That might be the top line, but have you ever dug a little deeper into some of the physics and forces at play? Have you ever wondered why the faster you go, the more face-on the wind seems? Or why your tri-suit<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s woven from a particular fabric? You have? Excellent news\u2026<\/p> When it comes to the bike, and to a much lesser degree the run, aerodynamics count<\/a><\/strong>. This is one It\u2019s why air resistance rather than friction, like from rolling resistance of your tyres, takes over as the dominant factor holding you back once you\u2019re riding above around 16km\/hr. <\/p> A large cross-sectional area is also a large detriment to your new PB, an increased area resulting in an increased amount of air resistance. Place your hand out the car window on your next drive. Rotate it between the vertical and the horizontal and you\u2019ll see what we mean. <\/p> This aerodynamic drag is quantifiable as it\u2019s the resistance attributed to an object and one given the term CdA. This is an abbreviation for the co-efficient of drag. It\u2019s a dimensionless number that\u2019s the result of a body\u2019s drag size, shape and surface texture. CdA ranges upwards of zero. <\/p> Physics dictates that an object with a drag co-efficient 0 can\u2019t exist. Something that\u2019s very much real are teardrop-shaped bars, which can register a figure of 0.005. That\u2019s aero. A brick might be 2.0. Not surprisingly, that\u2019s not aero. <\/p> CdA examples of elites using aero-shaped bars might come in at the 0.18-0.25 mark. For a good amateur triathlete, that\u2019d be more like 0.25-0.30.<\/p> \u201cThe aim is to deliver a good CdA but one that you can hold.\u201d Those are the words of David McNamee<\/a><\/strong>, one of the greatest long-course male athletes this country\u2019s produced, his list of achievements including two third spots at Ironman Hawaii (2017 and 2018). <\/p> We caught up with the Scot over Zoom from his base in Girona, Spain to understand the process of slippery speed.<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s all about bike position<\/a><\/strong>. It\u2019s easy for me to ease into an incredibly aerodynamic position but is it sustainable,\u201d he says? <\/p> \u201cLess so now but certainly five years ago you\u2019d see so many Ironman athletes who\u2019d storm the start but would then fall back as they just couldn\u2019t hold the position. This was particularly true at Hawaii where athletes would be caught up in the occasion, fly off\u2026 and then around 60km out they\u2019d be off the aerobars<\/a><\/strong> and on the hoods. <\/p> If you look at Hawaii last year<\/a><\/strong>, that\u2019s changed. Athletes\u2019 positions aren\u2019t as aggressive and they\u2019ve learnt to apply consistent power in a sustainable position for 180km.\u201d<\/p> This is key because research shows that an athlete\u2019s metabolic stress increases when reducing the trunk to femur angle. If the function of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles is compromised by a restricted position on the bike, you\u2019ll find your desire to breathe outweighs your desire to slice through the wind.<\/p> The science behind why so many athletes seek rarefied air in the search for peak performance\u2026<\/p> Why does David McNamee train in Font Romeu, around two-and-a-half hours away from his Girona base? And why are the Brownlees regulars in St Moritz? Because at over 1,800m above sea level, they\u2019re both perfect locations for altitude training.<\/p> But why? Well, the aim of altitude training<\/a><\/strong> is simple: by exposing the athlete to an environment low in oxygen (more specifically, a lower partial pressure of oxygen \u2013 oxygen percentage is constant but the fall in atmospheric pressure decreases the partial pressure of inspired oxygen), the body will adapt by becoming more efficient at transporting and using oxygen. And as triathlon\u2019s predominantly an endurance event, where oxygen rules, the result is an improvement in performance.<\/p> According to studies, training at altitude increases aerobic capacity (VO2max<\/a><\/strong>) by 3-8%; lowers heart rate, both at rest and during exercise; elevates levels of myoglobin, the muscle protein; reduces lactic acid<\/a><\/strong> build-up; and facilitates greater production of EPO from the kidneys.<\/p> EPO, or erythropoietin, is like nectar to triathletes as it\u2019s a hormone produced in the kidneys that stimulates the production of red blood cells. Red blood cells are vital for an endurance activity like cycling as they collect oxygen from the lungs and deliver it to working muscles. <\/p> The greater the number of red blood cells you have, the more oxygen you can carry, the harder and longer you can swim, cycle and run, the faster you go. Perfect!<\/p><\/div><\/div> McNamee\u2019s a powerful athlete but, in the world of marginal gains, wattage just isn\u2019t enough. You need to hone that CdA. Test, refine, test and refine. It\u2019s something he realised early on his multisport career. <\/p> \u201cWhen I first started in long-course racing, there were hardly any triathletes doing aero testing. The only ones were the superstars of our sport, like Jan Frodeno<\/a><\/strong> and Sebastian Kienle<\/a><\/strong>, and that was really down to the bike companies they were sponsored by. Aerodynamic testing just wasn\u2019t part of the multisport fabric.<\/p> \u201cThat was around 2017 and I got chatting to Dean [Jackson, founder of Huub]. He said they\u2019d just started working with a chap called Dan Bigham, a smart guy based in Derby who was undertaking testing at Derby Velodrome. Dean invited me to the track and the differences were dramatic.\u201d<\/p> That won\u2019t surprise those of you with a keen eye on the cycling world as 31-year-old Bigham broke the hour record in August 2022, recording a distance of 55.548km around the Grenchen Velodrome in Switzerland. <\/p> An incredible effort achieved despite generating an average power output of \u2018just\u2019 350 watts. That was around 100 watts lower than Sir Bradley Wiggins\u2019 record-breaking effort of 2015. In short, his positioning and equipment steered him to immortality.<\/p> McNamee credits Bigham and the Huub team for his consistent top-level performance and of remaining pragmatic. <\/p> \u201cOur aero testing never results in slamming the front end down or squeezing the elbows tight in, which I find really uncomfortable,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s all about sustainable speed.\u201d<\/p> Bigham\u2019s currently less hands-on as he\u2019s performance engineer at Ineos Grenadiers, a role that saw him help Italian Filippo Ganna break his hour record in October 2022 with a distance of 56.792km. <\/p> Now, it\u2019s his former teammate in the Huub WattBike team-pursuit set-up, Jacob Tipper, who\u2019s charged with helping the likes of McNamee, 2019 Ironman Hawaii winner Anne Haug<\/a><\/strong>, 2021 Ironman World Championships runner-up Kat Matthews<\/a><\/strong> and the legend that is Alistair Brownlee<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p> \u201cI\u2019m actually with Alistair now,\u201d Tipper tells us from St Moritz, Switzerland. \u201cWe\u2019re here for altitude training.\u201d<\/p> Aiming high in search of further gains is something we delve into in the Higher, Faster, Stronger box, above. Now, we\u2019re more focused on the process of helping triathletes cut drag and ride faster, all the while preserving enough energy for the run.<\/p> \u201cWe regularly use the wind tunnel at Silverstone and still use the velodrome at Derby. Both have advantages and limitations. The velodrome offers a more real-world position as you can play around with what\u2019s sustainable or not. <\/p> “Straight away, you have feedback. It might look great but if you can\u2019t hold that position for two minutes, scrap it.<\/p> \u201cWhen you\u2019re in the wind tunnel, you enjoy very precise measurements as it\u2019s so controlled. The problem is that you simply stick your head down, look at the front skewer and pedal away. That\u2019s not really real world. <\/p> “Still, it does give you some useful information and is particularly beneficial for a static object like observing the effect of the bottle cage<\/a><\/strong> on the frame.\u201d<\/p> This real-world application is why the likes of Tipper play around with yaw angles. <\/p> \u201cWe have our own positional protocol that depends on the rider, their speed and sometimes the upcoming course. We rarely test at 0\u00b0 because that doesn\u2019t really exist in the real world, but we might work through 3\u00b0, 5\u00b0, 8\u00b0 and 12\u00b0. <\/p> “Speed really comes into things here as the higher the speeds, the lower the yaw angle, whereas that 12\u00b0 yaw angle\u2019s rare unless it\u2019s a particularly windy day at Kona as you\u2019re racing alongside the coast for the whole day.\u201d<\/p> As the mercury rises, your performance can tumble. But losses can be improved with these techniques\u2026<\/p> This is where you train in the heat to prepare for racing in the heat. A couple of simple ways to prep for a hot race in the UK are by training indoors without a fan<\/a><\/strong> in the build-up to your race. You could also crank up the heating, albeit this\u2019d cost a fortune. Or have a hot bath<\/a><\/strong> straight after a session. Research shows that moderate exercise immediately followed by a 15min bath in 40\u00b0C waters over six days where bathing time rose by 5mins each day resulted in a 4% improvement in 5km time-trial time in the heat.\u00a0<\/p> A meticulous strategy\u2019s a must. But how much should you drink? A simple sweat test<\/a><\/strong> helps here. Run for 40mins, ideally in hot conditions. Drink nothing from start to finish. Weigh yourself before and after and see how much weight you\u2019ve lost. If you\u2019ve lost, say, 660g, that\u2019s around a kilogramme over an hour. That equates to a litre of fluid. Sadly, the stomach would struggle to tolerate that much fluid per hour while running, but around 700ml should be possible. That\u2019s one large water bottle or, more conveniently, a hydration backpack<\/a><\/strong>. And remember, sipping is better than downing in one go.<\/p> Studies show that as fitness grows, triathletes experience a host of adaptations that are conducive to racing fast in the heat. These include greater evaporative heat dissipation through improved sweat response and greater sensitivity of sweating response to increasing core temperature. Improved aerobic capacity also leads to elevated plasma volume and cardiac output, which minimises the competition for blood distribution between skeletal muscle and skin.<\/p> This speed-specific physical impact naturally leads us to one of the hottest aerodynamic topics of the past couple of years \u2013 speed-specific clothing. <\/p> \u201cWhen we started looking into aero clothing, we\u2019d focus on striped fabrics, which were great for tripping air and great at high speeds,\u201d Tipper explains. \u201cBut then we had the option to spend time in a fabric tunnel, which we didn\u2019t have before. <\/p> “So we\u2019d go to a fabric convention, pick out a load of fabrics that we liked the look of that might have a good amount of stretch or breathability and you can print on them, and then take them to the fabric tunnel and test at different speeds on different cylinder sizes. <\/p> “Simply put, we discovered that these stripier fabrics weren\u2019t always the best at lower speeds; in fact, there were substantial differences between fabrics and optimum speed at 30km\/hr, 40km\/hr and so on.\u201d<\/p> Key to aerodynamic efficacy is something known as the boundary layer. Essentially, this is a thin (1-4mm) layer of air that flows over your body while either cycling or running. <\/p> Typically, it flows in a laminar state with minimal energy in the flow and can quite easily separate off the body around curvature and changes in shape, creating a large draggy wake behind. <\/p> However, using correctly sized and shaped texture, you can induce the boundary layer to turn into a turbulent state.<\/p> The advantage of this is that the boundary layer is now energised and can resist changes in curvature and shape around the body, staying attached for longer and reducing the size of any low-pressure wakes. <\/p> On the confusing side, this is affected by speed, meaning fabric type and seam placement should theoretically differ depending on your abilities.<\/p> It\u2019s why Huub designs and creates two versions of their top-end Anemoi 2 tri-suit: the SUB22 and the PLUS22. The former\u2019s designed for optimum drag-free performance at under 22mph, the latter over 22mph. <\/p> It\u2019s innovative stuff and one step closer to the ideal, which is the customised clothing enjoyed by the likes of Haug and McNamee from Huub\u2019s Custom Labs, which takes into account not only speed but factors like cylinder size (aka your body) and panel sizing.<\/p> \u201cTo take things a step further, we\u2019ll spend time in the wind tunnel with our top athletes to work on clothing as well as positional improvements,\u201d says Tipper. <\/p> \u201cWe spent four days in the wind tunnel with Anne [Haug] purely working on a suit. We\u2019d already optimised position, helmet choice\u2026 but we wanted to test a matrix of fabrics on her 50kg frame and see how she responds. It\u2019s good for Anne and good R&D for us, which can then trickle down to age-groupers.\u201d<\/p> Cut drag and boost speed without breaking the bank\u2026<\/p> A seven-grand triathlon bike<\/a><\/strong> might mean curves, concealment of cables and cash, but a set of \u00a340 aerobars clipped onto your existing road bike<\/a><\/strong> saves you far more time per pound. Aluminium numbers are the cheapest; carbon adds cost but saves weight. But when it comes to aerobars, positional leverage is more important than weight-saving material with the bars easing you into a more streamlined position to cut through the air. Just ensure you practise in training to acclimatise your body to this new stretched-out set-up.<\/p>Aerodynamics matter<\/h2>
Higher, Faster, Stronger<\/h4>
![\"Kat](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/05\/kat-matthews-derby-velodrome-huub-3759ba4.jpg\")
Evolution of speed<\/h2>
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Keep cool in the heat\u00a0<\/h2>
Acclimatise to the heat<\/strong><\/h3>
Plan your hydration<\/strong><\/h3>
Build fitness<\/strong><\/h3>
Speed clothing<\/h2>
![\"David](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/11\/PTO-Canadian-Open-2022-david-mcnamee.jpg?fit=1024,831\")
Aero on a budget<\/h2>
Clip-on aer<\/a>obars<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>
![\"Huub\u2019s](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/11\/3-sixteen_aero_calf_sleeve.jpg?fit=945,1024\")
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