POSITIONING ON THE BIKE

Note:  An edited version of this essay was published in the February 2007 issue of Triathlete Magazine

With experience, our approach to triathlon includes a growing appreciation for efficiency and economy.  We orient our training and racing strategies towards going faster and longer with less energy and exertion.  This is the promising path towards mastery that we can enjoy as we accrue years of experience.  Let’s explore a specific area of triathlon training and racing strategy that offers great rewards through increased efficiency and economy – bike positioning.

In our focused drive to hammer faster on the bike, we may ignore the “matrimonial” relationship we have with our bikes, and find ourselves struggling and fighting instead.  This results in discomfort, impatience, and disappointing performance.  A violinist who struggles and fights with the violin makes music that is painful to the ears.  However, for the virtuoso, the violin is an intimate and precious extension of his/her body and beautiful music seems to come fluently and effortlessly.  With diligent observation, and a clear bike positioning strategy, we can be well on our effortless way to making beautiful music and graceful speed with our bike.

There are four essential elements comprising this dynamic relationship with our bike.  1) Bike choice.  2) Fitness.  3) Bike fit.  4) Bike positioning.  In this essay, we will focus on the 4^th element, bike positioning.  What is the difference between bike fit and bike positioning?  During the fitting process, the bike is set-up so that the athlete can enjoy an optimum combination of biomechanical efficiency, comfort, power, stability and balance, along with easy respiration and hydration. Riding style, strengths and weaknesses, as well as the format, length and topography of the athlete’s training and racing goals are relevant to the fitting process.  The optimum fit provides the athlete with a neutral platform for many positioning options.  These options become more essential as the length of the race and the topography increase.

We may have been expertly fit on our high-dollar stealth-bikes, but without a comprehensive strategy of how to respond to changing topography and wind conditions, without an articulate vocabulary of bike positions, we expend more energy and get slower results. We may never realize our true athletic potential, or the potential of that expensive high-tech bike and that expert fit.

The Basics:  There’s really only two contact points on the bike where we can change our position as we ride – the handlebars and the seat.  The 3^rd contact point is the foot-to-pedal – the cleat position.  With the exception of foot rotation, we cannot change our foot-to-pedal position as we ride.  For the duration of that 100-mile ride, we are stuck to the pedals.  Shoe selection and cleat placement are extremely vital components of effective power generation.  If you are unsure of your placement – the fore-aft placement, the toe-in or toe-out angle, the varus-vargus footbed tilt, and the “Q” factor– find someone who can help you.  You will be more prone to knee and foot injuries, more familiar with the agony and pain of long rides, and will not realize your full potential if you leave cleat placement to chance.

With proper cleat placement and happy feet, its just bar and seat positions.  Pretty simple, huh?  Yet, establishing those individual hand and seat positions, knowing how to combine them and when to use each combination can make a big difference in your performance and comfort on the bike.  Rather than putting on the blinders, aiming the rocket ship, and hammering “balls to the wall” from T1 to T2, you can develop and maintain a constant awareness of the dynamic body-bike relationship, always evaluating the efficiency of that relationship and responding through your vocabulary of positions to improve it.

Change is inevitable.  Resistance and struggle are not.  Imagine racing a hilly course without ever changing gears.  Unless you are riding a single speed or a fixed gear, refusing to change gears is stubborn and detrimental to performance.  The same can be said for riding in one single position.  Changing body position is similar to changing gears and can be executed with the same deliberate clarity and skill.

Riding at a slow cadence in a steep gear draws mostly on leg strength.  Riding at a high cadence in an easy gear draws mostly on aerobic capacity.   Different body positions will emphasize different cadences and different muscle groups throughout the body.  Riding long in one position fatigues some muscles more than others and may be detrimental to running performance.

Seat position changes are limited to fore and aft adjustments (as well as standing). Moving fore and aft on the saddle changes two variables: seat angle and seat height.  Slide back on the saddle and the seat angle decreases and saddle height increases.  For long-course racing, it’s important to select a saddle that offers multiple moderately comfortable position options, rather than a single very comfortable position.  Shifting fore and aft to change the seat angle and height can substantially vary muscle group emphasis for enhanced endurance, performance and comfort.

Equally important in our saddle position strategy is pelvic tilt.  With the pelvis tilted forward – so the lower back is flat and the spine is long and straight – we engage our pelvic core muscles and glutes.  These two sets of muscles are the largest in the body, and are relatively close to the heart and lungs, for great aerobic capacity.  Core muscles stabilize the body on the bike through the saddle contact, and through both the legs and the arms.  The core muscles relax by rolling the pelvis back, so that the spine is curved along its length.  This relaxed pelvis is usually associated with aft saddle position, when we are riding more upright.  Practice core awareness every time you ride.  Be aware of the tilt of your pelvis in various saddle locations and hand positions.  Notice how it changes your biomechanics and the emphasis on various muscle groups in the legs and lower torso, as well as in the upper body and arms.

Seat positions are paired with specific hand positions.  Hand positions are obviously contingent on bar choices.  Conventional drop-style road bars offer more options than a tri base bar, including higher hand positions for climbing, and lower hand positions for a wide and stable steering position during fast descents on rough roads or in gusting winds.  For flat courses, a tri base bar is adequate.

In aero position, we navigate our bike more through our elbows and saddle contact than through the hands.  (Just try lifting your elbows, while contacting the aero bars only with the hands sometime.  Yikes!)  For windy or rough courses, a wider elbow stance provides greater stability and opens the chest for easier breathing.  While elbow width is fixed, many of us may have two elbow positions – one with the elbows forward on the pads and the torso extended, and one with the elbows pulled back closer to the knees, the torso contracted and tucked.  These variations may require repositioning the hands or compensating with the wrists.

Putting It All Together:  Positioning vocabulary on the bike combines specific seat positions with specific hand/elbow positions and degrees of pelvic tilt.  Each of these elements individually may amount to just 2 or 3 options, but the combinations may total 6-10.  These position combinations enable us to respond to topography and wind conditions, power output, comfort issues, and muscle recruitment.  Topography is often the greatest determinant.

Cadence and speed usually decrease ascending hills.  Emphasis shifts from aerodynamic efficiency to power transmission through leg strength.  Establish at least two hand positions on the road bars or tri base bar and pair them to two saddle positions.  Find a mid saddle position to maintain a moderate cadence for moderate hills.  This saddle position employs a forward tilted, engaged and stable pelvis.  The corresponding hand position is on the brake hoods of the road bars or near the forward ends of the tri base bar.  Proper stem angle and length, and bar tilt optimize hand position and are determined once you have selected a saddle and established the mid-saddle position.

For more demanding climbs, establish an aft saddle position farther behind the bottom bracket and a little higher.  Drive more with the quadriceps, at a slower cadence and anchor your pelvis against the back of the seat.  Position the hands farther back, where the bars bend in towards the stem.  This prevents you from “kinking” your hips and allows you to push into the back of the saddle.  Reaching forward (or down lower) closes down the hip angle, diminishing power production.  Experiment with maintaining a forward-tilted pelvis and straight spine versus a rolled-back pelvis and curved spine in this position.  In the relaxed “slump” of the latter position, the hip angle opens even further.  Feel how pelvic orientation changes your biomechanics, and the use of your arms for stability.

For ascents that include headwinds, re-prioritize power production versus aerodynamics.  Establish and train in an aero climbing position if you anticipate these conditions in your races.  A mid seat position will keep your hips more open than an aft position will.  Tilting the pelvis forward engages the core for stability to produce climbing power in aero position.  Pulling forward on the aero bars and contracting the torso may also aide in stability and power production and help with circular pedaling biomechanics.  Some triathletes are able to remain on the aero bars while moving off the front of the saddle so that they are virtually squatting with just light contact on the tip of the saddle.  This position is effective for surges and short hills in windy conditions.

With road bars, you may establish another aero climbing position with the hands on the drops, a mid saddle position and the pelvis tilted forward.

There is the option of standing to climb – either for short surges or longer drives. Placing the hands wide on the road or tri base bar will provide stability and enable you to use arm strength to lean the bike in response to the pedal drive.  As you refine your standing position, concentrate on aligning the hips and knees over the feet so that all the power goes through the pedals.  Place your hands accordingly.

As you conduct hill intervals, determine optimum body positions, gear selections and cadences for various conditions.  Experiment and time each ascent.  Constantly be attentive to wind conditions as you climb.  Hilly courses often have intermittent wind shadows that will allow you rise up off the aeros and produce more power.  Observe and respond intelligently.

As you descend hills, aerodynamics and stability replace power production as a priority.  Lower the upper body by dropping the hand/elbow position.  You may remain aft in the saddle, lengthen and flatten the torso, lower the head and lay out on the aero bars.  If more stability is required, assume a wide, low stance on the lower part of the drops or the tri base bar, elbows tucked and bent.  Descending through corners may require braking as well.  Are your brakes accessible from an aerodynamic descending position with a minimum of hand relocation?

On flat and open terrain, respond to varying wind conditions.  Position mostly on the mid and fore part of the saddle, keeping the hips open.  Notice the difference in biomechanics and muscle recruitment from the ascending/descending positions.  Work to establish two saddle positions while on the aero bars, especially if your goal races require prolonged riding in these conditions.  Concentrate on circular pedaling that uses many muscle groups in the legs and on maintaining higher cadence than on the climbs.  A mid saddle position may offer the greatest saddle comfort, relieving pressure on the perineum and placing more weight on the “sit bones”.  This is the best position for circular pedaling.  As you pull up on the pedals you will add weight and pressure to your seat contact.  This mid position gives you a wider “footprint” on the seat.  Position your elbows on the pads so that the angle at your shoulders formed by your upper arms and upper torso is 90 degrees.  Your elbow joints should extend off the back of the pads by 2-4 cm.  This aero position is your comfortable “home” position and offers an optimum mix of power, comfort, stability, balance and biomechanical efficiency.  Respiration, hydration and nutrition should be relatively easy.

Pulling forward on the saddle and contracting the torso will place more emphasis on power production, opening the hips up through a steeper seat angle with maximum core stability.  You may shorten up on the bars by drawing the elbows closer and tuck tighter.  This position is effective for extreme headwind conditions, ascents and surges.

The ankle is a powerful lever that vastly improves biomechanical efficiency.  Observe how increasing or decreasing “ankling” changes the biomechanics within your legs.  Ankling is a vital component of circular pedaling.

There are two more topics of discussion regarding bike positioning – both concerning alignment.  First is head and neck positioning, especially in aero position.  Extending the chin and kinking the back of the neck to bring the head up for vision can create chronic neck and shoulder problems that may affect your running efficiency as well. Extend the back of your neck, and leading with your crown rather than forehead, just as you do in swim training.  Look up with your eyes towards your eyebrows.  Select eyewear that hugs high above your eyebrows and does not block the extreme top of your visual field.  You must strengthen your eye muscles to maintain this upper vision for prolonged aero rides.

Finally, pedaling biomechanics and efficient power production require accurate hip-to-knee-to-foot alignment.  Optimally, your knees should track directly above your feet with little inward or outward movement.  As you train, focus diligently on knee alignment.  Feel the energy drive from your hip through your knee, ankle and foot, so that it passes through the power spot of your foot directly into the pedal.  Do not lose site of this as you hammer up the hills or furiously spin the flats.  Improved performance through biomechanical alignment and kinetic intelligence is far more rewarding than greater effort and struggle.

By now you realize there are a lot of variables to consider if you intend to ride gracefully, intelligently and efficiently.  These variables are relevant to the body, the bike and the course.  Riding is a complex matrix of energies requiring diligence to navigate.

This is just a basic outline to guide you in developing a positioning dialogue with your bike.  Every successful, functional relationship requires good communication skills, flexibility and adaptability.  Buying the best bike in the world does not assure a happy marriage any more than selecting the most attractive mate.  Each relationship is unique.  Use this basic outline as a starting point for developing your own unique positioning dialogue with your bike.  Make beautiful music through an intimate connection with your instrument, just as the virtuoso violinist does.