Concept2 Forum

Ran accross this interesting link:
http://www.velonews.com/photo/71994

It shows the power output of one cyclist from stage three of last years Tour Of California. It is hard to read but the yellow line is power output, scale on the left and The bottom scale rangers from zero to about 4 hours and 10 minutes.

Note the variation in power output required. He averaged 220Watts, but his peak power was:
765W for 5 seconds,
614W for 10"
595W for 20"
561W for 30"
518W for 1 minute,
485 for 2'
441 for 5'
406 for 10'
385 for 20'
343 for 30'
300W for 60'
Don't know how big he is or how he did in that stage, but I don't recall him being among the leaders.

Note power on a bicycle measures higher then on the erg--not sure by how much but something on the order of 40W is proabably a good guess. Also one usually spends most of the race trying to minimize power expenditures not trying to go as fast as possible.

Nosmo wrote:

Also one usually spends most of the race trying to minimize power expenditures not trying to go as fast as possible.

Exactly! For example, during a hilly road race a trick is to get near the front of the pack at the beginning of a long climb, and slowly drift back so you're not climbing as hard but not so far back that you're in danger of being dropped. The next lull in the race, usually on a downhill, you slowly get back near the front of the pack. Phil Ligget, when he calls the Tour de France, seems to miss this point. When he sees someone drifting back on an uphill, he usually says "he's cracking!" Maybe, but maybe not. It could be a rider trying to save energy.

In a criterium with a lot of corners, if you're not at the front you can mitigate the accordion effect by not stomping on it once you're around the corner, but rather slowly drift back because you know the front is going to hit the brakes at the next corner. And then there is the art of wheel-sucking.

You have hit the nail on the head. You try to work the least amount possible during a bike race, and that is in contrast to rowing.

Byron