If I get anything over 215 I am overjoyed.

Average Power is not very useful without body weight.
Average speed is almost absolutely useless without a route profile.

Read the article on power profiles by Andy Coggan.

I was fairly sure my post would reveal my ignorance - Iget the speed issue, but how does weight relate to power output?

There's a pretty cheap and easy read that explains most of this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1931382794/104-2228319-6962364?v=glance&n=283155


In very broad terms - the more you weigh, the harder it is for you to go fast uphill and the more you weigh, generally, the larger your aerodynamic profile and drag which is the largest resistance to forward motion at typical racing speeds on the flats.

Of course riders with similar weights can have very different aerodynamic drags but it's a broad generalization...

On a flat or downhill course is it possible for raw power overwhelm power to weight considerations, assuming it's enough to overcome any drag increase from increased body size.

http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/profile.html

All other factors being equal, a heavier rider will need to produce more watts to stay with a lighter rider.

Early season, I ride at around 210-220 watts for my long rides, as my training progresses I ride at 220-235 for long, endurance only rides. If I do Tempo or Steady State efforts than the average wattage is different.

I weigh 62 kilos so I am pretty light.

Hope that gives you some kind of reference.

Jack

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack

My NP for long rides (4-5 hours) is around 80% of my FT.

For my my NP is ~75% (about IM power) of FT for anything over 5 hours. 3-5 hours is 78-82% (average, but that is done as steady with blocks of 1/2 IM pace, that average together between IM and 1/2 IM power). 2-3 hours is ~85% (or about my 1/2 IM power).

Read Coggan's stuff on Normalized Power (NP), and training zones. Better yet...get CyclingPeaks software and Coggan/Allen's new book on training with power.

My last 5+ hour ride, ridden a bit easier than the more focused long rides coming during IM build, was NP of 173W, at an intensity factor (IF) of .722 (IF = NP/FT). W/kg was 2.35. Avg power reading on the PT Pro was 153. Terrain was very sharp rolling hills throughout and wind was moderate to heavy. As for how that relates to race performance, at the level of fitness I was at the time (about a month ago), I would normally ride in the vicinity of a 2:30 IM leg. My most recent FT test came to just over 270W, meaning I'll be targeting about 200W NP for IM training vicinity of IF of .75.


Like others have said...a pure watts number from someone is meaningless as a performance predictor unless some other things are known...chiefly weight of the rider and Cda. Bigger riders produce more watts than me but that doesn't necessarily translate to faster speeds...they might be a sail, or hilly terrain might negate their advantage on flats.

Eddy Merckx was spot on when he advised Indurain that he needed to lose 5kg when asked what it took to win the Tour. Indurain was clearly strong enough, but needed to improve the W/kg ratio to be able to match the smaller, sprightly mountain imps.