Without being actively aware of it, I rode the exact same route on consecutive Fridays, on the same bike, in nearly the exact same time. Noting the exact same power number, I'm guessing the difference in average speed is... position on the bike? The ride from Oct. 5 was with the stubby Shimano PRO S-bend aerobars, which were swapped out in favor of a set of Redshift J-bend bars. The Redshift are a good bit longer, and apparently better suited to my orangutan arms (for point of reference, it is 12 1/4" from the top of my elbow to the knobby bone on my wrist.) If anyone ever considers aerobars, I think a noseless saddle is pretty much a requirement. I could not find an angle where a conventional saddle worked, at least not with my saddle-to-bar drop.

It's been a relatively expensive experiment, as far as my cheapness is concerned. The aerobar brackets needed longer bars, the position needed a new saddle, and the saddle needed a post with more setback. So I ended up changing a lot of stuff, all in the senseless pursuit of speed. Worse still, speed that isn't free. It's probably going to be 3-4 months before I really get used to the position. But at least I can get some miles in relatively quickly.

I applaud the consistency of the Garmin's barometer. It's wildly inaccurate, reporting 10% low on ascent on it's best days, and typically 20% low day-to-day. I guess I could manually do the elevation before every ride, but isn't that what the Strava Correct Elevation button is for?