"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - 310 watts, 39kph, HR 129 BPM ... and only "cruising"

velonews race report ...
"We're getting power, speed and heart-rate readings courtesy of SRM and CyclingPeaks. Beat Zberg, for example, is cruising along at 39kph, putting out 310 watts of power and has a heart-rate of 129."

310 ... that's just above my LT :(

The powers of endurance. Those numbers really make you impressed by the athletes!!!

I don't have a powertap or anything, but I can tell you that 129 doesn't equal 39kph for me unless I'm descending...

DrPete

lol. If I saw 39 kph and 310W, it would be only in my dreams - no, make that more like a wild fantasy

I could do 39kph and 310W, but at about 190bpm. I bet that guy was solidly in the peleton, but still!

This my friends is why they are there and we are here! ;)

This my friends is why they are there and we are here! ;)

and probably having a better life than a good percentage of those pros. I'm shocked at some of the things I've heard about how little a lot of the pros make. There was a recent post about how some guys sign a "public" contract and are then forced to sign an illegal one under the table with much poorer opay, etc.

any idea what the average guy in the peloton makes? We've all heard about guys like Armstrong, yada-yada, but what about other domestiques on the Disco squad or other teams?

i rarely go below 125bpm on the bike. and that's at like 9mph coasting around.

and probably having a better life than a good percentage of those pros. I'm shocked at some of the things I've heard about how little a lot of the pros make. There was a recent post about how some guys sign a "public" contract and are then forced to sign an illegal one under the table with much poorer opay, etc.

any idea what the average guy in the peloton makes? We've all heard about guys like Armstrong, yada-yada, but what about other domestiques on the Disco squad or other teams?

To really get a good idea of what life as pro is like go back and read an article by Johnathan Vaughters about his TIAA-CREF team. After reading that I thought that even if had the ability I'm sure I'd have the desire.

Ok, trying to make myself feel better here, but while the HR and Speed make perfect sense for the Peloton (25mph, maybe 65-70% MHR) is it possible that the wattage was just an instantaneous wattage? After all, when most of us look at our power graphs, even though we may average say 200watts, there are spikes of 350 or 400 watts all over the place for a second or two. Wattage graphs are rarely steady other than time trialing or climbing. I ask this because I seem to remember a story about Flandis being in the middle of the peloton, keeping his HR in the 65-70% range and averaging 200 watts, over the 6 hour ride. (of course the article also said that 260 watts for 6 hours was no difficulty for him but still) It just seems to me that a good portion of the peloton likely have threshold numbers in the low to mid 400's and that 310 watts would likley stress most of them just a wee bit more than that.

Here's hoping I am not so lowly.

Is it possible that the wattage was just an instantaneous wattage?

That's got to be it. The numbers don't really add up otherwise. It's an essentially dead-flat stage, so if he's in the middle of the peloton it's likely he would be going closer to 45+ kph at that wattage.

BTW, during today's ride I had a heart rate of 134 bpm with a wattage of 766. For about 1 second.

--Steve

To really get a good idea of what life as pro is like go back and read an article by Johnathan Vaughters about his TIAA-CREF team. After reading that I thought that even if had the ability I'm sure I'd have the desire.

Does anyone know where I can find this article?

Ok, trying to make myself feel better here, but while the HR and Speed make perfect sense for the Peloton (25mph, maybe 65-70% MHR) is it possible that the wattage was just an instantaneous wattage? After all, when most of us look at our power graphs, even though we may average say 200watts, there are spikes of 350 or 400 watts all over the place for a second or two. Wattage graphs are rarely steady other than time trialing or climbing. I ask this because I seem to remember a story about Flandis being in the middle of the peloton, keeping his HR in the 65-70% range and averaging 200 watts, over the 6 hour ride. (of course the article also said that 260 watts for 6 hours was no difficulty for him but still) It just seems to me that a good portion of the peloton likely have threshold numbers in the low to mid 400's and that 310 watts would likley stress most of them just a wee bit more than that.

Here's hoping I am not so lowly.


I've got some power data for last year's TdF in my notes somewhere. I went to a clinic by Allen Lim and he talked about all sorts of data and so I wrote it all down. As soon as I find my notes I will post the stuff here. He had data on Floyd, Lance, Basso and also numbers on the average tour pros. Not just for threshold power (ie MSSL) but also peak power, LT (ie 1mmol increase above baseline) and all sorts of other stuff.

That's a pro bike racer.

Don't kid yourself you're from the same planet! :D