Getting the hang of it

Today when I took my tribike out for my Thursday easy ride, I rode it almost as well as I ride my roadbike. I barely even gave it much thought. I rode a little slower in traffic than I do on my roadbike, but it was faster than I have been riding, and I felt really comfortable. Once I got clear of the traffic lights, I got into the aerobars and pretty much stayed there for about 20 minutes until I turned around - downhill, uphill, and even a couple of wide curves. After I turned around, I got back into aero until I got back to town. What really made me happy is that I was able to go over 18 mph and I was able to spin around 80 rpm while in aero. Wohoo! Speed and spin have been the two things that have been giving me a hard time riding aero. For awhile, it's felt like I've been going so much faster in aero than I actually was, and higher spin makes me swerve all over the place. I still have some room for improvement on both the spin and the speed, but it's getting closer to what I do on my roadbike. My control in the aerobars is almost exponentially better than it was last week. I guess the weeks of riding around the neighborhood everyday for additional practice have finally paid off.

I had decided last week that I was getting comfortable enough on the tribike that last Sunday would be my last long ride on my roadbike for awhile. After today's ride, I feel really good about that decision. I really love the bike - it's so light that once I'm on open road I pretty much live in the big chain ring, and it's such a smooth ride. I have still decided to ride my roadbike for the tri this Saturday. It's only a 10 mile bike and the course is flat and fast. It's made for a tribike but I'm still not as fast on the tribike as I want to go for this race. I rode this course last August averaging 19.41 mph and I'm riding much better now than I was then. I'm hoping to go above 20 mph for the race, but after Saturday I'm retiring the roadbike for awhile.