Originally Posted by
burnthesheep
These two statements don't seem to complement each other very well. 5w/kg for 5min literally sounds like it should be nothing for a P/1/2 rider. To podium a P/1/2 TT race I would damn hope you could hold 5wk/g for a full 10 mile time trial.
Especially since those C riders doing that likely got bumped from official results anyway.
Sure, 5w/kg isn't "easy". But if I can do it.........he damn well should be able to do it. Multiple times.
“I can sit in most regional Pro-1-2 USAC races just fine as a 46-year-old Cat 2. Very good at TT. Have podiumed in CA state TT in the Pro1/2 race.”
In Zwift, it was another story, he wrote, “I’m fairly awful. I sometimes struggle to hang with a “C” race –even C races have guys who’ll do ~5W/kg for four to five minutes, which isn’t easy for me.
P/1/2 time trialing is its own thing, and I don't think most would consider it "racing" in the same vein as actual mass-start racing, and with enough attention to detail, it's certainly possible to ride very quickly on relatively little watts (27+ on 300w isn't unheard of around here).
And in mass start racing, you can do a whole lot if you've got the skills and experience. I'm not surprised by the 5w/kg for 5 minute thing, honestly. It's certainly not "nothing", and for an overweight Cat 2 who's been racing for 20 years and can still find the podium, it may indeed be something. Most road races and all crits where I live do not require five minute efforts; they require lots of shorter, more variable efforts. You can certainly do well without superb fitness if you know how.
Sure, 5w/kg isn't "easy". But if I can do it.........he damn well should be able to do it. Multiple times.
This is the difference between training and racing. All that matters in racing is results.