A kilo
 

Well, here it is. This was my first interval today. It wasn't a test pace, but it was pretty solid torture. I was only able to do three intervals. The extra 20 seconds just makes a WRI™ pretty ridiculous. I just kept at it until the distance said 0.62. The 1/100ths of a mile tick off a bit longer than a second. Very tough to watch.

Up a bit of a hill in the last 250m. Started from a slow roll (4mph) and kept it in the 53x15 the whole time. Speed for the middle portion was around 30mph and 115rpm. Towards the end, I was having a hard time keeping the power up, for many many reasons. Ouch.

1' MMP was 675W. That's lower than my usual first interval, but I usually start at 90rpm, not zero, so the front of the WRI™ is stunted.

Time was 1:20. I'm still not sure where I'm going with this, but I would think a flat course, aero bars, and a skinsuit, with a full 100% effort should get me 10-12 seconds. Maybe the track would be faster, maybe slower? Maybe I'm crazy.

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9265/postp.png

Do it.

You can win nationals. How many times do I have to tell you that?!

1:20 with any uphill and no aero gear is not bad. I drop 5-6 seconds with aero gear alone. And a track will be significantly faster (as will a track bike, fixed helps you hold the speed in the last few seconds a bit better). However, starting from even 4mph is way different that starting from zero.

I think you could pretty easily bust out a 1:10-11 the first time you get on a track, and then drop that by another 3-4 seconds with a tiny bit of practice.

Encouragement appreciated.

So what about gearing? I'm looking at 95 inches right now. That 10" time improvement would take me up to 130 rpm in the body of the effort. Should I learn to spin that gear to hang on to some acceleration, or bump it up a bit? I've been training some spin lately, averaging in the 105rpm range, with a few minutes here and there around 125 rpm, all in the threshold zone.

I certainly believe the acceleration from standing would be different. I'll try some from a trackstand sometime. The computer was over-estimating my speed at this point, as I was nearly fall-over speed. No way I'd really cover 4 miles in an hour. Any slower and I would have just had to trackstand.

I agree. Go to the track.

It depends on the track and the day. I run 88 or 90 at Kissena, and guys go 96 at T town. Gotta get out there and figure it out.

Yeah, I'm screwed. I can probably swing one trip to the track before the race.

Why different gearing on different tracks?

you don't really need more than that. it's certainly enough to figure appropriate gearing, and someone familiar with the track should be willing to help you get in the right ball park to start

Yeah, I have a certain teammate near the Superdrome that might help me out there... :innocent:

Wow.

Maybe. I'd shoot for your natural cadence and not try to adapt to something higher.

some nice tubies, a disk, bolt-ons, pointy helmet... you're right there in minute-flat territory.

Worries me a bit killing the acceleration at the beginning. Of course, Hoy looks like he's starting off with a really low cadence, and not a lot of acceleration.

go too light and you're sure to wind it out

It's a tough balance. G is right, too light and you'll end up losing a few seconds on the second lap, and some on the third. Too heavy and you'll lose more in the first 50m. I would shoot for something in the 91-93 range. I like a 51/15 at sea level, which is 91.8. 48/14 is just a big bigger (92.6 I think). I would try both. And then try something in the 96 range. I run a 50/14 (bit over 94) at altitude, and I think you will probably be faster than me :)

When you go try them out, you don't need to do full kilo's. Have someone time a single lap. You'll be up to speed by the end of it so you'll know if you are too low. Take the gear that gives you the fastest first lap time where you can still put power down at the end of that lap. If you try to do a bunch of full kilo's with different gears, the last few will be useless anyway.

fascinating and exciting thread. good luck and keep at it.

1:10 minus 4 seconds? I think you're nuts.

Mostly seeing as dropping 4 seconds off a 1:10 would equal a new track record at our local velodrome, and the guy who broke it last time is a strictly dedicated kilo rider who does almost nothing else on the track and definitely nothing else off it. Either way, once you start hitting a time like 1:10, every additional second is a damn hard fought struggle.

Also, though I can't speak for everywhere, but doing it on the track is not necessarily faster. Steep walls + harsh G forces = different game.

DISCLAIMER*** disgruntled trackie alert.

I did a flying 200 in 12 seconds the other night on regular bars. Wasn't really trying that hard either. So I figure I could do the kilo right at a minute. With aerobars I ought to be able to drop that down quite a bit.

It's just simple math.

a minute?

You're right, I'm still thinking C-Springs times. But if If I can do a 1:09 at T-town, he can do a 1:07 at least. I'm NOT a kilo guy.

Sounds like your local track is a slow one.

I'm good for 2:17.

I can probably do a minute if you make me drink a gallon of milk and put me on the bike with a lighter behind my ass.

Indeed, Alpenrose is steep and bumpy...