You Power Profile

rayhuang

All data is actual from my Powertap. One from a 12mile TT (20 minute) and 5s, 5min from a solo late race bridging last Sunday. I left out higher wattage figures from when I was 15 or 20 lbs heavier last winter as my w/kg is actually higher now anyways.

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My Blog: http://raysracingadventures.blogspot.com/

tuney

How come so many people have HUGE numbers here?!

Im sure a lot of Pros don't have figures > 370/400watts 20MP etc
I know Weight/Aero comes into it, but people with 20 min powers of 350-400 watts should be knocking out some pretty fast times TTing!

Same with the sprints, and 5min powers!

Im feeling a bit inferior here!

Yoinks!

acslater

That is sort of the reason I started this thread. After using a power tap for two years and looking at my numbers, it looked to me like I was putting out a lot of power compared to some others that I have seen online. Yea I am a big rider. I figure the reason I don't place well in hilly road races was mainly weight. I just wanted to know holding weight aside how my numbers compared to others.

For me it feels like in these hilly races I am putting out a lot more power than those around me just to keep up on a hill. That take its toal and I am usually pretty cooked by the end of the race and I can't even use my sprint. My #s at least are legit (except that mistake I made for 5 min). I just wanted to know why if I put out such descent power I don't finish higher. Seems to me mostly my weight that holds me back.

tigermilk

It goes both ways, however. I feel my size is holding me back as well, mainly since most of the hills that I race on are short power climbs (less than 60 seconds, which is my weakness). I don't have the long climbs available to take advantage of my strengths:

Age 37
Weight 66 kg
5s ~900 W
1m ~ 450 W
5m 342 W
20m 292 W, ~300 NP
60m ~285 W avg/NP
cat 4

Despite very good 5-60 minute power (in terms of power/mass ratio), I'm behind the 8 ball due to my smaller size. That whole power/area thing. I don't have the sprint power to even be involved there.

EpicriderGMAC

I know a lot of riders that are quite talented in my area who are knocking out 350-400 watts for an hour....really truely. At the Cat 1/2 level there are a ton of riders at that ability level, and in big races you just need to be smart and strong all the time to do well. It's one thing to win a local P/1/2 race....and a totally different one to win an NRC stage race.

There are so many U25 riders who are extremely strong, but they all have the same goal...to win big races and get on a good professional team. With so many riders with the same goal, it takes a lot to make the jump. An FT at or above 5 watts/kilo is just kind of the neccessary starting point to be competetive in hard long road races at that level.

In contrast though, there are a lot of new riders with a lot of talent on this forum it seems. Some cat 4-5's that are putting out very serious 5-20 min powers....it's good for the sport. Those are the up and comming guys. I hope they start getting some big results soon and follow their racing goals as long as they want.

grebletie

I feel your pain. For featherweight status, I have pretty good power-to-weight in the 5-60 minute category. But, between those numbers being simply less than others, and coupled with excruciatingly weak anaerobic power, things have proved to be difficult in the 4's so far.

In early July, I'm moving to California, so with more access to climbing races, things might look up.

In regard to some people putting up good numbers, there might be some selection bias involved.

buckhorn

Age: 32
Category: 5
Weight: 200 lbs/91 kilos (6'4")
Years Training: 1.5
Average Weekly Hours: 10


5 Second: 1358
1 Minute: 595
5 Minute: 412
20 Minute: 340AP 360NP
60 Minutes: 294AP 338NP

All of these numbers are pulled from rides. I expect they would be marginally higher if they came from actual tests. I need to drop some weight and gain some power in order to be more competitive in races. My first race was last weekend, combined 4/5 field, 2,500' climbing 42 miles, and I was in the bottom 1/3.

NM87710

age 44
cat 2
weight 61kg
train ~15hrs/wk

5sec 15.7 w/kg AP
1min 8.7
5min 5.5
20min 4.7

Not really sure what benefit there is to compare one's numbers vs. anothers or the chart except to identify some POTENTIAL ability. IME the chart is only loosely coupled with race results or one's race category but then maybe I'm all whack

Example 1: I recently did a race with a 9mi climb avg. 3.5% occuring at mile 75 of 110 . The winner avg. ~4.0w/kg on the climb(which everybody in the field could do) but the deal breaker for most was 4 miles into the climb when attacks took it up to ~5.2w/kg for ~4min. That split the field.

Example 2: My explosive 15.7w/kg 5sec power(barely above Cat5 per chart) is pretty pathetic(actually very pathetic and embarassing when guys refer to you as a speed bump in large field sprints) but luckily I can still generate that power after 4+ hrs of racing when most big sprinters are toast or long gone .

IMO(in road events) what really matters is how many watts you can put out when it matters and how many you conserve when it doesn't.

stevevinck

I know 2 professional Belgian Riders whos treshold power is at 410-430 watt so there is still improvement possible . Don't feel inferior ... it is there job !! they only train or rest

tuney

Boo hoo! Yeah Ive races In Belgium, 'most' of the >400watt guys are usually pretty big and strong... hopefully they dont like the hills too much ;o)

For what its worth here are my stats:
Non of these values were specifically aimed at hitting max apart from the 5sec and 20 mins.
All the other values are from races/mixed sessions. Some are PBs others are SBs


Age 32
Weight 77 kg (16%bf oops)
5s ~1600 W (~1480 for 10sec)
30sec > 850 W (End of Race)
1m > 650 W
5m >450 W (Race Effort)
20m >370 W
UK cat 1

Should we all go out and do out specific 5,1,20 tests

velobob

Age: 38
Category: Road 3
Weight: 168lbs / 76Kg
Years you have been training seriously: 3 years
Avg weekly training hours: 10

Best power in:

5 sec: 1237 watts
1 min: 611 watts
5 min: 393 watts
20 min: 345 AP, 353 NP
60 min: 282 AP, 301 NP (not many good samples for this one - just started using PT in races)

amartinez

Age: 44
Category: long distance triathlete (~20% OA)
Weight: 69Kg
Years you have been training seriously: 5 years
Avg weekly training hours: 8hs cycling

Best power in:

5 sec: 890 watts
1 min: 500 watts
5 min: 310 watts
20 min: 267 watts
60 min: 250 AP, 260 NP

Slightly OT, I compared MAP60 (aka FT) with 3 estimators using posted data in this thread (20 data points):
- MNP60' (NP for 60')
- CP (Monod regression on 5' and 20' power)
- 0.95*MAP20' (H. Allen approach)

On average MNP60' overstimates MAP60' by 7%, 0.95*MAP20 overestimates MAP60' by 6% and CP by 4%.

Bun ANOVA doesn't reject avg(MAP60')=avg(MNP60')=avg(CP)=avg(0.95*MAP20') using alpha=0.05.

Ale Martínez.

Sillyoldtwit

Strange, but I was also wondering about the merits of a topic such as this.

Most posters with the exception of 2 or 3, have pretty impressive figures.
How many of the 1600 riders who have checked out this thread can get anywhere near said figures?

I think there are 5 posssible reactions upon reading the figures posted here.

1) So what? I'll continue doing my thing.

2) A feeling of inferiority/frustration/disbelief etc.

3) Something must be wrong with my training method.

4) Resignation/I give up.

5) Inspiration/determination to improve.

Although I place myself in the last category, I haven't been training seriously for that long, and I feel there is still room for improvement. But what about riders who have been slogging away for years, and are nowhere near those figures quoted.
I remember RD saying to me last year (when I was churning out 250W 20 minute intervals and was dissatisfied), "many riders in my club would love to have an FTP of 250Watts".

All I can say is, yes you can continue to improve, however, if you chose the wrong father, no amount of hard structured training will get you to a 300 watts plus FTP. Accept that life is unfair and at some point you will hit the wall. I have come to realize that an FTP of 300 Watts is no mean feat.

One final illustration. A guy in the gym 6 years younger than me, has been following my training pattern for more than 6 months now and is still struggling at 165 Watts!
Enjoy cycling and improving to the best of your ability. We can't all be Lances. Especially not at my age.
TYSON

EDIT: It just occurred to me that the "Killing me thread" although the figures are nowhere near as high as the ones posted in this thread, may give rise to the above 5 reactions. In particular young guys thinking; how come that silly old fart can do those figures, when I in my 20s can't? Ah well!

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MY02_STi

....what the heck, nothing to lose

Age: 51
Category: Masters (Australia)
Weight: 79 kilos (185.5 cm)
Years Training: 3 years (this time around)
Average Weekly Hours: 12


5 Second: 1084
1 Minute: 556
5 Minute: 378
20 Minute: 319 AP 348 NP
60 Minutes: 265 AP 321 NP

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