Well it’s hard to gauge when you’re doing it isn’t it? Certainly I’m not looking at the speedo for a cut off point
Always have the power on, when it feels like I need to go over 100rpm to get some resistance I reckon I can stop pedalling. On 50/11 that over 50kph.
I’ve tried even power uphill and downhill for years, but that just isn’t reality. By all means cap your power uphill, and take it a bit easier on the downhill or coast if you’ve achieved escape velocity.
Triathletes should certainly train over threshold. Depending on the distance then going over threshold in races is something to approach with a bit of caution though. Efforts above threshold on the bike can really crush your run if you overdo it. Going slightly too hard on the bike typically loses you a lot more time overall than going slightly too easy on the bike. Really thinking of 70.3 and IM distance here, shorter distances are a bit more forgiving.
Definitely agree with the overall principle that whatever your target power or power cap is that the fastest pacing strategy isn’t entirely even (unless it’s a completely flat and windless course…) and you should put out a bit more on climbs/headwinds and a bit less on tailwinds/descents. But do think you want to keep the power range quite a bit tighter for tris where you need to run off the bike than TTs where you want to completely empty the tank.
Presumably you’re not riding at threshold for an IM anyway, due to the length? So you could go above your average power, and still stay under threshold?
Lets get technical here on what “Consistent” means in a TT context, please. Advice from Power meter books is that a VI (Variability Index) of 1.05 or less is best overall for a TT. I usually manage to hit that, and often much lower (1.018) in my events, even sporting 10s, and rolling DC 100milers. That is despite high winds and long tedious rolling hills on a DC course.
You save time pushing up hills and into the wind. you don’t waste energy trying to output 400W to gain 1mph down a fast hill when you are already doing 35mph. However, pushing up a hill can gain you 3-5mph on the way up. Its simple.
Or as I prefer to call it, the Widow Maker. The first down ramp put me on collision course with a juggernaut, as did the second. I’m still scared just thinking about it some two (or three?) years later! I’m never doing that course again
(EDIT It was four years ago)
There’s definitely space for coasting on Q10/18 as well, on the Polhill descent
They make a good point, but it would be more precise to aim the lowest normalized power while still being in a position to win. Sometimes that means pedaling where you could be coasting so that you don’t have huge power spikes.
This is a bad idea. I think he’s wrong. More power into headwind guarantees more aero drag energy losses.
If running uneven power approach, it should be:
Higher power where you feel less wind on your front. (accelerating, uphill, tailwind)
Lower power where you feel more wind on your front. (downhill, headwind)
Changes to power should be substantially more subtle for wind-based adjustments than for grade-based adjustments.
Rationale: You’ll be traveling slower and cause more time-cost if you don’t keep power reasonable into the headwind. Power can be dropped substantially on mild descents with very little time-cost.
Related info, when cars pass you in the same direction as your travel, drag losses are reduced as a percentage of your power output. It’s a great time to sit up and modestly increase power output. The opposite of both is true when you have oncoming traffic creating momentarily increased drag losses: get small and marginally drop power.
I don’t think so? Aero drag increases with the square of velocity I think, so is disproportionally (well, squared) higher at higher speeds. So the higher the speed, the more important it is to be aero and the less impact an increase in pedalling power has.
Agreed. The statement I shared oversimplifies it for sure, but I think the point is still made. Keeping the goal simple means it is easier to remember for me. Trying to run through a flow chart of if statements while pinned in a race would not serve me well, so I keep it simple to execute.
This is true but it is the relative velocity of you to the air. Not your speed relative to the ground (your GPS speed). So if you are going 15mph into a 10mph headwind then your aero drag will be the same as going 25mph with no wind. Well it’ll be slightly different because your wheels will be rotating slower but for all intents and purposes it’s the same.