My buddy Nich, me, Bob, Larry, and Charlie

er•go•nom•ics
The applied science of equipment design, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort.
American Heritage Dictionary

The last few weeks have been a combination of easing back into pediatric orthopaedics and writing/thinking about human performance. One of the topics that I’ve been writing about is bike fitting. You will see some upcoming blogs about the evolution of my bike position since my first Ironman and my experience with my bike fit with Dr. Andy Pruitt. I have to admit that this is particularly on my mind because my back has been a wreck over the past few weeks. After a summer free of any discomfort, my back has been killing me since the coast to coast drive from Penticton, BC to Winston-Salem NC. Unfortunately it hasn’t eased up. The mental yearning of wanting to head out for a spin on my bike is greatly outweighed by the literal pain in my back. Combine that discomfort with the more aggressive position on my P3 and you might conclude that I haven’t been out much since IMC.

But the legs and mind vetoed the backs misgivings this weekend and I went out for one of our staple IM triathlon rides on Saturday with my buddy Nick. I had intended to go out on my own for an easy couple of hours, but he convinced me to go with him as he was riding with a couple of older cyclists in town.

Fortunately I didn’t know either of these guys well beforehand or I would have likely bailed right from the start. Bob is a 65 y.o. multiple time age state cycling road and TT champion and Larry is a 67 y.o. equally accomplished cyclist (I didn’t get an opportunity to get your racing results—sorry Larry). Both have similar backgrounds in that they were competitive marathoners into their 40’s before taking up cycling and smashing the rest of the master’s cyclists. Bob is a retired DVM (veterinarian) and Larry retired from the construction business. Both are incredibly nice guys and really a joy to ride with. What was impressive to me was their ability to combine a comfortable, yet powerful bike position that allowed them to push up big inclines in their aerobars. I’ve only seen a couple of people who can ride hills comfortably in the aerobars as well as these guys (one who comes to mind is a guy who smashes IM bike courses with ease and hails from a Nordic country on the Scandinavian peninsula).

This experience substantiated my bike fit ideas that are the culmination of both experiences italicized above. That is, to continue riding healthy into the next few decades, I need to find a position that doesn’t place tremendous strain on my flexibility and structure. For some, this will also be aerodynamic. For those of us who are less flexible, we are likely better off in a position that is ergonomic. In an endurance event like Ironman, reducing the fatigue and strain on your body will pay dividends at the end of the day.

This is a tough realization for a guy that wants to ride faster and who reads slowtwitch. But, I also know that the countless hours spent in a position that results in increased strain on my system is unlikely to be one that allows me to remain healthy enough to continue to enjoy the sport. If, in the long run, the 5 minutes I lose in an IM bike split gains me a few decades on the bike like my cycling buddies, I will happily make that exchange.

Larry was kind enough to provide a link to our cycling route. We usually begin and end the ride from town, so it is about 20 more miles. But for those who want a link to our Bakery route with elevation, check out this link.

So here’s to Bob & Larry. Thanks for the great ride and confirmation that riding my bike will lend itself to balance in the coming years.

J