Ironman
Well, I don't know what to say, other than I exercised pretty much continuously for a little more than eleven and a half hours this past sunday.
It went as well as I think it could have gone - I mean I finished the thing - though, I reckon the marathon portion could have been a bit better! Weather was perfect, and the day was fast.
More details on my day later, but here's a quick photo for your consideration:
this is a comparison of the positions of the guy who posted the fastest bike split of the day, and myself. hey, do I get style points for having a sweet roadie/farmer tan!? LOL! ;-)
The guy on the left, Jordan Rapp, is a member of the BTR forum and he has a big motor, I'll say! Nice work, Jordan! I wonder how much faster he could go on the same watts if he tried something different? That would be an interesting exercise.
Another quick observation on long course triathlon from my perspective, is that I don't think power in the aero position is a limiter -> most of these guys (me included) go really easy on the bike portion, and I believe it comes down to experimenting with a couple points when working on a tri position...
1) being able to sit square on the saddle in your aerodynamic position for the duration of the effort without adverse consequences
2) satisfying #1 above, find the fastest position/setup for your targetted effort
I don't think supply side issues are a real limiter/constraint from a practical perspective.
That's just my opinion, though! :-)
What's everyone else think about how one ought to go about setting up their long-course triathlon bike?
It went as well as I think it could have gone - I mean I finished the thing - though, I reckon the marathon portion could have been a bit better! Weather was perfect, and the day was fast.
More details on my day later, but here's a quick photo for your consideration:
this is a comparison of the positions of the guy who posted the fastest bike split of the day, and myself. hey, do I get style points for having a sweet roadie/farmer tan!? LOL! ;-)
The guy on the left, Jordan Rapp, is a member of the BTR forum and he has a big motor, I'll say! Nice work, Jordan! I wonder how much faster he could go on the same watts if he tried something different? That would be an interesting exercise.
Another quick observation on long course triathlon from my perspective, is that I don't think power in the aero position is a limiter -> most of these guys (me included) go really easy on the bike portion, and I believe it comes down to experimenting with a couple points when working on a tri position...
1) being able to sit square on the saddle in your aerodynamic position for the duration of the effort without adverse consequences
2) satisfying #1 above, find the fastest position/setup for your targetted effort
I don't think supply side issues are a real limiter/constraint from a practical perspective.
That's just my opinion, though! :-)
What's everyone else think about how one ought to go about setting up their long-course triathlon bike?
Labels: ironman, triathlon, TT Position
posted by kraig at
4:21 PM
7 Comments:
Nice work, Kraig!
I've watched a couple of the bigger full Ironman shows this fall on Versus (makes me an expert:_)). It's very interesting to see the positions (head height especially) on various riders. It's rare to see one of the top riders not "low". You definitely see a number of seemingly rookie issues:
1) Looking down with the tail of the aero helmet sticking up. I don't mean the occasional look, I mean quite a bit of the time.
2) Flapping numbers.
3) riding the majority of the time on the base bar, not on the aero bars.
4) Upright back angle. Certainly for 112 miles, comfort is important but having aero bars on a bike with you back at 45 degrees is a waste.
All these things occurred on riders that have deep aero wheels, aero helmets, aero bars etc. Sorta negates all that dough spent.
Certainly, you (Kraig) know enough to not do these things. I guess, getting back to your original comment, it's all a balance of where your strongest event is. Doing well on the run matters more to many people so they don't focus as much on the bike. In your case, the bike would seem the strongest (guessing). Maximizing your strengths can't be a bad thing.
All that rambling aside, is the position shown maintainable or could you get more aggressive on your head angle (more down)? 112 miles or even 62 miles down low could be pretty unbearable at the end, especially knowing you have to run afterwards.
Hey Gary,
Thanks for checking out the blog!
Good commentary regarding what can often times be seen during an ironman.
Yeah, I could probably get a wee-bit smaller CxA by reaching out on the bars a bit, but decided to go with the position as shown during the race.
I think lots of folks (pro's too!) are enamored with being "low" -> i.e, having a large drop between top of saddle and elbow pads. IME, this is only part of the deal - reach plays an equally important (if not more important!) role.
It would be interesting to hear how many watts it took Jordan Rapp to produce his record bike split at IMAZ - I'd be impressed if his power was lower than it would have taken me on the day to go as fast him.
Yeah, I think my strongest discipline in triathlon is the bike, but I don't think it is really leveraged - well, maybe only in the fact that I might be able to go a wee bit easier than some folks and still go relatively fast.
Thanks Kristin!
Well, how many watts would it take you to ride 4:26? :)
I weigh 70kg (or I did on race day. 70-71. Probably 70 flat after all those trips to the port-a-john).
Hi Jordan,
Thanks for checking out the blog. I feel honored that an elite triathlete feels the need to respond to my random thoughts. Pretty cool, if you ask me! :-)
I’m not really interested in guessing your watts. I’m comfortable in saying that it took me 170 SRM watts to post the time I posted on the day, though. If you’d like to share your watts publicly or confidentially with me, that’d be cool. Just let me know. If you share your watts under a confidential basis, it is safe with me- I think my track record with this sort of stuff is pretty good. Y’know, I test the UCI guys and elite triathletes under the same agreement in the wind tunnel – and I’ve tested a lot of doodz over the years without a peep. You might be surprised about who I’ve tested with over the years – self promotion isn’t high on the list for me…
Yeah, I agree, the wind was changing as the day went on last November, and that it would be tough for an elite to understand what was going on an hour+ behind them.
Totally, yeah, how you pass people on the bike makes a difference, I reckon! I had a target watt value I was riding to and I think that is reflected in my publicly available splits – probably less than 1 minute variation on a lap per lap basis over the three lap basis -> at least according to the SRM. What was your lap to lap variation that supports the “even” split you saw? Please be assured that I’m not doubting your claim, there, just curious how the elites do this sort of thing – seeing as how IMAZ was my first IM ever. Basically, just looking for feedback on my approach! :)
FWIW, the last lap I did, where I passed the fewest people, was the lowest watt lap I chalked up – I’m pretty sure the temperature was higher than the first lap, but the wind was definitely different.
Also, if it matters to you, my back isn’t flat, and I don’t look down much if at all, either. Sounds like you and I are also the same when it comes to staying in the bars from a global perspective over the course of an IM.
But I think it’s a given that I’m FATTER than you! :-) probably 72 kg’s on the day, and a big ass belly – definitely not at my leanest! :-)
Take it easy,
-k
Oh, and before I forget, Jordan, I don't think I could have ridden 112 miles on that day in November in 4:26.
My supply side isn't that big.
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