I did my long ride today instead of tomorrow to give me a day to try and freshen up those legs for Sunday’s race. It’s a “C” race for me, so I’m ok with however I do on Sunday - I have zero expectations being in the middle of a normal week of Ironman base training. I just wanted to do something to break up the monotony.

Anyway, my ride today took me through some backroads of the northwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Total distance - 80 miles. It was pretty windy out there today with average wind speeds of about 16 mph according to Weather Underground. It was the exactly same course that I rode last week.

There were differences in the two rides although I don’t know that they can be attributed to the changes in the front end of my bike? I averaged 0.3 mph faster than I did the previous week and I saved 1 heart beat per minute doing it. It could be due to my more aggressive and aerodynamic position, but also could also just be due to increased levels of fitness or just common variations from day to day - it’s impossible to tell. But the good thing is that I am comfortable in my new position. I know that it has me lower to the ground which has to make me a little more aerodynamic. I don’t have any back pain to speak of which is good, but my neck is a little stiff from having to tilt it up that little bit more. I imagine that’ll get better over the course of my next few rides. I think I may end up paying a visit to my local bike shop to have them verify that I’m setup correctly on my bike and that my new aerobars didn’t totally throw my body out of whack. I feel comfortable and my ride went well, but an outside view from a trained professional probably isn’t a bad idea.

It was a good ride today. Windy… really windy, but good. Looks like I only have six more long rides scheduled until IM Moo. It’s getting close…