I’m not trying to take anything away from who everyone knows is an exceptional cyclist, but does the air density at that elevation have anything to do with his ridiculous bike plit of 2:02 for a HIM course? I understand that the thinness of the air works against him too in terms of oxygen intake, but a 27+ mph bike split is ridiculous.
How hilly is the course?
I’m not surprised to see guys like Thompson, Tollakson, Bjorn, several others put up splits like that. These dudes are just plain super fast.
That is fast for sure. TJ TOLLAKSON went 2:02:xx at Eagleman out biking everyone else by over 8 minutes.
He went 2:06 I think at Spirit of Racine. That course was pretty much flat, a few small rollers.
Doesn’t suprise me, that dude can fly.
The corse is rolling with a couple sections where you can really fly. Yesterday there was some cloud cover during the bike which made it nice and cool and a very slight tale wind coming back. Also, there is a newly paved section on 36 that makes up about a 10 mile section of the course. That made it very smooth and fast.
A funny story about DTs bike split…The airline lost his bike case and he didnt receive it until 5.30 am prior to the race. He put it together and showed up at the Rez in time to set up transition and hop in the water. No warm up.
Both the men and womens first and second place winners set new course records yesterday. So, there were some fast times.
Men: Thompson - Legh
Women: Mcglone - Zeiger
That dude is fast.
He is just plain fast. The only thing that puzzles me is that his website indicates he averages only about 4.5 hours per week running and 5 hours cycling over the course of a year. Granted, he does about 8 hours per week in the pool, but doesn’t this seem like low volume for a guy who’s so fast?
I have not researched this in-depth, but, I don’t think that the one hour time trial records have generally been set at altitude – which, if true, suggests that the savings in air resistance are more than offset by the lack of oxygen.
One factor to consider is that a big chunk of that course is along highways where cars and trucks are going about 60 mph. I would not even pretend to be able to calculate the effects of that (I assume it depends on how close you’re riding to the traffic) but casual experience suggests that you do get a draft when a truck goes by.
guarantee it’s not that low…that’s a total year figure. if you factor in all the rest weeks, and winter months that he’s probably not biking much if at all. his swimming and running hours are right in line with most other pros.
I was on a motorcycle for the race and there was VERY little car traffic and no truck traffic. Not an issue.
I’m not trying to take anything away from who everyone knows is an exceptional cyclist, but does the air density at that elevation have anything to do with his ridiculous bike plit of 2:02 for a HIM course?
**Probably. I can’t even ride in the same zip code as he and legh and went 2.08. Conditions were PERFECT. NO wind. Cool temps and some light cloud cover. **
I understand that the thinness of the air works against him too in terms of oxygen intake, but a 27+ mph bike split is ridiculous.
**Totally feasible… he might live in Minnesota but I hear he sleeps at 9000 feet. 
**
David stayed at our house before the race and was ready to ride my bike and use my wife’s racing flats for a good training day because the airline failed to deliver his bags. My wife opened the door at 5am to let our dogs out and, VOILA, his bike was on our door-step. Luckily, he works part-time as a mechanic at MN’s Gear West and put the bike together (there is a great pictur in the live coverage on InsideTri.com) only 1.5 hours before his race start. He rode the 5 miles from our house to The Res and…the rest is history. Never once did he offer a pre-race excuse for the airlines blunder. In my mind, that is the sign of the champion that he is.
Wow! Are you kidding me! Great story …
I’ve seen that on his website before and was a bit puzzled. I am going out to GW tomorrow to get a wheel fixed. If he is there I will ask him what the real deal is. 5 hours of biking is really low even with winter. and averaged over a year.
Dogs?
So Thor has a buddy now?
plus factor in the crazy amount of races he’s doing, so any LSD volume is probably lower.
I don’t know the exact altitude he raced at but if you go to analyticcycling.com and compare speed at sea level vs at 5000 feet, there is an almost 5% increase at 250 watts due to the lower air density. He probably averages more than that, so the difference would be even greater.
I don’t know the exact altitude he raced at…
that was funny! just look at the subject: 5430 -
good guess, anyway
Actually, I believe that many of the attempts at the one hour records have been at altitude. Mexico City rings a bell.
I was on a motorcycle for the race and there was VERY little car traffic and no truck traffic. Not an issue.
Now see, to me that seems like an advantage…I mean who knew that you ride a motorcycle in a tri?
With regards to Thompson, of course he can’t be that fast, as his bike is not CF and molded in all the right ways.
Ha! Now wouldn’t that be fun! From my perspective the bike course looked awesome and super-fast. I was also out on the run course on a MTB, and I did not envy the racers at all. Very hot, direct sun, and dry. Much easier on a bike