I have been getting used to riding with aero bars over the past 150 miles or so. I have the Airstryke because it came with my bike (a Specialized Multisport Transition, so essentially a road bike with a few features that make it a bit more like a tri bike; I've mostly just been riding it as a road bike).

I don’t have any shifters on the aero bars. I’ve been just reaching down to shift when I need to, or riding on the hoods or in the drops in situations that require more shifting or possible braking, like intersections, climbing, and substantial downhills. In my limited understanding, shifters pretty much can only be in one place. Barring fancy electronic shifting setups, is this true or am I missing something?

I'm not missing something, and I do need to have the shifters either on the aerobars or on the handlebars, I'm thinking I'll stick with them on the handlebars. The profile of my race (HIM) is basically flat, then climbing about 1000 feet in 6 miles, then back down over more like 10 miles, then flat, then repeat. So it seems to me that in the race I will pretty much be riding aero in the flat, sitting up to climb, or in the drops downhill, so it would probably be fine to just leave things as they are (ie, there is not much mixed or rolling terrain where it would be frustrating to have to keep reaching for the shifters). Does this sound remotely reasonable or are there things I'm not considering that might make me want to go the other way (the other way being shifters on the aerobars)?

Thanks for any thoughts, tips, vicarious experience, etc. --M