Hey all-
Just found this incredible spreadsheet- http://www.whitemountainwheels.com/SpeedPower.html
Its an excel spreadsheet that lets you build a course in excel, and then play with variables like weight, wattage, positioning, and watch time/speed change.
there are incredible amounts that can be done with this.
My most interesting insight so far:
-i build a very simple analog of the cancun bike course- 56 really flat miles.
-i did it in 2:27, at about 250 watts average (was a fast bike leg for me)
-this data fits pretty well with the spreadsheet
-most interesting result- 10 watts higher or lower only results in time changs of +/- 2-2.5 minutes
In other words- even at 300 watts id have only dropped 10 minutes off my bike split
Tells me a few things
-once at pretty high wattages on flat courses, a few more watts have real diminishing returns
-the amount of training for me sustain 300 watts for 2 hours would be huge, and it would only save me 10 minutes
-i should spend more time on my run training- if 10 watts can only get me 2 minutes on the bike (and id be pretty happy if i could increase 10-20 watts per ear), i should focus more on running. I know i can get 5 minute of my run (currently high 1:40s for HIM) easier than i can find 20 watts on the bike.