Knees to the Top Tube

I did Spinervals Muscle Breakdown workout while at the beach one day. My training plan had called for a hill workout, and well, there are no hills at the beach!

One of the things that Coach Troy says during this workout is “knees to the top tube”. That means spin with your knees tucked tightly in toward the top tube of your bike in order to reduce aero dynamic drag.

Later on, I was flipping around the TV and stopped to watch the Tour de France. The pro cyclists are truly amazing. Look at their knees – notice how close they are to the top tube:

I love watching them, and then visualizing their technique later, during my own rides. One guy reached behind to his right pocket with his left arm, grabbed a coke, popped it open and drank…all without missing a beat in his pace. Another time, two riders sat upright (no hands) and put on windbreakers as they approached the top of the Alps – doing this while peddling UP a mountain at a good clip. I can’t even ride for two seconds with no hands, not even while coasting…on level ground.

In other Cycling news…
Ever since moving my aerobar elbow pads inwards to improve my aerodynamics, I have developed a pain in my right elbow. Just a nagging little pain, but it’s getting worse, and is affecting my swim stroke. I stuck it out for six weeks, thinking my body just needed time to accommodate. I even bought replacement elbow pads for my aerobars, hoping that would help. Didn’t help the pain, unfortunately.

So, I finally took the time to move my elbow pads back to their original position, farther apart. I took some pictures to compare the difference:

Elbows in:

Elbows out:

In a nutshell, the “Elbows out” position is alot more comfortable. I went on a ride with this “elbows out” position, and got a good average speed, so I will leave them this way opting for comfort over the possibility of improved aerodynamics. I don’t have a watt meter and a wind tunnel to know for sure, so I have to judge by average speed on familiar bike routes, and “feel”.

Hmmm…my hips are wider than my elbows in both images. I wonder if your eblow position even matters, as long as they are not outside your hips.