During my training rides at Prospect and Central park this weekend, I felt strains on my neck and lower back but not due to an injury. The aero position engaged different muscles and need to put more time to allow my body to adapt. This is when “specificity of training” comes into play.

So is riding aero faster? Yes, noticeably so! While I couldn’t maintain the aero position for a full lap, based on anecdotal evidence I was averaging around 19-21 mph on the flats  as opposed to the usual 16-18 mph with equal amount of effort. I’ll look more into the data this upcoming few weeks and see what gains I’m getting.

One thing that came as a surprise is bike handling. The bike is snappy and finicky with every movement. It’s harder to maintain a straight line and takes some effort on stabilizing yourself. With due time I think this can easily be learned but until then watch out for the erratic cyclist.

There’s an adjustment period to riding aero. How long? I don’t know but I know it will be a fun process!