CYCLISTS AND TRIATHLETES have an obsession with going faster and will go to any length – usually legal – to get a performance benefit.
In these sports, the name of the game is producing the most amount of power over a given amount of time. The person who does this will win. It’s that simple.
Training alone will get cyclists a long way towards achieving their goals but being the most aerodynamic rider in the race will help no end.
Two cyclists could be riding side by side at the exact same speed but the one who is more aerodynamic saves more energy and will have more power in reserve for when it really matters.
There are many ways cyclists and triathletes try to become more aerodynamic or ‘slippery’, for want of a better word, from wearing expensive dimpled skin suits to even more expensive wheels, to yes, shaving their legs.
But here are three more practical ways to go faster. Try them yourself and notice the difference.
Change your body position
Aerodynamics is the force of wind that acts on the body and when we cycle it is the largest force that acts against us. So we need to counter this wind resistance as best we can.
The best way to do this is to get your head down and significantly decrease your frontal bodily area by taking your chest out of the wind.
This can result in an extraordinary time saving over a 40 km ride.
Remember to pedal with your knees and legs inward, so that your forearms block the wind for your legs. You want to be as low and narrow on the bike as possible while still being able to breathe and produce power. Roll your shoulders inward.
Get shoe covers
Shoe covers will cost as little as €20 and could save you half a minute over 40 kilometres. They act by covering smooth turbulent air over the straps and buckles of the shoes.
Get an aero helmet
More expensive than shoe covers and could set you back as much as €180 but upgrading from a regular helmet to an aero helmet could save you over a minute in the 40 kilometre test!
A non-aero helmet causes four times as much ‘drag’ as an expensive aerodynamic set of wheels but is just a fraction of the price.
Granted, wheels look better than some of the aero helmets on the market, but we’re hardly that vain, are we?
