Kipper

I have been back on the bike for a while and replaced my wind trainer with a Kurt K. I have the computer that shows wattage output. So, for a recreational rider +- 100 miles a week, what is a respectable output average over an hour to an hour and a half on the trainer? Just looking for a comparison/goal. What about an average for a more advanced rider?

THX

kensuf

The magic number is always 400.

waterrockets 

That's a pretty tough question to answer. It depends on what kind of miles you're riding. I only ride 75 miles/week, but I'm a lot stronger than some of my friends who ride 250+ miles because of the kinds of miles I put in (sprints, intervals, hill repeats, TTs, and occasionally a fast terrain-driven effort).

I have no idea what my actual power is, but analyticcycling tells me I held around 330W for my personal record local TT effort. Sounds kind of high to me..

It may not be too far off, since it also estimates my sprint effort at around 950W, which sounds about right base on sprinting against friends with powertaps. It's also showing 570W for a 3 minute effort up the local hill climb (Jester). So the numbers probably aren't too far off.

Anyway, I'm a "recreational rider." <shrug> I guess for an hour, I could probably hold 225W or 250W, based on the numbers above?

dsb137

Rather than just a power 'number'... Why not divide your output by your weight in Kg, then you can compare to the power profiles at cycling peaks...

https://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/...profile_v4.gif

Kipper

Magic? That'd be a miracle!



Watterrockets, I guess what I am asking (for apples to apples) is for a TT like output (just going hard) on a Kurt K. trainer (or similar) with watt computer for an hour or so. I know its tough to do a comparison for riding out in the real world...I'm just looking for a reference point.

mike9903

How accurate do you think that the Cyclestats avg power number that it gives when you enter your data into the program??

3MTA3

recreational rider? meh, who cares. just have fun & keep the rubber side down.

NomadVW 

I have a powertap and still use cyclistats for some of my record keeping. I can say that the numbers it defaults to (not changing the elevation gained or any of the other aero specific settings) have been off anywhere from 10-60 watts, above and below my actual average.

probable556

How accurate are the watts measurements on the elliptical trainers at the gym?

grebletie

Not very?

jamiewilson3

They are actually very accurate, I believe, but they are not necessarily representative. Elipticals have a much different motion.

I can hold 225W or so on an eliptical vs 300W on a stairmaster, due to the difference in motion. Extrapolating either of these to a bike would be a big stretch.

Endox

According to this calc 200W would give 21mph in the drops, or 19 on the bar tops, riding solo on a flat route. Others might disagree but personally I'd consider that a good average for a 1 hour plus solo ride.

Little Darwin

Whatever you do now should be your basis for challenging yourself if you are a recreational rider...

Ride for an hour and see what you get for an average, add 10%, AND YOU HAVE your first goal.

When you reach it, add 10% and that is your next goal...

Repeat as desired.

probable556

I was on the elliptical the other day and it seemed that the wattage was low for the effort. The motion is a bit inefficient...

rruff

I'm impressed that you can even *ride* the trainer that long... half hour is my max. Something about being a hamster in a cage drives me nuts...

If you are an average sized fit male (~165lb?) and can avg 200W for over an hour you are doing pretty well. Guys who race competitively but aren't that great, ~300W. Pros are pushing 400W or even over.

kirbyx

Wow! Hmmm. A rider can ride +100 miles some weeks and -100 miles other weeks. If they're equal number of weeks, and if your cycling force is a conservative force (which it isn't), over one year you'll need no power output at all!

Kipper

The deal is that I have been back on the bike for a year and a half, part ime - kids- job-etc. I started last fall, so the trainer was a must, no time to hit the streets and time wise it still is --lost 35lbs. My wife was never really into movies so I have a bout 10 years of movie catch up. So I got a 42" LCD, a HDMI DVD player, a set of noise cancelling headphones and a Netflix subscription. Wife doesn't mind because it is excercise, I get fit, and catch up on movies. But, I would like to do some group rides and want to have an idea if I can keep up, and just a general idea of where I stand.

I like the idea of add 10%, that solo 20MPH is a good number. Thanks.

And yes it should be 100+-, HA!

StanSeven

Middle of the pack TdF riders generally average 275 for a typical relatively flat leg.

200w is a good outout for a recreational rider on a 60-90 training ride

Trevor98

Useless information. 200w=21mph with a given rider, wind, air temp, altitude, etc. The original poster asked for a comparative number without variables (such as wind) but as dsb137 suggested the flat comparison of wattage output, even on a trainer, is not really useful.

Additionally, the output of the gifted athletes of the TdF is a meaningless comparison for most riders- like knowing the horse power of a F1 car and judging my car by that.

To restate the question, what is a reasonable watt/pound (or watt/kg) figure for a recreational rider?

NomadVW 

I can say for sure that 200 watts will not generally net me 21 mph in the drops, unless I'm drafting or have a tail wind.

I looked through the power files for this weekend, and on my group ride it was closer to 276 watts to average 33 kph during a 12 minute stint on the front (wearing a wind breaker, on the hoods, which probably didn't help).

Using average power for a pro over a 4 1/2 hour ride is almost useless as a metric, since they aren't pedaling a huge percentage of time.

Best thing to do is use the power profile chart shown before, do a 1 hr TT or another method of determining functional threshold and then you'll know for sure about you. I would say for a recreational rider, it's not about watts, it's about watts/kg.

NomadVW 

To restate the answer:

NomadVW 

And.. last contribution. As many others, I find it daunting to do a full 1 hour test to do a functional threshold, I'm training using Ric Stern's MAP zones (https://www.cyclecoach.com), since it only requires about a 10-15 minute test to get your max aerobic power on the trainer and then you can base your zones off that number, with a 75% MAP to guesstimate your functional threshold. (for me, 75% MAP is about 5 watts low)

bbattle

Local riding club here lists the pace of the ride; eg. 16-18mph. That is the average speed for the entire ride and it nearly always means the high end of that range. Saturday we rode 42.6 miles at an avg. of 18.3mph. That included a nice downhill where I hit 41.7mph and a long 2+ mile 3% grind where we were at 15-16mph. But this was the "fast" group; the others a more civilized pace. Some rides are listed as no rider left behind, recreational, easy, etc. Beware the ones that are advertised as "recovery" or "leisurely". Those are code words used by hammerheads to lure in pack fodder. Pace starts out okay then goes up and up and you are either hangin' on by a thread about to die or you've lost sight of them completely and are lost in the wilderness.

waterrockets 

Wow, great chart. Thanks for sharing.

That slots me in EXACTLY where I think I am. Good data.

Trevor98

Thank you NomadVW.