Great Valley Practice Criterium

Went to the GVPC last night (for the first time) w/ a group of CB Velo riders. For those of you that don't know about it..here is some info. I stole from Guy's Bike Shop:

Great Valley Practice Criterium Thursdays - 6:00 pm Location - Great Valley Corporate Center (Off Route 29), Malvern Format - 30 laps, sprint every 3rd lap, 30 miles, flat w/one riser Average Speed - 20 to 25 mph Map - Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA 19335

I don't know how old this post is from Guy's but the speed surely picked up a tad. My computer said 26.7 mph for the average speed. I'm not sure who the lead dawgs were but I'd say there were a couple Cat 2/3 racers in the mix..approx. 50 riders in all..which I heard is a relatively light crowd for a Thursday night Crit. Anyway, what I wanted to do is share some post-ride Power Tap data for you Power Guru's out there. Here is the ride data that I downloaded from my Computer:

Dist: 31 miles
Work: 800 kJ (800 calories)
Avg. Normalized Power: 230 watts (assumes const. pedaling)
Avg. Power: 195 watts
Avg. Heart Rate: 173 bpm
Max. Heart Rate: 193 bpm
Avg. Speed: 26.7 mph
Max. Speed: 38 mph

Ok, so what's all this mean? It means when you're sitting-in, you really don't have to produce that much power. i.e. 200 watts for me, and I weigh 174 lbs. But, what you can't see in these numbers are the accelerations per lap that allow you to sit-in. On each lap, I had to crank-out three 20 second intervals of 300 watts to keep me hanging-on. That's in addition to the lessor duration and power output intervals each lap. The peak 20 second interval for each lap averaged around 400 watts...with my max 20 sec. interval of 500 watts. That was when I got stuck pulling out front..bleh. I say bleh, cause I was redlining...almost blew-up..fried the engine.I missed the final sprint, but that's because I lost track of the laps. I'll learn!

Anyway, if you want a GREAT TRAINING CRIT..this is it folks. If you get dropped...so what..you just try to get back on when the group comes back around. We meet at Jason Wood's house off of Cold Spring Creamery Rd. at 430pm. That works for me since I live 2 doors down from Jason on Boxwood Circle.

Cheers Rob