Trying to make some realistic goals for next year. This may be the wrong forum, but hey, let's give it a try.

What's your best average power output, i.e. watts, that you find easy to maintain?

Yeah, I know, you'll probably say, I don't have a power meter, how the heck do I know? Use the same online
tool I've been using

https://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

How to use the form:

1. click circle for type of bike you ride
2. click circle for your normal hand position
3. put in your height
4. put in actual riding weight [ no one will see this number ]
5. put in weight of bike and gear [ if don't know add approximate weight of bag you carry to default number ]
6. for air temp either put 70F or the approx temp of the rides you are thinking of
7. for sloop, put 0 [assuming round trip so will average out]
8. for wind, put 0 [assuming round trip so will average out]
9. adjust for tires you put on your bike.

Now the easy and fun part.
A- enter your speed
B- delete entry in Watt box
C- click on calculate button

Yahoo, you now have your power in watts without spending a grand on a power meter.

Oh, step D -- report your wattage on this thread.

I'm weak. I range between 150 and 200 watts. Ugh.
Hopefully some of you are doing better so I can't use age as an excuse for not training in 2006.

Have fun with human science !!!

In winter trim I cracked 500 watts on a 1/3 mile climb home! My 'good winter day' average was closer to 350. Hot smokin' asphalt. Makes me wonder about my output on stoplight drags.

I put in some numbers for the 100 mile ride we've been doing as that info was fresh on my mind. I was the same as you at 202 watts-but that was the average value for the 100 mile ride.

I then put in the numbers for a 9% grade at 10 mph to represent one of the hills we do and came out with 550 watts. That sounds about right.....

355 watts (47 yrs old)

Wow, good info so far. Looks like I need to focus on both training and gear.

Keep them coming, and thanks a bunch.

Depending on my speed i range anywhere from 136-510 Watts.
32 years old.

I'm usually on "Broil" when I'm climbing, so I have my dial set to around 2500 watts.

According to www.cycle2max.com, you have to be shiddot to sustain over 300W. They have a 300W club there. My best (according the that ref) is about 260W averaged over about 20min. Then I'm blowing like a whale and pouring sweat. And I regard myself as pretty fit at 45, not master level, but fit to very fit. A mate of mine is just short of 300W at 298W, and it took him years of constant training to get there.

Alpowa Summit west of Clarkston, WA.

Temp: 100 F
Wind: none
Start elevation: 700 ft
Stop elevation: 2700 ft
Distance: 12 miles
Time to top: about 2.5 hours
Bike: T800 Cannondale loaded with 55lbs of stuff (about 75 lbs total weight)
Me: Weigh more than I should but less than I have. Let's just say large Age: Old enough to know better but too stubborn to admit it.
Shade: 4 trees about 5 miles in, then nothing. Not even an over hanging rock.
Watts: 247
Kcal burned: 2040
Days traveled to get to this hell on earth: 5
Days remaining until a rest day: 2
Days left until I got to go home: 18
Memories: Absolutely priceless!

I tooled around with different bike calculators like the one you posted for a while, and they all give different readings.

I assume that I average 300 watts or so

248 watts over a 162 mile ride across Indiana. Total time was 7h 51 minutes..little over 20 mph. I don't know if this is good, bad or indifferent for a 54 year old cyclist.

65 years old: I have a short 4 mile commute and manage to work up a sweat at 175-180 most days but hit 240 watts the day I set my all time best of 12 minutes door to door! Don

I don't know what my average is, and Moderator Removed: Thread-tank attempt]. less.

Well, good for you [Moderator Removed: Insulting] less either.

Geez oh peat! I'm only doing 160. Yet it feels like I get a good workout every ride.

I'm not sure on my cadence. I'd like to get a new speedometer with that on it--I hear that cadence is a good thing to monitor when you ride.

123 W (27 year old) What's the hurry?

p.s The calculator does not give option of 1.9" studded tyres
p.p.s The calculator does not give option of snow on paths
p.p.p.s Using 0 for windspeed because it averages out is far from accurate. Resistance grows with windspeed squared, so it doesn't average out.

Yes I know, results will be schewed lower because riders will have had to expend more power than expected to reach average speed.

But adding variables like slope and wind speed with expected low response rate, < 200, would result in more useless data.

[Moderator Removed: ] so there!

350

One thing I found interesting is that at 22mph the difference between 65F (my winter commute home) vs. 115F (my summer commute) is an extra 0.6mph at the same watts in summer.

Al

* Interesting. So when my cadance goes up so does the wattage. I would think wattage would drop because it's easier to pedal faster in a lower gear.

* Also notice that when you or your bike loose weight, it's easier to go faster at a lower wattage...time to empty out that backpack.

* For those who have actual meters, can you notice say a 10-20W difference ie., effort expended while pedaling? say from 379 to 359?

Too bad the calculation doesn't include variable wind resistance. I can really tell the difference when commuting with two panniers vs. one pannier vs. no panniers.

~ 200 @ 36


Do you char Disco-wearing poseurs as you go by, too?

We definitely need a setting for studded tires. And shants - they should be good for 100W. I don't have any idea how fast I'm going, other than to compare myself to traffic. I suppose I could ride real close to a car and look in their window...

I don't believe the number I got, so one of my parms must have been off....that or I'm cranking out 500 watts...yes...something is off.

212 watts for a non-dawdling commute.

Just for fun, I put in some numbers from the Saturday hammerfest: 557 W for the 27mph paceline but 1023 W for the county line sprint (34mph peak speed)! The graph must shoot straight up! (For you physics/math geeks: is this a geometric progression?)