I was looking through a thread someone started where everyone put their stats from their last bike race (watts, avg speed, equipment they were on, distance, etc). Since I am close to 200 pounds, I always assumed it would take someone like me longer to train up to faster speeds than the cyclists who are lighter. But it looks like there are some heavier guys like me that are doing pretty well.
How long have you been riding to achieve this 25 avg speed? WHat types of workouts do you do to get up there? I have been involved with tri’s for about 4 years, with some breaks and my best ever in a 40k was 21.5. Also…my cycling frequency per week is 3 times (1 computrainer, 1 personal indoor trainer and 1 outside) I am starting to wonder if I am not pushing hard enough in my training/racing and if I need to HTFU.
If the course is flat your weight will not hold you back much at all. Some people can get up off the couch and do 25mph for an hour with no training at all.
Most people it will take a 2 or 3 years and a solid position.
There is a wide range of talent out there. At 3 rides per week you certainly have the opportunity to add a lot more training load and see how you improve.
Smart position and equipment choices may lead to big improvements too.
3x/wk on bike with what else on your training load? How many runs and swims…? How old are you? After the first couple years, your newbie gains are gone so harder to get faster obviously, but 21.5 isn’t great. Do you know your watts? Are you aero? Flat or hilly course?
If you are running a lot and your legs are trashed, than it will be harder to make thebike gains as quickly. If you drop down to just a couple of maintenance runs than you should be able to ride 4x/wk with a couple of sweetspot efforts and a couple of harder interval rides. I’d avoid fluff. I haven’t done a tri in awhile but have just been running once a week or so and riding 5/6 times and power seems to go up pretty quickly initially if I do a 2-4 week block of heavy bike focus.
Ride, ride, then ride more. When you’re tired add another ride. Mix in tempo work like you would with running. This has worked for me atleast. Last year was my first year doing tri’s and I averaged what you do. A season later on the same course I’m up 2mph
So training load also included 2-3 swims and 2 runs. I am 30. On my computrainer rides, I tend to average 220 watts on a hilly course…unsure of totally flat as I never do flat rides. Yes I am aero. I should say my equipment is a Cervelo P3 with ZIPP 404’s during racing. I dont use a power tap so unsure of my wattage during racing or even outside ride training.
I just rode a personal best 40k in a OD race of 24.2mph on a course with a few hills and sharper corners. 8 years ago I rode a 20.8 in my first OD race on that same course 8 years ago. I have no idea what my wattage is, don’t have a PM.
Here’s the comparison now vs. then
Age: 35 vs 27
Weight: 165 vs 185
Bike: Trek SC7 with Zip 404/808 vs. road bike with clip-ons & light weight (and flexible) easton “climbing” wheels.
Mileage/Quality: 4-5 rides, 100-180 miles/week (very specific pace and intensity) vs 3 rides 50-100miles (mostly garbage miles either not easy enough or not hard enough)
Overall volume including swimming and running went form 5-8 hours per week of training to 9-14 hours. There is residual benefit to cycling due to the added cardio volume overall as well.
For you it just depends on what you can and are willing to change or improve between training and equipment. On a flat course, weight won’t make that much difference as mentioned.
It depends on a lot of factors and the courses that you ride. 200 pounds is probably heavier than the majority of tri folks. but it is not crazy big, and being a strong 200 pound rider could even help you hit your goal speed.
As long as you are not tall and lanky or plain old fat, you should be able to hit 25 mph on 260-280 watts with a decent aero position and equipment. Really good positioning and equipment wwould lower that even further. For a guy your size that is only 3w/kg which is pretty attainable. Now a hilly course would be much harder and in that instance you just have to keep on biking
For most people, obtaining mid-20s speeds over an entire race distance requires attention to detail on a whole bunch of fronts, the main ones being: training, aerodynamics, & tires. It’s actually easier to do for big guys as long as the course is flat and you’re not too fat. Getting your body into an aero position, wearing a good aero jersey and helmet, and keeping your bike clean will provide mostly free speed and will help a surprising amount. (Here I mean clean of stuff hanging off it everywhere, but clean of dirt helps too.) It can take a lot of work finding a good position, though, so don’t think it’s an overnight fix. You also want to make sure you have some faster tires (you can do a search here to find out some favorites). As for training, you’re probably going to need somewhere between 250-300 watts to get to 25mph given your size (depending on your actual size and your position on the bike). If you become detail oriented and start working on all these things I think 25mph for an hour is doable for a lot of people (surely at least 50% of the population).
I came into tris after road racing through most of the 90’s (after a 5 year break of doing absolutely nothing but getting fatter and more lazy - seriously … I gained 60 pounds over my typical race weight once I stopped riding). It took me all of one season of running where I ran about 1,000 miles throwing in about 1,000 miles of riding before I was in the 23 - 25 range for sprints and olys in my races. That, and getting back to my race weight range (170 - 175 pounds at 6’-1").
What does that blatant brag mean? If you have a background in cycling with thousands upon thousands of miles, it is not hard at all to be at the pointy end of the bike field in a tri with only 1 to 2 days riding a week. For someone just getting into the sport? Ride 5,000 miles a year for a few years preferably in group rides with people faster than you. And get into road/crit racing. You’ll get there eventually.
Using “gravity cycling” your weight is an ADVANTAGE! When you raise your seat ONE INCH,slide it forward and SLANT IT DOWN as much as possible you get MORE WEIGHT on your pedals! So the HEAVIER you are the FASTER YOU GO! You get FREE SPEED! Try it!
Using “gravity cycling” your weight is an ADVANTAGE! When you raise your seat ONE INCH,slide it forward and SLANT IT DOWN as much as possible you get MORE WEIGHT on your pedals! So the HEAVIER you are the FASTER YOU GO! You get FREE SPEED! Try it!
Using “gravity cycling” your weight is an ADVANTAGE! When you raise your seat ONE INCH,slide it forward and SLANT IT DOWN as much as possible you get MORE WEIGHT on your pedals! So the HEAVIER you are the FASTER YOU GO! You get FREE SPEED! Try it!
Using “gravity cycling” your weight is an ADVANTAGE! When you raise your seat ONE INCH,slide it forward and SLANT IT DOWN as much as possible you get MORE WEIGHT on your pedals! So the HEAVIER you are the FASTER YOU GO! You get FREE SPEED! Try it!
have you tried this on an hour long climb out of saddle? gravity, man, it will all be working for you and power should triple. free power, try it
“Gravity cycling” is HALF-WAY between sitting down the usual way and standing up! In other words you get HALF the additional power of standing up without tiring your legs. Standing up may give you a 10% increase in power but it fatigues your legs. “Gravity cycling” will give you FIVE PERCENT more power with no leg fatigue! WARNING: once you raise your seat and slant it down you will NEVER GO BACK TO THE OLD WAY!
My very first time trial was a 40k. I had been biking less than a year, but recently got a tri/tt bike. Cervelo P2. Standard training wheels, GP4000s tires, butyl tubes, regular road helmet, tri top/shorts, very average position. It was somewhat windy and it rained really hard for about 3 miles. 21.3 mph average.
Fast forward 3 years. Same bike, more agressive positioning, 404 front, disc covered rear, aero helmet, same tires, latex tubes, skin suit, shoe covers, 3 years of power training with over 18k miles, same course with minimal wind and dry conditions. 25.6 mph average.
The key for me was taking every advantage I could possibly get with equipment and position, then just riding the shit out of my bike. The last 2 summers I was riding 6-7x per week.
For most people, obtaining mid-20s speeds over an entire race distance requires attention to detail on a whole bunch of fronts, the main ones being: training, aerodynamics, & tires.
Really? The big three are training, aerodynamics, and tires??
Unless he’s currently running mountain bike tires, I don’t think that’s where he’s going to find 4mph.
The answer to this is always the same, it’s either run more, bike more, or swim more. There is nothing that you can buy (assuming even remotely serviceable equipment) that won’t be eclipsed by hard work.
If you don’t appreciate the importance of attention to detail in the tire and tube department, then you’re in for some serious enlightenment. Not sayin’ it’s a 4 mph difference, but I completely agree that it belongs in that big three hierarchy.
For most people, obtaining mid-20s speeds over an entire race distance requires attention to detail on a whole bunch of fronts, the main ones being: training, aerodynamics, & tires.
Really? The big three are training, aerodynamics, and tires??
Unless he’s currently running mountain bike tires, I don’t think that’s where he’s going to find 4mph.
The answer to this is always the same, it’s either run more, bike more, or swim more. There is nothing that you can buy (assuming even remotely serviceable equipment) that won’t be eclipsed by hard work.
I put training #1, but aero is almost as important as training and can easily buy you 3mph or more. Tires can cost you ~0.5mph (at 25mph) if you use the wrong ones. So, yeah, you can get >4mph from stuff other than your training. Easy.
