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this page last updated: 02/01/2015 10:39:13 PM

The graph above placed here due to number of people coming to this page looking for this kind of info.
For more information about this graph, plus watts to race category, and links to calculators see: Watts vs. Speed

Welcome to the 2008 Wack-a-Widder Leader Board with the list of the fine athletes who have officially kicked the Widder's ass. 

Looking for Race Category watts info? Don't miss the watts to cycle racing category table on the Super Simple Power to Weight Calculator which includes a Power/Weight to Race Category table such as Cat 4 Women = how many watts?

Winning athletes are listed in descending order from most recent wacking of the Widder to the earliest. The Widder's own P.B. for long haul time trialing is placed at the bottom of the list for reference. By the time you read this, her performance may show higher specs than some of those who have beaten her, but once the Widder is wacked, we consider her to be stayed wacked. Therefore, get your wackings in early as requirements are likely to change without notice... they just keep going up and up. (How to...)
 

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Archived Wackings

Numbers in bold RED are calculated or extrapolated from our simplified chart .

Due to the fact that the values are not recorded by an objective meter, they should be considered guestimates for historic interest only, and the people who have accomplished them should not be harassed based on their "numbers" or lack thereof.

Requirements for Widder Wacking

1) Results must be reported
2) Watt results take precedence and are the only true test of wacking success (speed is far too variable)
3) Consideration is also given to long haul Individual Time Trialing (such as Dr. Art's Hump tests)
4) Include your body weight of the morning of the test, so power/kg and Cat assignment can be calculated

Suggestions for Widder Wacking

You might like to try the very techniques (especially if Time Trialing the Hump) that the Widder herself will be using for her 23+ Widder's Hump. You might say this is how the Widder wacks herself.

As always begin every ride with a Flight Check to make sure you are square, balanced, and functional. Keep in mind that bobbles ain't baubles. If you are confused about any of this start first with a quick overview using Egoscue, 1992; Brourman, 1998; and Calais-Germain, 2007.

1) Know your FT based on watts and stay as efficiently near that number as possible
2) Stand for 22 hard strides to re-pace at each intersection
3) Transition to resting on every hill

1)  Know your FT based on watts and stay as efficiently near that number as possible

Know your FT based on watts and stay as efficiently near that number as possible. That means uphill, downhill, on the flats... everywhere.

Mary has done a lot of work to find her true FT (Functional Threshold) based on an objective measurement. Her power meter has been crucial in finding it, improving it, and knowing how to ride based on it. Heart Rate is fine, but by the time your heart rate tells you there's trouble, it is far too late to do you much about it.

Not to mention, people wouldn't need HR data if "perceived effort" had the slightest relationship to "true exertion," and that is said without even considering the massive misunderstanding of just how little "perceived exertion" actually does match anything like the true objective 260 watts required for Mary's 23+ ride.

Ride speed is basically meaningless, because of its variability far beyond true performance criteria. Riding with a group (after they caught her) Mary has finished the last 12 miles of the Hump with an average mph over 24. Even alone (with a tail wind) she has finished the last 6 miles with an average over 22 mph using wattage well below her FT. In fact, one time Mary was over 21 mph using warmup watts (65 average) for that same section.

Plus, with less than a 100 watt average, she once achieved a terminal velocity of 23.2 mph during a Florida warmup with a tailwind over a 4 mile unobstructed flat section going up Gulf Boulevard to the Clearwater bridge, and she didn't even realize it.

Watts are real. Everything else just gives you whatever impression you desire about your performance... good or bad.

2) Stand for 22 hard strides to re-pace at each intersection

When we began the 23+ Widder's Hump training, I thought the main problem was going to be for Mary to hold her watts on the downhills. As it turns out, she can easily hold 320 watts on the steepest downhill found on the Hump course. That downhill is found on Oil City Road.

The real problem was identified as the pace lost on the intersections. Just the turns themselves would have been somewhat problematic, but the addition of car traffic and safety concerns has shown this to be the big sticking point.

Mary is not very strong overall, so re-pacing once her forward momentum and inertia are lost requires special handling. She stands after every turn for a quick 400+ watt burst (10 seconds=22 strides more or less). That changes the muscles she is using, so the extra effort may be offset by the brief rest provided to her main pace muscles. In any case, that is a theory which is still under review.

By pace muscles I am of course referring to portions of muscle groups, not to the whole muscle group or even a single muscle itself. After all, we are training at the cellular level (actually molecular), so it is reasonable to conclude various muscles are used in varying ways well below their more obvious functional categorization.

3) Transition to resting on every hill

Mary originally reported that she needed to stay in her big ring on certain climbs (such as the hill up to Cross Road), or she would be spun out and dropped. I found that hard to believe, and as it turns out she really cannot get up that hill in her smallest gear without a massive drop in cadence and thus over torquing. That is to say, she ends up putting in a lot more effort for the power she is producing.

It is amazing what nonsense a group of knuckleheads can make you believe.

Mary is also too proud to get a triple (which would bring much more efficiency to her ride), so I devised a work around.

On every hill Mary performs a standard transition which is: 1) comes into the hill in her big ring, 2) drops to her small ring as soon as the hill catches her, 3) drops to an easier cog each time her cadence drops below 90 and her watts rise over 200, 4) finally when she falls below 90 rpm and over 200 watts in the lowest cog, she clicks up 2 cogs (maybe 3), and stands to rest (still not going over 200 watts).

Even though it is always highlighted in documentary footage of bicycle races (due to the growling aggressive appearance of it), standing on hills is very inefficient, but Mary refuses the triple, so I am hoping her transition procedures along with the resting of her pace muscles (just like the standing after turns) will make up somewhat for this inefficient indiscretion.

The specifics of Mary's transitions (especially watt and rpm parameters) will change as she gains more skill. It took lots of them just for her to understand the logic and what each step is doing for her. When she finally gets really good at them, she may be able to transition to her small ring and the appropriate cog before the hill begins. We'll see.

There you have it. Now you yourself can use the same process the Widder uses to wack herself.

 

this page last updated: 02/01/2015 10:39:13 PM
 

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