A little background on me...

I used to road race until I was at Summit Point raceway back in April of 04. Well it was only a practice session the day before the big race weekend. Me and another rider were rounding turn 4 he was on the inside I was holding on the outside we were both cooking at about 100ish. He couldn't hold his line and he slipped, we collided (sp?) both we up in the air he came down leg first broke his femur in 4 places. I came down head first. I actually died... Got recessitated (sp?) and spent a month at Baltimore Shock Trauma and Mount Vernon rehab. Sorry to make a long story a bit more abbvieated, I decided I needed another form of speed. I picked up mountain biking and running. Well mountain biking never really stuck so I kept running. I just finished my third marathon (Shamrock Marathon in VA beach.) Well a while back I decided I wanted to do an Ironman. Now I have done one sprint Tri and I did it on my mountain bike. Suffice to say that didn't turn out well on a mountain bike. So I decided to get a road bike I picked up a used Giant TCR 1T about 2 weeks ago. The bike seems pretty decent all 105 components and it's pretty clean.

Fast foward to where we are now and the reason I am writting this. Yesterday I went out for my first ride on the bike. I decide to ride a nice easy 10 miler. My best average speed before was 16.7 mph on a cyclo computer that I KNOW THAT IT IS 6% OPTOMISTIC. I went out there and really didn't push it too hard but clocked in an average of 20.8mph. Now that was on GPS and not my shady cyclo computer so you figure about 22mph... Now I rode that whole thing and wasn't even winded I could have easily rode 2-3 times that distance at that speed no problem. God I never knew that the right kind of bike would improve me THAT MUCH. Where have you been all of my life road bike??? I rode it solo so I wasn't drafting or anything... What will help me get a little faster? All I have now is the bike a nice helmet, shorts, jersey, and clipless pedals. Will aerobars help a whole lot?

If you can average nearly 17 mph on the road on a mountain bike (did you have a clipless setup on the mtb?), maintaining nearly 21 mph on a TT bike for a relatively short distance shouldn't be too hard. Now, if you can maintain 21 mph for 30 miles solo...without aerobars.....and it's still easy.....you might want to consider a career in cycling.

No I didn't have clipless on the MTB it was egg beaters with clips ontop. I am gonna knock out a 40 mile on sunday just to see how it goes. How much do aero bars really help?

When you say you crashed at "100"... does that mean you were riding and taking turns at 100 miles per hour?

You will gain speed with the aerobars, but they take some getting used to and you'll need to adjust your seating position a bit.

Eggbeaters are "clipless" pedals... what do you mean by "with clips ontop"?

toe clips:
http://www.masterbike.com/guid/standard-pedal_550.jpg

eggbeaters:
http://www.bikyle.com/Eggbeaters.jpg

I thought the same thing, like 100 rpms as in cadence? He was racing motorcycles.

Welcome to roadie world. A lot of people have come here from motorsports. Cycling (mass start racing at least) has similar tactics and is much cheaper. Aerobars should help you significantly. This page has lots of ideas for low-cost tips to stay aero: http://damonrinard.com/aero/aerodynamics.htm

If you want to go hardcore, put bar-end shifters at the end of your aerobars, so you can shift in the aero position.

Sorry my lingo is not up to speed yet the standard pedals with clips are what I was talking about. Yes I was on a sportbike (R6) when I crashed. I was doing roughly 100mph when I hit the ground. If any one is into roadracing (CCS or WERA) then you know thats a good high speed zone for the entrance into turn 4.

Thanks for the link BTW.

For any solo effort aerobars will help...if you are going to do Tris you want aerobars and you may want to rethink the bike choice as true Triathaletes would use a different style bike that will put you in a slightly different position...and is more aero...they are much like a TT bike. You can set up your Giant in TT style though if money is an issue.

The lingo is a bit outdated. A lot of younger riders have probably never seen the old-style clips. Maybe the old style should be called "click-less" since you dont "click" in.

What do you mean by setting it up TT style?

Ok sorry.
First photo Giant TCR Trinity 1, this is a Time Trial (TT) or Tri bike. The seatpost is steaper which positions the rider farther forward...this bike has aerobars.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/images...ty_1_final.jpg
Next photo is the Giant TCR1 which is a road bike with an AL frame...is this the bike you got?
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/images...CR_1_final.jpg
Or did you get the CF version?
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/images...%201%20big.jpg
Those are both 06 bikes. The 2005 TCR had an Aero version of the road bike which I believe had a road geometry but had more aero tubes and added clip on aero bars.
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/images...TCR-Aero-1.jpg

This is my bike. So in order to go TT style some aerobars and raise my seat up???

I'm afraid that's still a bit light. I can do that without much problem, and that's good enough to make me pack fill in masters 45.

Err what's your bike?

No proper saddle height is determined by your leg length. To fully TT a road bike many people get a seat post like the one made by Profile Design which allows a more forward position, in addition to that you need the aero bars...either clip on or a dedicated setup.

http://aebike.com/images/library/cat...odl/ST1411.jpg

To get in a TT position for cheap, yes, get the aerobars. Then move your seat forward, and sit on the tip of the seat when you're pedaling. Like my man Dave Z in the photo.

Around here, averaging 21 mph solo for 30 miles would be pretty impressive, given the amount of climbing and crappy roads on many of the routes I take. The group rides at the LBS here with the hammerheads average around 17-20 mph.

I guess it depends on your area.

Dude...it is great that you were resuscitated, good work by the EMT's at the Point.
I have to tell you, 4 scares the crap out of me, always has always will. Back before they
moved the barriers, there was virtually no run-off. There's still really not enough.
But 4 is fast, with a head of steam out of 2, and 3, then 5 comes up so damn quick. Your
hard on the gas, then hard on the brakes while tipping it in to left, whew, it's a handful for
sure. Get it right, and man, it is so cool. I don't compete anymore either, just a track day
once in a blue moon. Although, if I had the money, I would race a few times a year.

So welcome to road bike scene, it does pale slightly in comparison to roadracing,
but it is a gratifying, somewhat unique sport in and of itself. I like it a whole lot too.
It is also good training, if you ever decide to throw a leg over a motorbike again.

It might look something like this:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/565...91small4eq.jpg

I love road bikes but dislike many of the people one would call "roadies". They are what I call republican hippies.

The bike and position is one part of getting speed. Another crucial part is how you train. Get a heart rate monitor, determine your resting HR, Max HR, etc and work on intervals.

A friend here on the forum introduced me to intervals a few weeks ago and it is already making a difference in my average speed. After a sprint or a climb, my heart is better able to actively recover so I can keep going faster than I used to do.

I'm just getting into road cycling as well after being into mountain biking for a long time and am loving it. I still have a blast mountain biking but road bikes are incredible speed machines.

cheers!