jj<
[email protected]> wrote:
>One of our local cyclists said in an email to our cycling list that in
>order to ride with their group you needed to be capable of outputting 44
>watts per kg at your lactate threshold.
>
>I sort of know what he's saying, but I'm wondering if there's a better way
>to put it for the average recreational cyclist.
>
>I'm able to go 11mph rather easily on a 5% grade for 2-4 miles. That's
>about the best stat I can come up with. How does this compare? I figure I'm
>doing about 225 watts.
>
>Since I weigh about 100kg, I guess that means I'm only half-way there?
>
>TIA,
>
>jj
I think we have some math issues here . . . somewhere.
Lance is capable of 7W/Kg.
225 watts for a 100Kg person is 2.25 W/Kg
Sprinters can generate higher power/weight ratios. Brad McGee
generates 530 watts for his 72Kg (7.36 W/Kg).
It's said you need to sustain 7 to win a mountain stage in the Tour.
Here's a good article with some info on the topic:
http://www.nyvelocity.com/content.php?id=108
Quoted. See the link for more details and graphics:
Here are the profiles of two top professionals:
Lance Armstrong
WEIGHT: 70 kg
Height :180cm
Resting heart rate: 32-34
VO2ml/kg: 83.8
Max power at VO2: 600 watts
Max heart rate: 201
Lactate Threshold HR: 178
Time Trial HR: 188-192
MSS 460-500 (500 divided by 70 = over 7 watts to the kilogram)
Brad McGee
Weight: 72 kg / 159 lbs
HEIGHT:182.5 cm
VO2MAX:89/mmol/min/kg
THRESHOLD:390-410 Watts at 195-205bpm
Average wattage for 4000 meter individual Pursuit: 530+ watts.
(Pursuit world record is 3:30 so that's a long time to ride over
threshold, a unique ability of the Pursuit rider)
If you want to win the Tour De France you will need a Power to kilo
ratio of at least 7.00 for the mountains. In other words if you can
sustain seven watts for each kilo you weigh for about half an hour you
can ride the Pyrenees with the elite group. Lance Armstrong weighs
about 70 kilos (160 pounds) so he had to put out an average of 490
watts to clock 39 minutes up the Alp D'Huez, 7 watts for each kilo for
almost 40 minutes.
Of course watts per kilos became more important as the grade gets
steeper. On a flat or a sprint the weight of the rider and bicycle
have little effect, aerodynamics become much more important than
weight. That's why time trialists and sprinters use heavier
aerodynamic wheels. Damiano Cunego weights 58 kilos - 128 pounds, his
anaerobic threshold is 420 watts that gives him a world class power to
weight ratio of more than seven watts per kilogram. So he has an
advantage in the mountain but it is somewhat neutralized in a flat
time trial. In a time trial a rider like Jan Ullrich may not have the
power to weight advantage of a 'pure climber' but his ability to
generate more power still gives him the edge. So to improve you must
either lose weight or gain power, usually losing weight is the easier
of the two, that’s why most Cat 4s think that if they just dropped
enough weight they could join the pro tour. As Homer Simpson says "In
theory Communism works too."
The same holds true for sprinting. Marty Nothstien weighted 220 pounds
or 100 kilos in the 1996 Olympics, it takes a lot of power to get that
much weight up to 45+ MPH but with maximum power at over 2200 watts at
peak his engine was more than big enough. That’s well above great road
sprinters who are comparatively small like Cipollini (1900 watt max)
or Pettachi (reported 1700 watts). Conversely Chris Boardman was able
to produce over 440 watts for an hour to break the hour record but his
top power in a sprint was only 1000 watts, not enough to win a cat 5
sprint at Floyd Bennett Field. With power testing a cyclist quickly
realizes what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Okay good for them what about you and me?
The average Cat 4 park racer can produce seven watts per kilogram of
body weight for about one minute and around two minutes for a Cat 2.
In fact the average racer is much closer to an elite local racer than
that elite rider is to a top pro.