Power (meters) to the People
Bicycle power metering came into my life rather quickly, on a June morning, at 5:30 a.m.
in the Leadville, Colorado high school cafeteria.
I was riding The Bicycle Tour of Colorado, a seven day grind of climbing over some of
the highest passes in ythe U.S. Just having spent a restless night in a tent along with 1,500 other people in 0 degree(C) temps and at 10,000 feet(3050 M.) I wasn't at all
ready for what was about to happen.
Had to pee at 5 a.m.. Drug myself out of the tent, did my thing, said "screw it, I'm up",
and went to breakfast. Got my food and sat down across from a man, already in
cycling gear, who was avidly telling anyone who would listen, and some who wouldn't,
about all the info his power meter, heart monitor, and cadence counter had deposited
into his watch. I had heard a few people dicuss wattage and the like before but never like this. It was a dissertation by a man obsessed and it was 5:30 in the morning. My first
thought was "I'll have what he's having". Instead I ate guickly and made a clean getaway,
before he could turn his attention toward me. I simply can't process that much information
that early in the day.
Later that morning, about 30 or 40 miles into the days ride, I was toughing it out up a long climb when I saw a familiar jersey ahead. It was "power meter guy" from breakfast.
As I pedaled alongside I asked how he was doing. Expecting an answer along the lines of "good, and you" or "this climb really sucks". But no, without a word he reached for his
watch on the bars and started punching buttons. When he spoke it went something
like this "Well, we're on a 7 percent grade and my wattage is up 10 percent over
yesterdays average but that was a 6 percent climb. my cadence is down but my
heartrate is higher than...........". I rode with him for a bit and listened, in awe, at the
seemingly endless facts and figures that this small device provided. As I started pulling
ahead I said "hey, sounds good", for lack of anything else that came to mind. He responded saying " If I can get my heartrate down 10 beats and my cadence up
then........"All I could do was up my tempo a bit and leave him with his "information".
To this day I have not yet joined the "legions of power". At 59 I'm not at all sure what it
would do for me except drain my billfold and confuse my already addled brain.
I am reminded of a rider, in our local racing club, who was trying to sell a basic bike
computer on the clubs wed site want ads. "To much for me to deal with" was his quote.
Thanks for listening, if you made it this far.
Dennis Noward
in the Leadville, Colorado high school cafeteria.
I was riding The Bicycle Tour of Colorado, a seven day grind of climbing over some of
the highest passes in ythe U.S. Just having spent a restless night in a tent along with 1,500 other people in 0 degree(C) temps and at 10,000 feet(3050 M.) I wasn't at all
ready for what was about to happen.
Had to pee at 5 a.m.. Drug myself out of the tent, did my thing, said "screw it, I'm up",
and went to breakfast. Got my food and sat down across from a man, already in
cycling gear, who was avidly telling anyone who would listen, and some who wouldn't,
about all the info his power meter, heart monitor, and cadence counter had deposited
into his watch. I had heard a few people dicuss wattage and the like before but never like this. It was a dissertation by a man obsessed and it was 5:30 in the morning. My first
thought was "I'll have what he's having". Instead I ate guickly and made a clean getaway,
before he could turn his attention toward me. I simply can't process that much information
that early in the day.
Later that morning, about 30 or 40 miles into the days ride, I was toughing it out up a long climb when I saw a familiar jersey ahead. It was "power meter guy" from breakfast.
As I pedaled alongside I asked how he was doing. Expecting an answer along the lines of "good, and you" or "this climb really sucks". But no, without a word he reached for his
watch on the bars and started punching buttons. When he spoke it went something
like this "Well, we're on a 7 percent grade and my wattage is up 10 percent over
yesterdays average but that was a 6 percent climb. my cadence is down but my
heartrate is higher than...........". I rode with him for a bit and listened, in awe, at the
seemingly endless facts and figures that this small device provided. As I started pulling
ahead I said "hey, sounds good", for lack of anything else that came to mind. He responded saying " If I can get my heartrate down 10 beats and my cadence up
then........"All I could do was up my tempo a bit and leave him with his "information".
To this day I have not yet joined the "legions of power". At 59 I'm not at all sure what it
would do for me except drain my billfold and confuse my already addled brain.
I am reminded of a rider, in our local racing club, who was trying to sell a basic bike
computer on the clubs wed site want ads. "To much for me to deal with" was his quote.
Thanks for listening, if you made it this far.
Dennis Noward
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Comments
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What nonsense.0
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Which part?blackhands wrote:What nonsense.
Do I detect somebody who owns a power meter? In which case I presume you have a coach and a precise training programme based upon power which allows you to make full use of it?0 -
Bit curious as to why you emailed me dennisn. I hadn't contributed to this post adn I'm not intrested in powermeters right now thanks!
Please don't bother to email again. there is already a function on this forum that alerts me to topics of interest.0 -
There was a quote from David Millar from this year's Tour when Mark Cavendish apparently rode up alongside him and told him how he couldn't believe his powermeter had just registered 550 watts as the bunch caned it up some climb. David told him to stop watching his bloody powermeter and get on with the racing!
Lots of information is a good thing.....................if you know how to interpret it. Otherwise it's just meaningless numbers.
Have to agree with Dennis that cycling seems to attract "characters" - I had a conversation with a guy at a time trial at 5:30am about the benefits of normally aspirated diesel engines of the humble petrol engine - well, he was talking, I was trying to warm up on my rollers with my headphones as loud as they'd go so I didn't have to listen to him!0 -
ut_och_cykla wrote:Bit curious as to why you emailed me dennisn. I hadn't contributed to this post adn I'm not intrested in powermeters right now thanks!
Please don't bother to email again. there is already a function on this forum that alerts me to topics of interest.
You had made a comment about power metering on one of my earlier posts.0 -
aracer wrote:
Which part?blackhands wrote:What nonsense.
Do I detect somebody who owns a power meter? In which case I presume you have a coach and a precise training programme based upon power which allows you to make full use of it?
Yes, No I don't have a coach as I am one having coached riders up to Olympic Medal standard and I am a Physiologist and currently doing research in exercise physiology.
However, that isn;t the reason why I made the comment. How does the writer know whether or not the person with the power meter was working near to their full potential than he was - just because he could pull away from this pwrson is meaningless. You might as well have a post from Lance Armstrong riding a shopper making comments about ordinary riders going on about their Colnagos.
OK, people with all the gear who never stop talking about it are a pain in backside - as are the whole host of people on here who have owned a £500 Specialized Allez for six months and talk as if they knew everything. But in either case it doesn't make them bad riders.0 -
Is he trying to sell something ? I can't make it out.0
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Fair enough. In which case there is a point in you having one.blackhands wrote:Yes, No I don't have a coach as I am one having coached riders up to Olympic Medal standard and I am a Physiologist and currently doing research in exercise physiology.
I'd suggest that you're quite unusual though, and that for most people on here who might own one it's just another toy (it certainly would be for me, much as I would enjoy having one).0 -
ut_och_cykla wrote:Bit curious as to why you emailed me dennisn. I hadn't contributed to this post adn I'm not intrested in powermeters right now thanks!
Please don't bother to email again. there is already a function on this forum that alerts me to topics of interest.
why are you trying to publicly humilate dennisn ?0 -
Had to pee at 5 a.m.. Drug myself out of the tent,
What did you drug yourself with?
Maybe it increased your power outut 
respectez le bitumen0 -
Apologies for quoting like a numpty on previous post. Dohrespectez le bitumen0
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It does seem to me as if Dennis is just complaining about other people owning power meters whilst having a thinly disguised boast about how good he is. He's plainly just getting old, oldies love to whinge about this kind of thing.
Hypocrisy is only a bad thing in other people.0 -
G man wrote:Apologies for quoting like a numpty on previous post. Doh
D'yer think that was the secret of his overtaking, his increased power 'outut'
If so can maybe one of these coach type chappies/chapesses can clue me up on how to increase my power outut. They seem to know everything else and don't mind telling people either._________________________
Errrrrrmmmmmm..........0
