Power in 3/4 races

Anonymous

chipperleenie wrote:

Hey Joey - what racing have you done before?

Surely you have done some time trials or something, hence the need for a powertap in the first place.

Knowing what average power other people are producing in a 3/4 race is a bit pointless to say the least.

People saying positions are whats important are right - it doesn't ask for your power output on the BC entry form

Why not just enter a race and see if you can keep up, then analyse YOUR data afterwards to see where you need to improve.

Road racing is nowhere near controlled and uniform as a time trial or a training session. The pace is dictated by any of the riders in the race so you cannot ride as steady a race that you may want to, unless you want to ride on your own - but I think they are called time trials

Or in a break and monitoring your effort...

joeyhalloran

Yeah, I ride mainly TTs, pbs from last few months have been 22.53 and 56.34 for 10 and 25 respectively (hence the powertap). I have done a few TLI's and to be honest, handles them ok (finished about 20 in the first one, scratch group caught up so there were some fast guys in there, 2nd one I wasn't feeling too hot, lead out a team mate in the sprint and closed gaps later in the race...he came 4th so I gave myself a pat on the back). BUT the TLI's are shorter and I imagine of a slightly lesser standard than the BC racing.

Either way I have entered a few over later summer to give it a go!

chipperleenie

Joey - if you can do those times in time trials, your power output is not going ot be an issue at all in road races, main things will be whether you can cope with the jumping around, its worse in 3/4 races than it is in 2/3 or 1/2/3 races which will be faster but steadier, and your bunch riding skills.

paddlemyowncanoe

I'm with joey,Napoleon, nolf and others on this thread. I have a PT and it has made my training more specific and economic in terms of time. I don't look at power during a race but it is very useful afterwards working out what went well, or why I was rubbish.

I'm a third cat, close to getting second. In the races where I get points, which is probably 2/3, my NP is always around FTP and my AP around 15% less. I'm not good enough to hold a break so rely on the sprint - where I point it's almost always 20-30 seconds at 2xFTP, or 8W/kg. My FTP is exactly 4W/kg. My peak 5 secs is 15W/kg but rarely use it in a race. Lots of corners though need a 12W/kg to punch out out and keep up. Again and again and again.

My view is that racing is an attrition test - the ones that hurt the least for the bit leading to the last 5 mins are more likely to be strong enough, and confident enough, to work for that last 5 mins to ensure a great position for the last corner then the sprint. If you have to save anything for the sprint, you are stuffed. To hurt the least and to take part in the race (ie up the front 'cone') you need approx 4W/kg. To get there, train FTP specifically, with a PM, and lose weight.

Easy to say.....

smallangryman

jibberjim wrote:

JoeyHalloran wrote:

Mine is currently 3.7 ish, but have a bit of weight to lose and a few months to find some watts. Also, that is using ftp from a TT race, so might be higher on a road bike and with a more open hip angle.

Unless you're 50kg's, because most races in the UK absolute watts can make more difference than simply w/kg you should have little problem racing a 3/4 race, although it may take you a few goes to get use to holding the bunch.

Get some good group ride practice in first to limit that.

Bingo - I'm about 4w/kg but at 50kgs that counts for not much unless the road is properly going up!