aerohelmets, do they make you faster?

[kelownagirl]

Can I slide in a question about aerobars? I have them but because I'm not tall, and my seat isn't much higher than my handlebars, I feel I can get down lower when I'm in the drops than the aerobars. Is that common?

and Eden - So are you averaging well over 30 kmh to do 40K TT in just over an hour? Wow, I have a looong way to go. Our TT route is 16km and, in my opinion, it's fairly hilly. I am not fast and I've never raced it but I have ridden it as fast as I could I can only average about 29.5-30 kmh. I am still at least 3 minutes slower than the slowest woman who does the TT so I'm not quite mentally ready to try it for real. Maybe next year. Maybe I need a faster, cooler bike. (with aerobars and special wheels, and no gloves, and the right clothes, and no visor on my helmet, and no seatbag on the bike, and do more hill repeats to improve my sucky climbing ability.)

And if you don't mind, here's the elev profile of our TT route (although it's missing a 1 mile flat section right in the middle). Can anyway tell me how it compares in "hilliness" to other TT routes? It has two short climbs that are around 7% grade, but the rest are 4-6% and less. (Ignore that first bump)

Sorry for completely taking this thread off track...