Did you get the bill?

You sold your bike and regret it?

You wish that tiny silver helmets were still legal and available? That you had thought of painters tape as an aero solution to exposed cables? That it was still 2004 and we could root for Postal? That the San Marco Aspide was still available as a saddle?

You spent tons of money on bike, bike fit and still didn't KQ?

Postal service jersey

Typical Cervelo fugly paint job?

Lots of good guesses, but no cigar.

1). 320 watts in a hot wind tunnel & 291 watts @ 140 bpm (25 bpm below threshold).

17 years later, that threshold power is more like 235. Aging sucks.

2) 17 years later, I am only a bit slower with 85 watts less power.

That’s good right? Well, no. Just thinking about how things would have gone back then if I had known what I know now (e.g. never, ever use Tufo tubulars) kinda makes me sick. Equipment DOES matter. So does position.

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My latest book: "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire" is on sale on Amazon and at other online and local booksellers

This is interesting.

Are both of those photos from 17 years ago? Do you have any photos of your current set up?

Btw I have exactly that same Jersey - Lance's kit- and still use it on the turbo.

This was also the kit (or a very similar one) for the USPS master's team. A couple of those guys would turn up on regular bike race weekends.

That is amazing

Please tell us/show is your secrets

I'd love to see an "after" photo with explanation.

Actually it's a good reason not to feel melancholic — it's pretty impressive how you've improved your efficiency.

Ha, forget about your little bit you missed, they had me riding 175 cranks and stretched out like superman. We can all play the what if we could go back game, I prefer to make mine with me going back to my old high school self, and cluing in the 14 year old me on what was going to happen with that pretty girl that nite, and maybe some things to do a little different...(-;

I have that fork on my old P2SL. I always wondered just how much slower it was than the Wolf SL that replaced it on later Cervelos. It was deeper at the leg, but not as well blended at the crown

And so does nutrition, training and technology improvements in the recent years. But still theres people that refuse accepting them and believing in 10-20 years old stuff :)

Watch the movie Mr Destiny (filmed here in town at a friends house). Never wish to go back because you might have missed the best of what you have . . . like my friendship and extreme admiration of you!

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

If it makes you feel any better, I also wasted a year of my life racing on tufo.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

Jens,

I have the same/similar bike on a trainer in the basement. Loved that 1st gen aluminum P3!

You should come back to Winston-Salem and we can go on a ride again now that you you have matured a bit with your watts, although I suppose that I have matured proportionally and would still get dropped :-).

The good old days . . .

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

It is just incredible that a single piece of equipment could have that big an effect on performance -- in my case, roughly 2 minutes on a 40K TT.



1) Fastest clincher tires & latex tubes

2) Correct inflation; even after I switched to good tires, I was riding at 130+psi for years (at 158 lbs). I don't know how much this cost, but it was a probably a lot.

3) Raised bars. For years, I had a 15cm+ drop. Now it's more like 2. Beyond 5 cm, all I was achieving was a higher arch in my back.

4) Got narrow: narrow bottom bracket, narrow cranks, pedals. etc.

5) Got rid of the base bars.

5) The BIG one: Trained with aero discipline. Driving behind me in a follow car a few years after the wind tunnel photos, Cees Beers (aerodynamicist and owner of ADA wheels) observed that I consistently threw one knee far out to the side whenever I pedaled hard. I'll have to dig up a photo of it: it's really quite striking.

Unfortunately, it was only years after that, that (thanks to Robert Chung's famous method) I started to to do regular field tests. That helped me realize that my real riding at full power was nothing like my wind tunnel riding. So I Chung-tested at least every two weeks -- at full race power. The difference between thoughtful, disciplined riding (knees in, head at right angle, etc.) and thoughtless riding is huge. If you train that way for a while, you'll realize that you don't have to sacrifice power (or at least not that much) to maintain the discipline.

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My latest book: "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire" is on sale on Amazon and at other online and local booksellers

Thanks David. I'm surprised, I'd never heard of it before; great cast. I'll definitely watch it.

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My latest book: "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire" is on sale on Amazon and at other online and local booksellers

I'm not surprised that -85 watts power only gives a small reduction in speed. If you're riding at 22+mph, it's like 80+ watts just to go 1mph faster. (Obviously for people going 14mph, +85watts will give a lot more than that!) Aero seems to be super important for any speed gains in that 23+mph range for flattish TTs.

-The one photo shows like near 300w for 25mph?

-Nostalgic about good times?

Wow never knew it takes approx 85 watts to go 23 vs 22 MPH

Ok I def overstated that, but it's still a lot of watts to go faster once you're going fast already. I used a calculator and 22 to 24mph in the one I used was 70 watts needed to gain +2mph and 55 watts for 25 to 26mph to gain +1mph.

Speed is set independently in the tunnel: the wind speed and the spin rate of the front wheel is 25mph (or whatever they set it to) regardless of how much power you generate. I'm not sure how it works with the rear wheel.

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My latest book: "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire" is on sale on Amazon and at other online and local booksellers