Originally Posted by
CliffordK
Oh,
Post a photo of your Cannondale Supersix.
What is the handlebar position? Spacers? Stem angle?
Lowering the handlebars to the lowest possible level could potentially do more for you than a whole new bike.
Think Aero positioning of your body.
How are your gears? Topping out on the high end?
A speedometer can be handy for training and pacing yourself. Cadence? Power? Heart Rate?
How is your "race" held? In particular with drafting? Hold the pocket behind your nephew for the whole race, and then all you need to do is out sprint your nephew on the last few hundred yards. Of course, he'll figure that one out quickly (if he hasn't already).
Yeah, my strategy is/was to draft him for as long as possible. However, as you surmised, he figured that out quickly. Now he tries to break away as soon as possible - I sprint as hard as I can to get on his wheel and then try disguise my exhaustion as best I can. This process repeats a few times and then he's gone.
I've tried to work on my aero positioning, although I'm not overly flexible. I actually bought some clip on aero bars that I need to break out. As far as cadence, heart rate etc is concerned, I've never been serious enough to bother monitoring these.
The one thing that I have considered, is switching to a compact crankset. When I tried a compact, the big chain ring (50) was much more comfortable than my standard 52. I pretty much never use the small chainring.