Originally Posted by
Bunyanderman
I get the gist of it for training, but not exactly for racing. Maybe for pure TT/Hill climbs is makes sense if there isn't any other competitors around. But for something like a crit/road race, I don't see any benefit.
If you need to get in the pack, it might require you to put out 400w for 10 seconds. If you don't, you will be dropped and then you have no chance of placing competitively. Some people with a power meter might be afraid of reaching 400w, as they know they will blow up at that power. But you definitely need to push to make it into the group.
To conclude, sometimes you will need to make a certain power in a race, and I think a power meter discourages one from pushing his limits in fear of blowing up.
Kinda...and kinda not.
Using a pm for racing can be extremely helpful AFTER the race. Looking at data and knowing what sort of performance it takes to stay in, be able to attack, etc. is pretty helpful - especially if what you really want to know is what is going on when/if you get dropped.
Also - when off the front it can be extremely helpful for some pacing, but in general - yeah you can't listen to the number. you have to listen to your body when racing. You will always achieve more/higher output while racing than you ever will while training. Just the way it is. I have seen guys sit up because they didn't like what the numbers said. They did the math and "knew" they couldn't hold out that long. Thing is they don't and won't ever really know.
For those head cases who don't realize that numbers don't decide the race I usually recommend taping over the display during the race. Many do.