How much power does it take to win a Cat 5 road race?
Honestly, I don't know. But I can tell you how much power it takes to get second place in a Category 5 Road Race. The guy who did win didn't have a power meter on his bike. He's about ½ my age and weighs at least 20 pounds less than I do. Power-to-weight, he had me beat cold. In terms of raw power, we might have been pretty close.
So how much power does it take to get second place in a Cat 5 Road Race? My Normalized Power for the 35 mile race was 256 watts. Average power, only 200 watts. Average speed, a respectable 22.5 mph. TSS was just a shade over 145 points.
Here's how the race went down: There were 4 big climbs in the race. Everyone pretty well stayed together over the first. The second climb put about a third out of touch, off the back and not to be heard from again.
On the third climb I started liking my chances some. Many of the guys I rode by were panting hard. My legs didn't feel particularly good today. Maybe they just weren't able to work hard enough to put me into that much oxygen debt. Whatever the reason, my lungs weren't limiting me. It was the legs holding me back. Yet my legs could make the power I needed to put me up near the front by the top of the third climb. There were probably only about 10 of us left at this point.
When it came time for the fourth and final climb, Cody attacked. He put about a minute into the field on the last and largest of the four big climbs in the Tour de Ste. Genevieve.
It's not really all that steep as climbs go, but after 29 miles, this little ½ mile hill shattered the peloton. I burned match #16 on that climb, averaging 338 watts for a little over 3 minutes. I caught both of the riders who had been trying to hold his wheel and couldn't. Unfortunately for me, I caught them near enough to the top I couldn't stay away on the following descent.
I figured that was the next-to-last match I'd need to burn. I thought I might - just might - have been able to TT up to Cody. But I knew if I did I'd just kill Cody's chances at the top spot on the podium by giving the other two guys a free ride. I decided to sit on and take my chances on one last attack up the final climb about ½ mile from the finish.
That turned out to be a good decision. We crested the last little roller before the left turn leading to the final climb to the finish line, and only one of our little group of three could slow down in time to make the turn. I had to brake hard. I got a really good look at a Ste. Genevieve police cruiser I thought I might hit or slide under. I heard my tires skidding. I had to start from a near standstill, but my luck was much better than that of the other two, who had to slow and turn around and climb back to the turnoff.
I put everything I had into my final match - a 2½ minute uphill TT averaging just under 16 mph and just over 300 watts. That one hurt. A few seconds later the first loser of the 2007 Tour de Ste. Genevieve Cat 5 Road Race crossed the finish line.
I ran into Cody after the race and offered him congratulations. He told me he was gunning for the win on this one. It was his last race as a Cat 5. Cody made it count.
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Good for you!
That is a nice effort, man. Tactics, Effort, and technique to avoid a crash....everything a bike race story needs!
That is awesome! Glad to hear you had such a good effort, and such a strong finish. Are you sore and feeling like you left it all out there? That is a great feeling indeed.
Thanks Unit
I appreciate it. Thanks, Unit. I could have used your kind of power out there a few times. Then again, it wouldn't have been nearly as exciting.
Congratulations
Mark,
Congrats on your 2nd place! Sounds like you took some chances and they paid off. Well done and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Boz
Hang fire
Thanks Boz. There's proof, eh? Us old guys can hang fire when we need to. Not that you're old! I wish I could be your age again.
I think you'll appreciate this. Hard as it was, that race was not as physically tough as the Tall Oaks challenge, the MTB race I did earlier this year. It was hotter that day, for one thing. But the repeated hard pushes deep into the red zone became incredibly painful toward the end of the race.
On the road the pain lasts a lot longer and only occasionally is as bad as I remember it from that day.
I agree
On the Road, the pain is usually isolated (in the lungs, or in the quads). By contrast on the MTB, it seems that everything hurts when you are digging deep.
One could certainly argue that pain concentrated in the quads is worse since you can really concentrate on the searing of the muscle fibers as you continually ask them for more.
Although I would also argue that the Tall Oaks was painful this year...that is why I abandoned.
I think a guy like me can feel pain just about anywhere...the key is to be untrained...when properly untrained, you can feel pain just by getting the bike out of the truck!
Well done!
Great job on the finish today! That's quit impressive, I would be very hard pressed to match it on my best day. I do want to try a road race like that sometime. I didn't like the Criterium stuff at all but the race you did would be fun I'm sure. How big was your alls class? We had over 50 in the criterium...
Crits are popular
Criteriums are really popular. I think it's because you start, you suffer and you're done - all the in the space of a half-hour or so. A decent road race will hurt for at least an hour and usually longer.
There were probably about 30 in the Cat 5 field last weekend. I think it might have been larger but it was only the first time for this race and it came at the end of the season. Lots of racers around the St. Louis area target the Gateway Cup races - 4 crits over the Labor Day weekend - as their end of season blowout.
This one attracted racers from southern Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. There's no question everyone had a great time. I've heard nothing but praise for the race, how well it was organized and run and the route itself. I expect next year's edition to grow as the word gets out about it.
Promoters
No crits are more common because they are much easier to organize. You don't have to worry as much about using large sections of public roads (which requires lots of contact with public officials/governments etc... to get permission). They are much easier for spectators and easier for officials. Just look at how the Gateway Cup is promoted. Crashes are actually sited as something that is exciting to watch! Crits are just much easier to promote and organize, that's the most important reason they are so popular.
There's very few racers who would take a crit over an RR in my opinion. It's just that crits are all there is to race for the most part.
I hope St. Gen sticks around for a while, it sounds like a well run race.
crits over RRs
I think you're wrong. There are many for whom crits are the best option. Being competitive in an RR requires being able to train for the same period of time that RRs last. As you go up the ranks, RRs get into the 60 and 70 mile lengths, which is 2-3 hours.
For people who simply don't have more than 1-2 hour conttiguous blocks to train, crits are ideal.
One of the primary reasons I sat out the race that Mark did was b/c my recent training would not allow me to be anything more than pack fodder--if that.
N == 1
Sample size of 1 is not a very compelling body of evidence. Still, I'd be interested in knowing how others think about this. Crit or RR, which do you prefer?
Counter point: the 2x20 workout which is meant to raise FTP is not designated for either crit or RR. As I understand it, it is used for raising FTP, not crit FTP or RR FTP, just FTP. Am I correct?
N == 2
I much prefer crits to RRs. Lots more action, more spectators, they're faster, shorter and I do better in them. I know a lot of guys feel the same.
What I had in mind
Yep, that and what Chris said are about exactly what I had in mind when I said crits are more popular. I meant to racers; but as you point out, they're pretty exciting for fans and spectators as well.
Ok
Point taken. There are some racers who prefer crits. However, I know of two masters racers who refuse to do crits and go out of there way to do RRs. So I think the final analysis is still undertermined as to what racers prefer.
I did crits in the past but haven't done any this year. I broke my collar bone once in one and crashed hard in another. I'm tired of the crashes. I know RRs are not completely safe either but just looking at the description of the St. Gen race, the hill served as a good selector and really reduced the field. A race like that is much safer. If I had more time to train, I would prefer it. As it is, I am doing cyclocross this year. CX is safer than either.
Good Work!
Fantastic Mark, I'm so glad you had a good team to help you too. How did your back do during the race? Was it a factor at all?
I thought I had it beat
Thanks Bobber. The week or two before the race my back had not been bothering me at all. I truly thought it had faded into the past. Unfortunately the race taught me that in the heat of battle I will still revert to those old habits - the old, imbalanced pedaling style. Old habits die hard.
I realized the next day I hadn't given pedaling mechanics a single moment's thought during the race. Late in the race, when guys were dropping fast and it was time to dig deep or give it up, I felt it in my back again. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been, but it was there. I wasn't about to stop or slow down though. No way on that!
The next day I rode for about an hour and restarted the process of teaching myself the mechanics that seem to work well. One day, I hope, the new habit will become the old habit.
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