Originally Posted by
chiggy
One question, how did you avg 27 mph off 281 Watts? I don't have a real good frame of reference, but that seems crazy from what I've seen out there.
The course was really flat. The turn-around point (15 km out) was 20 m (~65 ft) higher than the start/finish, with a near-constant incline along the way. That's a 0.13 % grade!
Straight, wide road, re-surfaced last year for 2/3 of the distance. Smooth tarmac. Because the road was so good and straight, I was able to keep my head down for much of the time. I saw the speed virtually jump up every time I had my head down, and then go back down when I raised my head to look ahead. That's hard to do for long periods of time on most courses, so that was "bonus speed" that is rarely seen.
Some wind, but not significant, perhaps 5-7 mph. Only really felt the wind in the last 4-5 km.
I don't even have a disc wheel (SRAM S80 front and rear) and my TT skinsuit is baggy (two sizes too big - I've washed it too often) and not very smooth, so there is plenty of room for improvement.
My CdA seems to be around 0.230-0.235 m^2 at the moment.