1000 watts for 1min proof

I’m Calum Brown, a Hill Climb TT specialist in the UK. I thought I would post evidence of me doing over 1000w for 60sec because whether or not this was possible was something I would have loved to have known previously.

So if anyone is in the same boat and like me was frustrated about the lack of available information… I’m happy to be transparent with my numbers and show at least what I’ve managed so far.

I’m not a massive guy so God knows that some of the big kilo riders are capable of !! Info is scarce. My training weight is 80kg (176lbs). Competition weight goes down to ~76kg (167lbs).

I was close to achieving it while racing some Hill Climbs TTs last year but I’m much fitter this year and have done it twice (on two different powermeters) within training now. While 60sec power wasn’t a goal for me this year, I think 1100w for 60sec appears feasible once I peak for competitions!

60sec 1071w (powertap G3 hub)-
https://www.strava.com/activities/3455026181

60sec 1032w (quark dzero cranks)-
https://www.strava.com/activities/3772403538

30sec 1402w (powertap G3 hub)-
https://www.strava.com/activities/3331690660

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Damn good work man!! What’s your FTP if that’s not a secret :sweat_smile:

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there is another thread with members of the ‘1000W for 1-min’ club :+1:

here it is:

believe you are mentioned in it!

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Cheers, I’ve seen that thread. Almost spat out my coffee when my name popped up haha.

There is no mention of anyone having done 1000w for 1min on that thread and it was getting a bit long so I thought I’d start a new thread so people don’t have to read through a bunch of speculation before finding an answer.

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No secrets. My FTP is 370 (~4.6w/kg).

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Sorry for the off topic but that’s about 2 miles from where I grew up / where my mum still lives. Small world!

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You could make a recovery shake with that kind of power!

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What kind of workouts/training did you do to target this kind of effort?

This is crazy, my ftp isn’t too far off this but my 1 min is 660 :sob: massive props for this effort!

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I was close to doing it last year but honestly the training to add an extra 100w was doing loads of zone 2 (5 zone model).

Counter intuitive but aerobic power is an area I know I have big improvements to make, where as training anaerobically I think would yield me diminishing returns.

My previous sport (quite a while ago now) was decathlon so I think the years of sprint and power training on the athletics track have earned me a bigger anaerobic capacity than your traditional cyclist.

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Nice work Calum. :muscle:t2:

Your 30s power is as impressive as your 1m to be honest.

I actually saw (and was a bit dumbstruck) by your power numbers for the hill climb up what was (in August 2019) the steepest hill in the world, Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech in North Wales.

You hit 1000w+ for around 50s IIRC :+1:t2:

For comparison with a ‘normal’ person I had a pop at the same hill 10 days later and only managed 1:33 (you did 43s on the same segment).

https://www.strava.com/segments/3615085/compare/NjYxMTQxMjc0NjgsNjU1MzM2OTQ0NjM=

My absolute best ever 1m power is only 726w and sadly I’m a middle aged plodder :grin:

Here is a photo of me reaching (struggling) the half way point which is around the time you will have been done at the top :joy::joy:

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It would taste of iron and bile, I would imagine…

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Go on YouTube and check the Red bull San Francisco Climb events…I believe Chris Tolley won it at some point and averaged about the same… You can see his numbers on the ride.

Congrats on your numbers, you sir belong to the 1% club.

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Yeah but you could put in ice!

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That guy is awesome. His commentary on his Red Bull Hill Climb is well worth a watch hahaha !

“930w for a minute, which is pretty sick, I defiantly think the highest power I’ve ever done” @ over 185lbs (84kg)

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Trawling the internet, anecdotally appears to be around 12w/kg for the top Kilo riders, so around 11-1200w for 1m for the heavier guys.
Huge watts, while also holding an aero tuck and churning a massive gear at ludicrous cadence…

You would have been a very competitive track sprinter I think, had your athletic career go down the cycling route rather than decathlon!

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Outta curiosity what are your 5 and 10s max???

I dont know actually. Last time I tested that short a duration was over 2 years ago. I did some digging and found back then on a Wattbike Pro I hit-

5sec 2057w
10sec 1835w

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:astonished:

Going to go out on a limb here and say that your powermeter(s) are wildly miscalibrated, not because I believe you are incapable of doing 1000+ watts for a minute, but because the TrainingPeaks images you shared show your 2-3hr rides accumulating 2000-3000 TSS. For reference, bigger 5-6hr rides will yield more like 300-400TSS. I think your powermeter(s) are reading consistently very high. I apologize if I’m wrong, as I don’t mean this as a personal attack. I’ve had this issue in the past. Best, G

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