Perhaps you're not as optimized as you could be. Were you on a TT bike?

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

There's also a bunch of e-bikes out there that don't look like e-bikes.....

Don’t need an E-bike to ride at 23 mph

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

If you do a rough estimate, and plug in how much power it takes to go 22.9mph (37kph) on the 'bike calculator link' below (I have no idea how good/bad it us, just tried it), it only requires 245 watts in the drops for a 70kg rider on a 0% incline to go 23mph (37.1 km/hr.)

On another website (also below), it gives 268w in the hoods for 23mph, 256w in the drops, and 245w in aerobars.

And if you're just throwing down a burst of power, even for 5 minutes during the pass, you can do that with a just-better than utterly mediocre FTP (for a male, granted) in the 200-220w range easily.

http://bikecalculator.com/
https://www.omnicalculator.com/sports/cycling-wattage

Always!

I got a new FTP of 370W this week which I was delighted with based on 389W for a 20 min test. FTP up 30W in 2 months.

Joined a open division flat zwift race today and couldn't hang on to the front group for more than 10 mins!

I kind of think it's cool when this happens because, especially by stalking with Strava flybys, it's a good way to find local elite or sub-elite athletes.

Was on a ride last year with a friend and a roadie zoomed past us on a mild uphill, looked like he was hardly working but guessed he must have been putting out 300 W in order to pass us so quickly. Indeed, stalked him later on Strava and found that he'd done his 76 mile solo ride on a road bike at 21.6 mph average, had an FTP probably well over 300 W, and was a former pro triathlete now riding 14k miles a year. Didn't feel so bad about being zoomed by after that!!

That's a good showing - he sounds strong at 300+ watts! Headwinds make it hard!

I live in Norcal where on Saturdays especially, but definitely also on any day of the week, you can get totally dusted while doing 300+ watts, on a regular basis. Lots of pros and very strong amateurs out here to kick your tail up and down the block. But yeah, it's always humbling to be doing 300+w and then someone passes you easily - I always give 'em the thumbs up when they blow by.

Why is there zero discussion about aerodynamics? They play a massive role! I believe I averaged 24mph during the 57.4 mile ride at Atlantic City 70.3 and I got beaten by 59 other dudes on the bike that day. Hold on, let me look up my average power that day -- Yep 24mph, NP was 184 Watts. I weighed ~163lbs. Weather was rainy and windy.

You don't need an E-bike or a massive power output to average 23mph.

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Ironman Lake Placid 2021| 70.3 Worlds St. George 2021

All this talk about power makes we wonder how many watts I was capable of putting out back in 1988.

I used to ride from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara (120 miles) in 5 hours flat.

Since I didn't have a power meter, can anyone make an estimate for me?

It really is a kick in the nuts when you're running or swimming. You're out there pushing hard, about to fall over and someone cruises by you looking like they're just chilling in Z2. Half the time I don't think I can run or swim as fast as those other folks in a full sprint.

Important perspective to not let your results get to your head.

Yup, I'm also in NorCal and met a retired euro-pro while out on a ride. We're doing 40kph+ and he's just on the hoods chatting like we're sitting in a cafe. I'm sure my Z4 is his Z2.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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That's about right. I rode just over 7 miles last night in the drops on my Roubix running 26/28 Roubix Pro tires and averaged 21.1 mph and 230 watts on a flat no wind course. Me and the bike weigh about 87 kg. I race in Cat 3 this year (if we ever race) so I'm not a big engine by any means.

There are some very strong riders out there in the amateur wilds the just ride for fun and once in a while you run into one

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Segment hunting the other night for longer ones on the TT bike. 6.5 miles with over 60 feet per mile elevation and averaged 25mph including the time it took to stop and turn around on only about 270w.

I average some rides around town at 50 feet per mile on about 210w AP at 21.5mph for an hour or so no problem.

Yes, there is. This is a reminder that the race is first and foremost against yourself. I love competition against others, but I’m never gonna be THE fastest guy at the race so my playing is entirely premised on the uncontrollable event of who happens to show up that day. This is why I try not to get too high or too low based on a particular placing at a race. Good job on the test! Winds sound rough to be going that slow on that power.

Reminds me of a previous thread where ericMPro and others made the point of there's always someone faster. Those talented people are out there.

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...r_biking_P7079564-8/

Nice! What are your racing/competition goals?

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Yeah this seems about right

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

My FTP is 318w but I weigh 139lbs. I tried a couple of races on Zwift. I always got dropped very fast.
Either I'm messing with the wrong people and they're really fast, or it's something else ;-)

If your FTP is 5+ w/kg and you are getting dropped in Zwift races, then I'd say, yes, you are doing something wrong.

Indeed, well for flat races anyway.
You're not using a TT bike in these races, are you? (No draft in that case)

don't forget the self selection bias here: a lot of people who (rightfully) spend more time focusing on the long-duration stuff at the expense of repeatable short-duration efforts. The latter is the bread and butter of road racers, but would be a bad way to train for a triathlon, especially half ironman or longer.

Zwift, for all its faults re: physics, still is one where repeatable short term efforts matter.

Also, at the end of the day, the absolute power (320 W) matters more than w/kg for most of the races in Zwift. The reason is that one really can't drop the absolute output that much on the flatter roads, lest one want's a quick trip to the back and then out of the back. A few 75-80 kg dudes pulling at 280 W (3.5-3.75 w/kg) would necessitate the pack to ride at no less than 240 W. That would be 3.77 w/kg for someone at 63 kg. In real life, if the front is doing 280 W, one only needs to do ~180-190 W.

Thanks!

Since you ask, I'm new in the last 2 years to swimming, cycling and running, I did my first triathlon and first full Iromman last year and once COVID passes by I'd like to try and qualify for 70.3 WCs (other commitments pending!)

At my current rate of progression I'm confident I can get somewhere in the region of 390W - 400W FTP in the next 3 months but I'm really not sure whether that should be a goal or whether ultimately that will actually help speed up 70.3 distance bike leg. I've been considering whether to start a thread on that very topic, but imagine it has been done to death!