Chris Swan

Ride in your drops, with your elbows bent. A LOT!! Think about it a lot
and work on it while your riding on your own to get used to it so that it
becomes second nature.

Ive been teaching the intro to racing clinics for the last couple of weeks
before PIR, and if you've been to one, you already know that I say to ride
in your drops with your elbows bent at least every two minutes.

I also advocate for training in your drops whenever you can to make it more
familiar to you and so that you are relaxed while riding in the drops.

As for being "comfortable" in your drops, just becuase your comfortable
doesnt mean its too high. Im very comfortable in the drops, and I dont need
to, nor is it really possible to go lower. It may be in some cases, and a
lot of people can go lower dont get me wrong, but you should also work on
becoming flexible enough that you are comfortable and relaxed while in your
drops. It is important to be comfortable enough in your drops/elbows bent
that you can handle your bike well, breath and respond to the race. If your
not comfortable while in your drops, then work on core strength,
stretching/flexability and generally riding around in your drops. The more
you ride in your drops with your elbows bent the better, for you and your
fellow racers.

As for shifting/breaking, the levers we have today are adjustable enough
that you should be able to reach shifting whether your on the hoods or in
the drops. If this is not the case, and its difficult to safely work
shifting or breaks while in the drops, I recomend talking to your mechanic
about how to properly set up the reach of the brake, the position of your
hoods on the bars (yes, these are adustable) and possible different bar
configerations if all else fails.

Check out the weekly clinics before monday night PIR:

http://www.upperechelonfitness.com/blog/1-news/46-intro-to-bike-racing-clinics-mondays-at-pir-now-weekly

Feel free to email me with any questions!

Cheers,

Chris Swan
Upper Echelon Fitness Coach