Originally Posted by
gregf83
Here is an equation from
The mathematics of breaking away and chasing in cycling.: CF = .62 - .0104 Dw + .0452Dw^2
Where CF is the correction factor and Dw is the distance between wheels in meters. The correction factor is the ratio of resistance between the lead and following rider.
In any case, if you're trying to follow a wheel at 30mph it will take approx 380W (550 for the lead rider) so if you've been working and are on the rivet you may not be able to hold the wheel regardless of how close you are.
Not going to pay for the article to see what's what, but there are definitely some limitations to this equation as the ratio between work done by the guy in front to the guy behind clearly depends on speed and wind speed/direction: variables which are not expressed in this equation. My guess is the model is for use in averaging effort over an entire race.
Regardless of any particular model approximation, you can feel yourself "getting on" to a wheel, and it is usually closer than two feet separation and it gets closer as speeds rise.
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