theranman

put out while touring? Just curious to know.

I've read articles where they use cyclists who pump out 250 watts for various calculations, but when I'm doing my usual 90rpm's on the recumbent at the gym, I'm only doing 116 watts or so. Am I a complete weakling, or are those cyclists that the articles refer to incredibly fit? Thanks

Speedo

On the ergometer in the gym I'd fade pretty fast if I tried to put out 250 watts. I'd say that a sustained 150 watts is about the best I could do.

I'm 51 years old and cycle ~4000 miles/year.

Speedo

becnal

Wattage statistics are not a common topic in the touring forum. We're more likely to discuss scenic view points.

Juha

Yes, there are blissfully few "then I droped the hamer and cranked up to 600W" threads in Touring.

I have no idea of the wattage, but I try to keep my rpm somewhere in the 80-90 range. When one has lots of stuff in panniers, or a trailer on tow, steady spinning makes for a more comfortable ride.

--J

lighthorse

Watts? I think that you are in the wrong forum. I also try to maintain 80-90 rpm throughout the day except when I am pedaling slower than that.

staehpj1

Same here, more or less. I may vary the cadence more than that though. At times I probably spin 110 or a bit more and at times I may be at 50-60. Most of the time 80-90 though. Watts? no idea.

foamy

I've been riding loaded lately and try (try, I say) to maintain between 80–90 rpms. I'm finding myself at a much slower speed to keep that cadence. I'm averaging around 13+ mph and I don't know why, but that disappoints me for some reason. Then again, I'm way out of shape. It's amazing what 30 lbs and the wind drag of panniers on the bike does.

The only watts I know of are printed on the top of light bulbs.

SRS

In every group there will be those who are under the bell of a bell curve and then there are a few, like myself, that hang out in the tails ... at least with respect to this topic.

I ride for errands, commuting and touring. I train for all of this with high intensity intervals, high cadence work, hill climbs, anaerobic sprints. While none of these is necessary for touring, I find the reserve of power and endurance created in the training to be beneficial under certain circumstances, e.g., riding against a strong headwind for a full day. By being able to ride 3-5 mph faster than if I had not trained, I can complete the ride in a few less hours (assuming a 80-100 mile day). Or, if desired, I can push hard to out run inclement weather. A long climb may be less tiring for me. The training gives me options.

I generally ride with a cadence of 90-100 but will sometimes push to 110+. For wattage, most of my rides are probably under 200 watts but I know I can ride at 350watts for an hour or more.

Most touring is done at moderate rates and the body adapts to the stresses placed upon it. I do intervals even when I'm on tour to make sure I keep the fitness level I start with - twice a week I'll have some fun (truly!) by pushing a long stretch of a county road. Passing a few roadies on their helium bikes while riding a fully loaded touring bike is also fun. I've met some great folks that way.

alanfleisig

According to the book, Bicycling Science (you'll have to look up the author), which I recommend wholeheartedly, the maximum power output a 45-50 year old man in "above average" physical condition can sustain indefinitely is around 200 watts. As always, this is an average, and other factors come into play.

Which is another way of answering the question I think you asked (but of course, might not have). If you're tour riding for eight or ten hours a day, you should be able to sustain that roughly 200 watts. This would be your fastest/hardest sustainable pace for touring. Of course, there's no reason to not go slower.

Change the resistance on your trainer so you typically get up around 180-200 watts at a 90 cadence, and see how long you can keep it up. Even without a power tap or other power meter on your actual bike, you should be used to the "feeling" of that power output, and adjust your gearing and pace while touring accordingly.

Speedo

Now, now. There are plenty of threads that go on ad infinitum about gear inches.

There are also plenty of what I think of as "Am I crazy?" threads.

I want to do 150 miles a day loaded touring, am I crazy?

I want to ride the Alps on a fixie, am I crazy?

A lot of the "am I crazy" questions would be easily answered if people had a sense of their power capacity. It's not hard to know. A few sessions on the kind of instrumented stationary bikes found in gyms and health clubs and you'll know if you're a 150 Watt proto-geezer, or a 350 Watt Olympic athlete.

Oh, and to all of you asking, "am I crazy?". If you have to ask, you are.

Speedo

Hezz

Riding at 250 watts for a continuous time period of several hours puts you in Tour De France bike racers category of fitness which is not something the average recreational rider can do. Most good recreational riders can only sustain 250 watts for 5-20 minutes instead of 5-6 hours.

I would say that most tourers would ride at between 100-150 watts for sustained periods of time.

theranman

Hezz, those are kinda sorta the numbers I was thinking of, although the next time I'm at the gym, I'll have to see if I can even do 250 watts for a minute.

Machka 

Are you a cycletourist, or do your interests lie more in racing or riding with the local club?

As others have mentioned, most cycletourists don't care about watts or things like that. I don't even bring my HRM on a tour ... too much dead weight and I really don't need to know.

theranman

Simply put, I was merely curious to know.

Like one of the above posters suggested, I think it's helpful to know what kind of wattage, cadence, and mph one rides at...mostly for the purpose of knowing which friends to ride with for the longer training rides. I don't do loaded touring as much as I do longer group rides.

thanks

ran
Jamis Aurora

Machka 

The people I've toured with have had some idea about the speed they generally ride at, and perhaps their cadence, but I'd be willing to bet that most didn't (and possibly still don't) have any idea what sort of wattage they ride at.

And I suspect most cycletourists don't do official "training" rides ... we might go out for a long ride in the countryside on the weekend, and I suppose that might be a "training" ride of sorts, but I know I'd rather not think of it as such.

However, I suppose there may be a few cycletourists who care about wattage and training rides, etc.

I really think you'd get more of an answer over in the Road forum ... they care about wattages etc.

SRS

The Training and Nutrition forum is a good starting resource if one wishes to learn more about improving one's power output and endurance. Though I don't race I do appreciate the fitness and options that some formal training provides me for my riding whether commuting or long distance touring.

A 250-300W output would place one in the low amateur race groups. 300-350W is mid level amateur race groups. The top cyclists are in the upper 300's to mid-400's for continuous power output.

Hezz

Ya, the figures I give are minimum wattage numbers for a flat easy course. To do TT and hill stages and accelerations and sprints you would have to be able to sustain 300 -500 watt powers for lengthy periods and 700-800 or higher for sprints.

The figures that I read once for TDF races were 250-300 watts continuous for flat road stages. 375-450 watts continuous for ITT. But you may in fact have better numbers and I was going off memory.

Although a rumor that I heard. I have heard that some of the strongest riders such as Armstrong and Landis could maintain over 700 watts continuous for 10-15 minutes.

Hezz

Machka brings up a good point. The touring cyclist is not usually concerned about wattages but works at a power output that is enjoyable and that they can sustain for long periods of time without serious fatigue. However, it is useful for training purposes to know generally what range you need to be working out at to be able to know if your training is adequate for your touring efforts.

NoRacer

Another data point here:

I, and another rider who uses a powermeter, go out on weekends with the DC Randonnuers. Over time, we've seen that pack dynamics yielded wattages in the 170-190 watt range for the front runners.

The other rider, Dave, uses a PowerTap. He weighs about 180 pounds at about 73 inches tall.

I use a Velocomp iAero. I weigh about 160 pounds at 67 inches tall.

We both come out with similar wattages, but because he is heavier, he should have a higher average, but that also depends on how agressive I do my ride in which case I've yielded a higher average wattage for the ride.

The group takes 6-7 hours (ride time) to complete a century, so we're not setting any speed records here.

Cadence - I can only speak for myself. I usually am on the low side, especially if there's a lot of hill climbing (i.e., the grade is steep enough that one can not spin) or if I go off the front for awhile and get into a time trial mode where I push my biggest gears. These two conditions usually cause my cadence to be about 70 rpm average.

theranman

thanks again, gang. When I said "training ride", I meant long rides in the country for the purpose of fitness. Perhaps "fitness ride" would have been the more appropriate term to use. If I can eventually do a century in 6 hours, that'll be quite the accomplishment for this middle-aged dude.

NoRacer

Heck, I'm 50 years old. A group of us did a flat century (Seagull/Assategue Century 2007) at just under a 21 MPH average--somewhere in the 4 hour and 51 minute range. While some of us are racers for the Baltimore Bike Club, we weren't racing, but we were utilizing pace lines and the weather was uncharacteristicly calm for that century.

If we can do it, so can you.

theranman

Umm..my bike comes in at around 31 lbs. At max, I can get up to 20-21 on the flats. I typically ride at around 15mph-16mph, so I don't think that averaging at 20-21mph is gonna happen in THIS lifetime. I could probably do a bit quicker on a 19.75lb Jamis Quest, but nowhere near an average of 20-21...no way. I'll keep dreaming, though.

NoRacer

+1, everyone has their own reality and we do with what we have. Good luck in your progress.

TheBrick

So how many people on here run powertap cranks or hubs to measure their wattage?

merlinextraligh

Watts/kg is really the important measure.

But even that said 250 watts doesn't put you in TDF shape. My power for tempo intervals (which can be 1-2hours long is 260.) and I'm about 7 Cats below the Eurpoean Peleton.

I'd agree with you that your average rec rider just tooling along is producing in the 100-150 watt range.

The attached file was a flat century mostly with a group. Averaged 200 watts, which was definitely working but not a TT type effort.



(btw the HR data is noise, I didn't have an HRM on.)