El Cap here with an entry from Ft Collins CO. I got here about a week ago and have been bike commuting the kids to their summer kids camp all week, but it wasn’t until Friday that I got out for a ride. I started at our apartment and went north to Overland Trail. As I turned south, I remembered that it did not go through to Horsetooth, so I had to back track a mile before I got on the right road. I took a right up towards Horsetooth reservoir and started UP. There is a stretch of road with a switchback that all of the drivers look at you strangely as to why you would chose to go up that steep hill. Well, to get to the top of course! At the top I turned right and went across the east side of the reservoir. After a few hundred yards of enjoying the beauty of the reservoir, I started up again, this time even steeper. But as you avid cyclists know an uphill is just the pre-payment for an exciting downhill ahead.  As I crested the hill I could see my wonderful descent ahead!
At the bottom of the hill and around the corner I saw a line of cyclists going up the next hill. There were two stragglers at the end and I decided I was going to catch up with these locals. At the top of that hill was a pull out parking area where the pack had regrouped. It turns out they were there for the week at a training camp. One of them explained that many of them were trying out for the US National team. As they were pulling out I joined in and road with them for a while.
After the next big hill they regrouped on the side of the road. I pulled over with them and that is when I found out that one of them was the coach. He began to go through the mechanics of the Aerotuck position. When he finished he asked them “did you get that?” to several of the riders. Then he turned to me with a smirk (obviously not part of the group, the only one with a mountain bike, a camelback and about twice the age of these riders) and asked if I got it. I grinned and replied, “Got it!”
Let’s see if I can recreate the aerotuck instructions.
1. Your thumbs are hooked below the handlebars. When you are going Mach speed down a hill, if you hit a bump, you want something below the handle bars to lock you on the bike and keep you from launching. This was a little tough for me with my mountain bike because my rapidfire shifters are intentionally placed where my thumbs are for shifting. So for the downhill I moved my hands closer in on the bars to get my thumbs under the handle bars. Anyway, if I am using the aerotuck position, I will probably be going aver 30 MPH, so I am already in my largest gear combo, no need for shifting.
2. Feet in platform position. He didn’t use that term, but for a mountain biker, that is the default resting position anyway. For the rest of you, that means you have your crankarms parallell to the ground. On a trail it is to make sure you have the greatest clearance. My guess is that it helps you balance your weight as opposed to the one pedal up, one down that makes you want to lean on your bike. Leaning at aerotuck speeds is a recipe for a hospital visit followed by months of rehab.
3. Legs are pressed in against the top tube. Maybe I’m not flexible enough, maybe mountain bike geometry is different enough that it’s not as practical as on a road bike. Don’t know, I just couldn’t get my knees in that far. But I tucked them in as much as they would go.
4. Bottom only lightly touching the front of the saddle. Again, maybe I need to move my saddle back, maybe it’s a Mt bike thing, maybe I was supposed to lean further forward over my handlebars than I really wanted to. But I wasn’t able to pull this one off.
5. Elbows tucked in and touching your thighs. No problem.
The pack took off in front of me. I was excited, because this stretch was one of the reasons I choose this route. This was the location of one of my previous land speed records - 46 mph. I decided to go last. These were professional hopefuls and I didn’t want to get in their way. I started down the hill and quickly shifted up and cranked like I was launching a rocket. At a certain point my 44×11 gear combination maxes out and the only way I can get faster is by tucking. I did a mental check list of the new instructions I got at the top of the hill. I was thinking as I was going down the hill that this is not as steep, or as long as Laurel hill (see Memorial Day Ride to Laurel), so whatever I can get here I should be able to top back home. I never check my computer for speed when I think I am going a top speed. All my attention is on the road. I felt like I was going pretty fast and yet felt extremely stable. I assume the aerotuck coaching not only gives you speed, but control and stability also. I kept up with the pack fairly well.
As we leveled out and pulled together as a pack, I started clicking through my stats, looking for max speed. My previous land speed record was set on Laurel hill at 48.8 MPH (see Bald Peak State Park) It could have been the instructions on the areotuck or it could have been that I wanted to keep up with these young bucks, but it finally happened; I broke 50 mph! My bike computer logged it at 51.0 mph on that descent! So my new personal land speed record was set. I was chatting with one of the other riders on his sweet racing bike and he said he made a personal best of 53 mph. I was feeling pretty good that this old codger could keep up. (this is NOT the time to think through your physics and figure out that my 175+lbs are naturally going to propel me faster down the hill than his maybe 135 lb frame.)
We took a right at the next road, Bingham hill. A route I had taken many times before, so I stayed with the group. It wasn’t very far up the hill that the pack started to pull away from me. (A side note on how to figure out the terrain from a map that doesn’t show topography. If it has the word “hill” in the name of the road, it’s probably not a flat meadow inviting you to pick flowers.) By the top of the hill, they had gone on to the next turn in the road and I never saw them again.
That was OK. I was spinning home in the glory of knowing I set a personal land speed record. Enjoying my first real ride in Colorado. Having ridden for a while with future National team hopefuls. Drinking in the beauty of God’s creation here in Colorado. All in all a great ride!
When I rolled home I had gone 22 miles in my first round of High Altitude training. Signing off from the Colorado training base camp
El Cap