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Hump
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Timeline |
Clearwater Bridge |
Suncoast Trail |
Fort De Soto Park |
Pinellas Trail |
Watts Compared
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Progress Report this page last updated: 02/01/2015 10:39:08 PM 02/21/08: Today we had startling confirmation that Mary is well on her way to a 23+ Hump. With a target of 230 watts Mary did 3 x 3min pace intervals averaging 225, 207 and 213 watts respectively. Then we did a hard Clearwater Bridge climb averaging 312 watts, and a maximum effort on the return loop for a standing 519 watts. Her current Personal Best for watts while standing is 578, but 519 is quite respectable considering her bad start plus the other hard intervals and more than an hour of riding leading up to it. After the max attempt, I asked her to taste our next goal for the Fort De Soto 16 mile test course which is 180 watts. I said, "Mary see how 180 for 3 minutes feels." At the three minute mark I asked, "How do you feel. Think you could hold it till the light?" She held the pace for a total of 6:58, stopping at the light. Later the watt meter chart showed that she averaged 181 which of course confirmed that our previous test on the Suncoast Trail, where she was asked for 180 and held 187 for 2 minutes, was no fluke. For desert on today's ride we chased down three men who had pacelined past our cool down, and held onto their wheels for 5 minutes at a near 24 mph pace till the next light where we turned to go home. Unbelievable! These figures differ somewhat from our earlier figures, because they come directly from a download of the PowerTap watt meter. Therefore, they are not subject to conjecture, and they can be reviewed with the software. Her max attempts have always come from an exact watt meter reading, but previously most other figures have been based on Mary's perception of how close she held to the wattage goals, coupled with an average speed recorded by my Polar HR monitor for those intervals. Therefore, these new figures are significant confirmation of Mary's ability to pick a target wattage, hold to it, and know how well she has held it. Also the figures are surprising confirmation that Mary is doing even better than we had believed. Comparing them to a chart given in the PowerTap manual, they show that Mary's performance is within or just below the specs of Pro Women racers... which of course means women who are significantly her junior... and we haven't even started actual workouts yet. The little Saris training guide does not give particulars regarding how the charts in it were assembled; but, given the veracity that the rest of the manual has proven, we are going to give this chart the benefit of the doubt. The Saris chart is shown below, so you may compare Mary's test results in context and see why we were so shocked! Of course, you may be one of the people who has tried to ride with Mary, so you may not be so totally shocked.
Below are screen shots of Mary's downloaded results. Click each to enlarge, and see the summary text below them which outlines how the last two charts reveal a significant aspect of The Hump.
Aside from exciting confirmation of Mary's current performance (plus her understanding and control of that performance) which the above charts show about Mary's progress, the final two charts are prime examples of how the standard Group Hump works to specifically pull an individual away from their best possible result when overall average speed is the consideration. The long 180 watt interval is obviously a much more efficient use of energy compared to the Chasing the Gang of 3, where wild fluctuations were required to stay on the back of the group, and that caused the much lower 111 watts average to be significantly harder than the smoother 180 watt prior to it. Additionally, this was on the flat, and the group was in pacing workout mode. They were not purposely trying to drop us. They were barely aware of our presence... well, that is after their major shock on realizing we had let them pass and make a 200 yard gap before we chased them down and latched on. In any case, it is no wonder many people believe a 23+ Hump pace is otherworldly, given the even wilder fluctuations that is standard fare for that ride, where riders are purposely trying to drop the unwary by using feints, jumps, and breakaways, in a competitive ride along a series of varying climbs and blind corners. The Widder's 23+ Hump will be executed more in line with her long 180 watt interval, though at a higher wattage. We are on our way, folks. We are definitely on our way. This has been a brief summary of what we learned from the new results. The software allowed us to check the data in a number of unique ways which answered numerous questions we had about her performance. It also allowed me to step her through moments in the ride and explain what things were going right, and what things were going wrong, and why in both cases. Editor's Note: See ChatterBox post #2460 for how to use the PowerAgent Software so that such results as those above may be backed up, maintained, and transferred to other computers.
this page last updated:
02/01/2015 10:39:08 PM |
