Average power question

supermurph09

Hi

Looking at my power data from last night, best average 20min power was 259W, yet for 21min 30secs I had a best average power of 260W. How can that be? Am I being stupid?

Thanks

term1te

If your max power output was during the first minute and last minute of your 21.30 session the 20minute average will be lower than the 21.30 average. For any 20minutes during the session, you'd have to lose some of your max power, either from the start or finish.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Imagine you rode as follows:
1-min @ 300W, then 2-min @ 100W, then 1-min @ 300W

Based on that power file, the maximal average power over various durations is as follows:
1-min max = 300W
2-min max = 200W
3-min max = 167W
4-min max = 200W

supermurph09

Aaah I see, great posts, thank you.