to get some benefit out of them in my races this season. [BTW if you don't know what a poser is I may be too old to be your friend.]
Tomorrow we are going on our first jaunt with these things attached.
Reasons for terror:
- If you know me, you know I can barely ride a bike as it is. Ask The Noggin ("Mommy, you fall down?").
- I have been known to freeze when confronted with unexpected (for me) events on the bike. For example, I kicked the chain on an uphill on my last ride and despite The Russian yelling repeatedly "Unclip, unclip!" I did not and ended up taking a nasty slow-mo fall into a ditch head first - see the above question from the Noggin. One can only imagine what the wobbly aero position will do for my bike handling skills.
- This will be the first time for me outdoors in months (I am a self-admitted chicken and will not ride by myself around traffic, bad roads or really in any conditions). Of course it would be worst to try it next week during my first tri in four years...
*Update-7/9/2012 * I lived, but just barely. Those things are nerve-wracking!
No comments:
Post a Comment