Power of da Leggies

Quick post but something I’ve been thinking of a lot lately.

In the fall I got a Powertap which I’ve trained with religiously since acquiring it. First off, just by using a training tool once doesn’t tell you a whole lot of what your capable of. Tools are: HRMs, GPS and power measuring tools. You need at least a month of progress to really understand what your body is doing. It also depends on what “season” your in because your numbers will be down in the rest season and higher in racing. At least that is what you hope.

So for all you Lance worshipers you’ll know that he talks about watts per kilogram. I’m not going to go into the definition of power so please google it. Watts/kg is basically how much power you can produce per your body weight in kilograms. For endurance athletes the number we care about is how much can we sustain over a period of time (longer intervals). Below is a chart of the break down of how one would rank as a cyclist.

Men

Women

5 s

1 min

5 min

20 min

5 s

1 min

5 min

20 min

24.04

11.50

7.60

6.50

20.43

9.78

6.46

5.53

23.69

11.35

7.47

6.29

20.14

9.65

6.35

5.34

23.35

11.21

7.34

6.17

19.85

9.53

6.24

5.25

World class

23.00

11.06

7.21

6.06

19.55

9.40

6.13

5.15

22.66

10.92

7.07

5.95

19.26

9.28

6.01

5.06

22.31

10.77

6.94

5.84

18.97

9.15

5.90

4.96

21.97

10.62

6.81

5.72

18.67

9.03

5.79

4.86

21.62

10.48

6.68

5.61

18.38

8.91

5.68

4.77

Pro Rider

21.28

10.33

6.55

5.50

18.09

8.78

5.57

4.67

20.93

10.19

6.42

5.38

17.79

8.66

5.46

4.58

20.59

10.04

6.29

5.27

17.50

8.53

5.34

4.48

20.24

9.89

6.16

5.16

17.20

8.41

5.23

4.38

19.90

9.75

6.02

5.04

16.91

8.29

5.12

4.29

International Rider

19.55

9.60

5.89

4.93

16.62

8.16

5.01

4.19

19.20

9.46

5.76

4.82

16.32

8.04

4.90

4.10

18.86

9.31

5.63

4.71

16.03

7.91

4.79

4.00

18.51

9.16

5.50

4.59

15.74

7.79

4.67

3.90

18.17

9.02

5.37

4.48

15.44

7.67

4.56

3.81

CWG Rider

17.82

8.87

5.24

4.37

15.15

7.54

4.45

3.71

17.48

8.73

5.10

4.25

14.86

7.42

4.34

3.62

17.13

8.58

4.97

4.14

14.56

7.29

4.23

3.52

16.79

8.44

4.84

4.03

14.27

7.17

4.12

3.42

16.44

8.29

4.71

3.91

13.97

7.05

4.00

3.33

Jersey Rider

16.10

8.14

4.58

3.80

13.68

6.92

3.89

3.23

15.75

8.00

4.45

3.69

13.39

6.80

3.78

3.14

15.40

7.85

4.32

3.58

13.09

6.67

3.67

3.04

15.06

7.71

4.18

3.46

12.80

6.55

3.56

2.94

14.71

7.56

4.05

3.35

12.51

6.43

3.45

2.85

Intermediate Rider

14.37

7.41

3.92

3.24

12.21

6.30

3.33

2.75

14.02

7.27

3.79

3.12

11.92

6.18

3.22

2.66

13.68

7.12

3.66

3.01

11.63

6.05

3.11

2.56

13.33

6.98

3.53

2.90

11.33

5.93

3.00

2.46

12.99

6.83

3.40

2.78

11.04

5.81

2.89

2.37

New Rider

12.64

6.68

3.27

2.67

10.75

5.68

2.78

2.27

12.30

6.54

3.13

2.56

10.45

5.56

2.66

2.18

11.95

6.39

3.00

2.45

10.16

5.43

2.55

2.08

11.61

6.25

2.87

2.33

9.86

5.31

2.44

1.98

11.26

6.10

2.74

2.22

9.57

5.18

2.33

1.89

Untrained

10.91

5.95

2.61

2.11

9.28

5.06

2.22

1.79

10.57

5.81

2.48

1.99

8.98

4.94

2.11

1.69

Currently I sit between the Jersey Rider and the CWG Rider. So I’d need to either lose some weight or increase my leg power. What I’m interested is in the change from when I started, to race time. I’ve got 2 months till Cali 70.3 so we’ll see what happens.