I’m trying to figure out how to combine commuting (3-5 hours Z1/Z2 a week)
It's one of the reasons I'm seriously thinking of an ebike when I get back to commuting by bike, makes it much easier to keep the commuting in lower zones.
Get an e bike
In the name of science I did a solo ride yesterday to see what kind of power I need to hold to ride at 18mph.
Chose a reasonable flat course with a few hills, 38 miles with around 2300 ft of climbing. According to garmin I averaged 18.26 mph and to do that I had to average a very modest 185 watts for 2 hrs, 220 watts normalized. That speed/power only included moving time, not waiting at traffic lights etc. I weigh 67 kg, and was on a canyon ultimate with deep section wheels.
For reference on similar length rides with more climbing, with similar power I'm usually at least 1mph less.
Going by that, I think that on a pan flat course it would be fairly easy to average close to 20mph at that power.
Chose a reasonable flat course with a few hills, 38 miles with around 2300 ft of climbing. According to garmin I averaged 18.26 mph and to do that I had to average a very modest 185 watts for 2 hrs
OK so that's my point. If I go out and avg 200 watts (on feel of what 200watts feels like on my smart turbo) I only avg around 16mph. So why is so low?
Depending upon what turbo you have, its 200W reading could easily be inflated by at least 10%, for instance the Tacx Flux.
Worth noting that most turbo apps don't simulate wind, I couldn't tell you one without googling, certainly not Zwift; RGT; Virtugo.
I very rarely focus on my power and/or speed on the flat, I'm much more interested in my efforts up inclines, especially categorised hills... Despite now being ~81Kg, middle aged and having lost all my winter gains thanks to a chest infection through most of spring.
Interval training near and beyond you FTP will give you power gains, for instance Zwift's "Emily's Short Mix" is a good little workout, or out on the road give a hill of under 10mins everything you have before recovering for ~10mins on the way to the next hill.
You can go to town on reducing aero drag and improving your speed for the same power output, not all apply to solo rides...
OK so that’s my point. If I go out and avg 200 watts (on feel of what 200watts feels like on my smart turbo) I only avg around 16mph. So why is so low?
Do you weigh 67kg?
I very much doubt that you can estimate your wattage with any sort of accuracy on a bike based on what it feels like on a turbo
Success, so according to that video its all down to my beard! That`ll be coming off tonight then.
OK so that’s my point. If I go out and avg 200 watts (on feel of what 200watts feels like on my smart turbo) I only avg around 16mph. So why is so low?
Speed is something difficult to quantify because it's so variable depending on terrain. If I went out riding at 200w from my door, I'd be very lucky to see a 16mph average, but I'm in quite a hilly area with steep climbs and technical descents. Also, with any kind of climbing, bodyweight is a massive factor.
OK so that’s my point. If I go out and avg 200 watts (on feel of what 200watts feels like on my smart turbo) I only avg around 16mph. So why is so low?
It can be hard to average the same power outside as inside (for similar effort) when you're actually measuring it with a power meter, so there is no chance of doing this on feel.
Honestly you sound pretty fit so it's probably more the mentality of it. Just going out and doing 15mph solo avg feels like an effort to me as there's no incentive and I CBA with it, but I know from time trialling that I could physically do 17,18 comfy. Just don't have that roadie mentality to ride at a decent clip around the place as a normal thing.
You also need to think about what your goals actually are in terms of getting faster - if it is just to be fit and generically decent on a bike then I can see why this would be a bit of a benchmark. But road clubs are full of blokes who can knock out 17,18 solo pace no prob, racking up huge TSS along with it, and are still basically slow in any form of bike race.
Do you weigh 67kg?
Exactly. On my 200w ride i averaged 18.2. Im 79kg and found outnwith the many junctions etc over 148k in Essex i actually averaged 170w / 195np approx. See also rolling resistance, aero, power accuracy, wind, air temp/density and gearing.
OK so that’s my point. If I go out and avg 200 watts (on feel of what 200watts feels like on my smart turbo) I only avg around 16mph. So why is so low?
As others have said unless you have a power meter you can't estimate wattage accurately
Buy more importantly, as I said before, your pace at a given wattage will be determined by the route, and how flat/hilly it is. If I ride my usual route at the same average power I did yesterday my average speed is around 17 mph, ie 1.3 mph slower for same effort. Because it's got more climbing.
Global Cycling Network are presumably monitoring this thread as they have just published a video entitled 'how to improve your average speed'.
I haven't watched it so can't really comment but you might find it interesting.
I maintain you need to work on your FTP via HIIT. Watts output on it's own is meaningless, it's watts/kg which is important.
Personally it's easy for me as I do the following:
- shaved off beard = 0.25 watts saving (not shaving)
- Tyres at 109 psi instead of 73 psi = 5W per tyre saving
- No Saddle Bag = 0.5W saving
- Glasses = 1W saving
- Helmet with covered vents = 5 to 10W saving
- Shaved arms and legs = 15W saving
- always have someone following me as they improve the airflow = 12W saving
- Clean and Lubricated Chain 1 – 3W saving
- Tight fitting aero clothing = 15W saving
- Riding with forearms flat / hands on the hoods = 30W saving
- Ride 30cm behind another rider = 150W saving
So with all that I'm putting out 245 watts before even getting on the bike meaning it's simple...
I also found that the most effective weight saving is to not carry a 1 litre (1 kilo) bottle of water. I just get a mate to ride with me carrying two bottles and he passes me my bottle every time I need a drink.
...probably
Just had a thought whilst out riding today. Don't know if it's been mentioned earlier in the thread.
OP - how do you know that these other riders are in Zones 2 & 3? Do they state so in the comments on Strava? If you are just going off the actual NR values then it's highly unlikely that their zones and yours match.
