Sprinting Speed
 

Ok I've got a question on sprinting speed. First of all, I am small (5' 10" 140 lbs). Anyways, last week in the middle of an easy ride I did a few sprints, just to see ballpark what speed I could get up to. This was with a slight tailwind, but not too strong. I was only able to get up to 32.5 mph!!! Dang I mean can't Lance do close to that speed for an hour?

What kind of speeds am I going to need to get up to in order to contest sprinters in the end of a race?

I think one of this fastest time trials was 33.5mph over 40 someodd miles.
A few of the big guys, after like 100 miles of riding (with a lead team though) can hit over 40mph on the final sprints.

I think Petacchi has hit about 45 before..

Yeah, that was me. And I was sick that day. with the flu.

On perfectly flat ground, with a good-paced 30 mile or so warm up ride (I've tried going faster with a shorter warmup, and it doesn't help...) I have hit 37.2. Most of the time its about 35point someting. At the end of a hard race (which for me is no where near 100miles) on flat ground I can barely hit 35.

I'm 6'2" though, so I'm naturally going to be a better sprinter than someone of similar abilities that is shorter (big guys can simply produce more power). You get it back though when I'm in the red instantly on big climbs trying to keep up with a climber who's looking totally calm.

Don't try to compare yourself to Lance's TT times. The fact is, and a lot of people do not realize this: sprinting is all about timing, position and ACCELERATION. Top speed is important, but is WAY down the list. Most guys I know can ALMOST hit their max sprinting speed on a normal road bike in a full tuck going all out. Some can even go faster. I know I can personally get to about 33 or 34 and hold it for much longer than I could hold a 35mph sprint. MUCH longer. I can tuck and ride at 30-31 for quite a while. I'm sure on a TT bike I could wind up and surpass my 35 mph sprint. The thing is though - in a race without that explosive accel. you are going to be dragging someone behind you (or at least its very likely unless you are insanely fast on breakaways). Dragging someone along and you doing all the work doesn't win races very easily. Great for a leadout man though, although hopefully next year our team will get organized enough that everyone will have a specialty and a target mission. That way I'll get a leadout man sometimes, and other times I'll be leading out someone else...

Sheeeet...I don't think I've gone over 30 for any extended period of time (>15 seconds lol) except down hill with a tailwind! I guess that shows how slow cat 5s like me are...yahaha but not for long!

Held 35 for a few seconds on a flat with a slight tail wind. Speedo popped to 36 for a sec. I'm 6'5".

33.5 over 40 miles.... thats sick

no, I was sick :p

You guys make me want to get a cyclocomputer. Maybe tomorrow i'll go pick one up.

Oh yeah?

Well, I had the flu too...

and the ebola virus...

and pneumonia...

and lepracy...

with one broken leg...

and I held 40mph for a whole mile

Please, I know a guy that held 50 for 10 miles with no legs. He used his arm to pedal. That's right, he had one arm. :eek:

I can hit about 33 - 34 MPH in a sprint during the first couple of sprints in a sprint practice. I am not very strong yet and I think that with some serious racing under my belt that number could climb to well over 37 MPH, I just have the muscle mass for it.

In a race situation, like a crit right now 30 MPH after a 45 minute crit is pushing it... but that is getting better. On Sunday I hit 30.5 MPH in the final sprint.

Sprints are all about acceleration... not speed, yes speed is important though.

It gets progressivly harder to go faster after about 32 MPH.

Somewhere between 50-55kph (on a good day with ideal conditions). There's no way I could sprint any faster.

CHEERS.

Mark

yeah, but I bet he has BOTH of HIS kidneys. Unfair advantage to him.

Did I mention that I had Measles, Mumps, Reubella AND and really bad migraine at the time as well?

:D

True he had both kidneys, but he was riding a walmart bike.

Short fat guy here :D ...32mph, perfectly flat, no wind, accelerating from 15mph solo, what I wouldn't do sometimes for a 38 inch inseam... :p

for about 2-3 block distances I've been known to push high 30s...problem is I have all of no power at all right after.

Actually I done this today to make it to work on time...had to get to the sensor area of the intersection so the light stayed green (6 min wait if I miss it)...problem was I had to make it over half a block in a rather short period of time.

Man that was fun...but it really took it out of me. I also think I freaked the lady in the minivan in front of me out pretty bad when I was pulling up to a van in 25-30mph traffic. I was basically right on it's butt all teh way to the intersection.

Also a short fat guy here...my normal cruising speed is about 16-20 for what it's worth.

They need smoother roads there though...the crappy pavement they have in some of the areas out here is not sprint friendly.

Lowish 30s when I'm practicing "slingshots" from behind the SUV.

I use to ride my bike to work, an old steel schwinn, on my way back i'd get on this long flat road that had recently been paved. At night there is no wind...i could hold 33 for the entire length, which if i had to guess was 5-6 blocks. Could never do it in the daytime with any wind though.

That frame was huge though, i think the longer cranks really helped...my new bike is smaller (the proper size) so i'm still getting use to it.

Excellent points. Nice post.

Sigma sport BC-1200..

I'm going for a Cateye Astral 8, since I want something that displays cadence. Thanks for the reccomendation though!

Wimps

I pedal purely via power of the mind

I have seen 30+ on my max speed reading. 27 is far more common.

I've done 30 mph on flat with some tailwind, 27 is max with no wind. 35 is max on downhill! Those of you who can hold this is SICK, and not with the flu sense.

TOM BOONEN!

MY HOMIE!!!! :D