How to get your ass kicked on the golf course:
It's old news, but if you haven't seen that blog, do yourself a favor and go to JC Penny. It's pretty damn funny.
But I digress.
How to get your ass kicked at Tuesday Worlds:
Ride with this bunch:
I'll give you some data, because it's always nice to put a good ass kicking in perspective:
In 22 Tuesday Worlds rides in 2007 where I stayed with the front group, my average normalized power (NP) for the meat of the ride was 249 watts (I don't count Colaparchee, the 1st half of Zebulon, and the cool-down section at the end of most rides). The hardest of the 22 rides yeilded a NP=265. At the time, that was between 85 and 100% of my FTP - it was hard, but I rarely got dropped.
The calendar flips to 2008, Worlds begins, and the numbers change:
3-11-08: last 10 minutes before drop, NP=329 watts (that's 45 watts above my friekin' FTP!).
3-18-08: last 70 minutes of chasing 3-man break, NP=276 watts
3-22-08: 75 minutes prior to barely hanging on to back of rotation for dear life, NP=273 watts
3-25-08: 40 minutes prior to drop, NP=284 watts. 6 min prior to drop, NP=311 watts(For you fat guys reading this, I weigh 148 pounds, so 329 watts is 4.9 watts/kg for me.)
If I didn't have a power meter, I might develop a complex about my poor riding. But with my Ergomo putting it in perspective, I'm just happy to have access to the best damn Cat4 training rides in the World.
4 Comments:
Wow...that's a trip down memory lane and not a particularly pleasant one at that. My mom made me wear stuff like that and I hated it even then.
Robert, can you put me in touch with Jake Andrews? I'm the RealityBikes rider that had my front wheel taken out by a guy cutting me off (my wheel was taken airborne when the guy hit it). I in turn bumped Jake into the barrier while trying to hold it up. They stuck his water bottle in my cage too...
Jake Andrews: jandrews@ahpengr.com
Thanks Robert. I've sent him an email.
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