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Central Park Loop - Speed/Power
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NYC Slowtwitchers,

Curious if anyone would be willing to share data from their loops (solo efforts would be ideal). I’m in the park daily, but typically bike train over the GWB or on my trainer. Wondering how much the “rolling course” affects bike times.

For 1 loop of CP:
Power (av/nm):
Time (or speed):
Setup (road solo/road group/tt):

*Note: Please don’t turn this into a lecture thread about safety in the park. I’m with you. I agree. But that’s not what I’m talking about today.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [Socrates] [ In reply to ]
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24.5 mph on 315 W, at 69 kg. Standard road bike, wheels, helmet, and short sleeve kit; legs unshaved. Solo, but with some other riders on the road. ~55 deg F.

This was back in 2012 though.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Meh - the loop is still the same as it was a decade ago.

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I was thinking the barrier to 15min loops might be around 300.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [Socrates] [ In reply to ]
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Assuming we are of comparable builds (I'm at 174 cm), it may even be less than that (even for a road bike):
-5-8 W from swapping to an aero road bike (mine was a Lynskey Cooper, which is not at all aerodynamically efficient);
-5-7 W from using 60 mm carbon wheels (mine were ~1,600 g 30 mm aluminum clinchers);
-5-7 W from swapping to aero road helmet (I used a standard road helmet);
-4-5 W from using aero road handlebar (I used round tubed bars);
-10 W from shaving my legs (didn't shave back then);
-3-5 W from a proper skin suit (had relatively floppy kit); and
-6-8 W from using fast rolling tires (going from GP 4K to Corsa Speed).

That's 40 W of estimated savings. Even if my estimates are off by a third, that's still 30 W of savings. Do it on a day with optimal conditions (high 60s), and even less power is required.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [Socrates] [ In reply to ]
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I went back and looked at my fastest loop, which was the day before my college graduation (unfortunately haven't been back to NYC since). I didn't have a power meter back then, but working back I'd estimate my ftp at the time to be about 280. In full race trim on my p3c I went 13:34, or 27.1 mph. Likely a hair under 300w for the effort. This was done after 11pm, which was my absolute favorite time to ride in the park.

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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realbdeal wrote:
I went back and looked at my fastest loop, which was the day before my college graduation (unfortunately haven't been back to NYC since). I didn't have a power meter back then, but working back I'd estimate my ftp at the time to be about 280. In full race trim on my p3c I went 13:34, or 27.1 mph. Likely a hair under 300w for the effort. This was done after 11pm, which was my absolute favorite time to ride in the park.

Did you attend King's? I attended King's for grad school and was on the cycling team. Riding after 9:30 p.m. was great, and there was almost no one there, even in the summer. There were a few times I was still doing loops past midnight, and thankfully, NYPD didn't boot me.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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Undergrad at Columbia. I once got yelled at by a late night construction crew, but that was the worst of it. Central is a magical place at night. Just an unreal experience running and biking there. Never got tired of it in those 4 years.

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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Hi Ben - thanks for responding. A few things:

Those numbers are nuts! I’ve read about sub 14 around the loop, but it’s usually in a road race.

Looks like the three of us all went to school “up on the hill.” Maybe we should change this thread to - Reflections on an Elitist Education (half joking).

And I have agree with your sentiment. I’m in the park everyday, and run there 5x a week. Done it for over a decade. Never get tired of it. Biking... has never been joyful for me in the park. But, I’ve never cycled in the park after dark.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [Socrates] [ In reply to ]
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My PR was 2 years ago, but haven't really gone for it since.

Power: 249
Time: 16:51 (21.6mph)
Setup: Tri/solo

Strava
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [Socrates] [ In reply to ]
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Socrates wrote:
And I have agree with your sentiment. I’m in the park everyday, and run there 5x a week. Done it for over a decade. Never get tired of it. Biking... has never been joyful for me in the park. But, I’ve never cycled in the park after dark.

I’m actually just the opposite, but perhaps it’s b/c i mostly ran after dark. Occasional running in the dark was fine, but it got awfully depressing in the dark, especially in the winter months. It’s actually one of the reasons i stopped running and picked up cycling (the other was that i was merely average at running but was at least decent when it comes to cycling). For whatever reason, higher speeds on the bike made it not only bearable but enjoyable.

On a tangent, all the night time riding is perhaps the reason why i really like the NYC Zwift course, as it brings back so many fond memories.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [gmh39] [ In reply to ]
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I'm thinking I would be somewhere in this range. I think the last time I raced around the loop was in one of the CP Duathlons. But it's been at least 4 years.
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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echappist wrote:
On a tangent, all the night time riding is perhaps the reason why i really like the NYC Zwift course, as it brings back so many fond memories.

Agreed. That tends to be my favorite Zwift course as well. The other night, I was riding in CP on Zwift, in my apartment, with a view of CP out the window. It felt very meta/peculiar. In my defense, I couldn't leave (kids in bed).
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Re: Central Park Loop - Speed/Power [Socrates] [ In reply to ]
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I have several friends that did the race that ended up with the Strava loop record back in August 2013 (still the Strava record), where they averaged a little above 30.xx mph and did the course sub 12:05. They needed to average about 3.7 to 4.0 watts/Kg drafting. Road bikes.

The race was about 43 miles and the average speed for the entire race was 27.6mph.
Last edited by: wetswimmer99: Jan 6, 21 20:51
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