Newton Heights - A Race Course In Numbers

Riding with a power meter can help put things in perspective.

So does riding Newton Heights! (One of the local weekly road race courses. Short, hilly course.)

There's really no hiding, and where the number of laps = Z, it's Z x [big anaerobic efforts].

The Basics

I rode a few laps with the pack tonight, and then off the back, to get some baseline numbers.

A typical lap with the pack sees about 1min of climbing, and my wattage (at ~165lbs, plus a slightly heavier winter bike with fenders) was ~500w for that kind of effort.

It looks a bit like this: 650w for the first 22 seconds to get to the top of the steep bit, and then ~440w for the other 28 second. (There's about 10 seconds of easier climbing [like 300-400w] that you roll into at speed at the start.)

As the watts go down, so does the time to complete the climb..350w takes more like 1:30 to do. About 26 seconds still above 500w on the steep bit, and the other minute closer to 280w.

Watts will vary for weight, but that's a good baseline.

Watt It Means (har har)

Completing this course in the upper levels of the A pack requires being able to hold 500w efforts for 1min 15 times.

In universal terms that's about 6.9w/kg for 1min efforts.

Oh Yes - Recovery

Oh, and recovery. Typical lap times are just over 2mins, so you have 1min to recover...half is a coast down the hill, unlikely to see much race action there, but on the other side there could be attacks leading to the hill, so even if you can sustain the above, you *still* need to have something in the tank to respond to other efforts. Or if someone goes even harder up the hill. Etc. Etc.

What This Means If You're The Shish

Stay the frell* home!!!

My peak 1min power is 540w. As in: i ride as hard as i can for 1min, and it's gonna be around 540w. And then i puke a few times, and get towed home with my ass in a sling. (Okay, slight exaggeration, but definitely need significant recovery after that type of effort.)

I just don't have the engine to compete with my peers at this event, straight-up, and there's nothing i can do about it (ie, hide in the draft). I can manage the slower 1:30 pace, but that's pretty much red line, and not a lot of fun, as i'm getting caught every 4 laps or so, and too fatigued to stand any chance of sitting back in...

It's an exercise in futility, if VCL points are the goal, and more than 10 riders complete the race. ;)

* bonus points to anyone who actually knows the reference

Dedication

Today a good riding friend, Gillian Carleton, was smucked by a car (sounds like a similar situation to me a couple months ago, but apparently at a higher speed) and she'll need a few weeks to recover. This is really sad and frustrating news as she was really picking up speed, and had her sights set on storming a few big events (and she would have dominated!!) as well as organizing the OBB women's team; hopefully this doesn't hold her back, and i hope to see her back on her feet pronto.

Heal up quick, Gillian!! =)

http://oakbaybikes.com/get-better-soon-gillian/


And...

If you're one of the the vegan cyclists out there, join our fun new community site:

http://VeganVelo.com

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============

It's Like Being Pregnant

9 months...

That's how much racing there is for me...i've started, and will be going until the end of November - woo woo!

There will be naseousness, fatigue, mood swings, body image issues, elevated and depleted hormone levels...all as my body feeds a hungry set of quintuplets to maturity.

Who am i kidding, muscles never mature. I'd rather be pregnant!! =P

Anyway, back into the swing of things... First up, should mention i was smucked by a car a month ago. Well, technically i smucked a car. I was riding home on the Goose, and a car failed to stop at the stop sign, and i didn't have time to react other than run into the rear end of the Subaru. The driver was mortified, and apologized thoroughly, although admitted she didn't even see the stop sign, and was only looking for pedestrians at the painted cross-walk. She's new to town, and didn't expect faster moving cyclists on the trail, and only looked for walkers at the edge of the road. Not an excuse, but an explanation. And perhaps the City of Victoria could look into the matter, and present clear postings on this section of the Goose that it's also (primarily?) a bike trail, and to expect faster-moving traffic...

I mainly landed on my upper butt and back of my head...i was able to ride home (uncomfortably), but i discovered that that part of my butt is essential for sprinting and power efforts...took me three weeks to be able to hit over 1000 watts.... I think i'm mostly recovered now, hopefully nothing long-lasting.

Gear was damaged, and is being replaced, including my trusty old Argon18 Krypton (alloy front, carbon rear) winter bike frame...it lasted nearly 5 years i think....or was it 7?? In its place will be a full carbon Ridley Orion - yip! It should be ready tomorrow (thanks Oak Bay Bikes!) A few other odds'n'ends were replaced, like my helmet.

So, now up to two Ridley's (with my Noah of course), and will be three come the fall, when i upgrade my Salsa and switch over (most likely) to a X-Knight. Yum.

So...races...

Lots going on, but haven't been out to some...missed the Blubber Burn due to feeling crappy, and similar issue with the Island Cup MTB race at the Dump (was kept up most of the night by people upstairs...ugh..)

So, first race was the VCL Caleb Pike. Ate just before the start, and my stomach crapped out when the intensity picked up...so it was a 1x100min interval for me...haha.. Kept ahead of the B's for an hour, so that was something.

Next race was the Dallas Rd Monster Drag, super-fun event and format. Let's just say 4th was actually 1st. ;)

Was really impressed with the fixie riders, many made it up the Uplands hill with the front, and stuck in for a while.

That was last Saturday, and Sunday was the return of the Latoria course to the VCL, still has a hill in it, but quite a few less meters of elevation.

Been burning the candle at both ends the last couple weeks, so didn't have a lot of kick, and again got dropped fairly early on. TT'd the rest of the event, and the B's didn't even catch me....how odd! Solid watts tho, despite fatigue.

Speaking of which, TSS for the last two weeks was about 805 and 840, and 700 is a pretty hard week for me, so it's safe to say i'm working it..hoping to get above 850 this week, but have a sinus issue that's putting me out, so might not quite achieve that, only did 1hr on Tuesday instead of the planned 5x5mins session.

Training has been great otherwise tho, lots of quality time the last couple weeks, couldn't do anything sprinty, so more like 2x20min efforts. But will be dropping down to 5mins efforts and shorter in the upcoming weeks. Not next week tho, rest week!

That's enough blabbering, more soon!

=============

Dave's Latest Twitter Updates

follow me on Twitter

=============