33.8

Wumpus · Apr 22, 2005

Is that it? I've cruised on the flats at 32+.

Bikebro · Apr 22, 2005

When's the last time he spinted on his own? You got to remember he is probably doing around 30-35 when the sprint starts if not more.

Serial Midget · Apr 22, 2005

My fastest in recent memory (and with a tail wind) from a dead stop was 29.6. It took about 4 blocks to get to that speed and it was a bitch to maintain after only 2 more blocks. Kind of a rush though. :cool:

Wumpus · Apr 22, 2005

The Toninator said:
bring it meat stick!

I don't have a 53 anymore. Plus, I'm an old fart now.

indieboy · Apr 22, 2005

that's not bad at all tonY!!!

JRB · Apr 22, 2005

I can't find a truly flat road around here.

CChase86 · Apr 23, 2005

loco said:
I can't find a truly flat road around here.

Me either...

Man, you guys are fast. I can usually only sprint to about 28 or 29 on the mountain bike. I've never tried it on the road bike...

Serial Midget · Apr 26, 2005

Wahhahahahahah. Two tenths muffin. TWO TENTHS!!!

I challenge us both to a 40 MPH Sprint before the season is over. :monkey:

JRogers · Apr 26, 2005

a 40 mph sprint on truly flat ground from a stop would be pretty hard. When I lived in jersey, I would always finish my rides on a sprint on the road my house was on. It was pretty straight and was just a slight downhill the whole way (sort of a false flat almost). I could never get it up to 40. Every time I tried (every few days) I'd get to right near 38 or 39 but could never crack 40.

Serial Midget · Apr 27, 2005

The Toninator said:
it's on!!!! btw on my sat ride at one point we had a 20+ tail wind. i was cruising along at 32+ at 75% hrm

By we I assume you mean you where in a group situation?

I have quite a ways to go to get back up to where I was last summer. I wasn't giving you any crap, I just haven't done a dead sprint at all this year (or any intervals for that matter) and was curious to see where I was. 90% of my road riding this year has been base miles.

indieboy · Apr 27, 2005

i'd jack you guys in a sprint and you guys theoritically should smoke my ass in a sprint

Serial Midget · Apr 27, 2005

indieboy said:
i'd jack you guys in a sprint and you guys theoritically should smoke my ass in a sprint

Why? Your weight to power ratio should be much greater than mine plus I am probably twice your age and riding a 20 LB bike with 26mm 90 PSI training tires. It is possible that I might improve my performance with 19mm and 140 PSI. We'll see how that goes when summer is in full swing. In the meantime - keep talking the talk.

neaky:

indieboy · Apr 28, 2005

do i ever stop

SuspectDevice · May 4, 2005

indie, you suck at life. I'll wager $2 pay-pal for anyone here that goes from zero (standing start, trackstand) to 30 in less than 10 seconds. I know I can do it, but I'm not sure if Indie has his snap on right now...
As to sprints that are relevant to a road race... It's all about the aerobic engine, even for a field sprinter. 9 times out of time I can beat UsPro crit champ Kevin Monohan doing sprint workouts where we sprint from a stop, His aerobic engine lets him get to where he needs to be to unleash his moderate sprint. Same thing for your flash pros, like Cipo, Zabel or Pettachi, They aren't Florent Poussin by any means, they use their aerobic motors and tactical skills for 90% of the job, and close the deal with their sprints....

indieboy · May 5, 2005

i'll take that 2 dollar wager
when i was doing my testing, i was hitting 28/29 in 8. i think one gear down i could

indieboy · May 5, 2005

oh and i know i don't have any snap right now

sanjuro · May 5, 2005

FYI, the typical windup for pro level sprinters, like Cipo or Petacchi, is their leadout train is turning their top gear for the last 5-8 kilometers before the big boys go at it. Freddy Rodgriguez talked about in a recent Velonews: he said he was leading out Robbie McEwen at 71kph (44.1 mph) before Robbie would take the sprint at 72kph (44.8 mph).

On the typical flat sprint, these guys are motoring beyond normal human speed before they ever see the finish line. In the TdF, I saw Fabian Cancellara leading out Petacchi for at least 2 minutes. This is the guy who won last year's prologue, and he looked like he was red-lining the entire two minutes. I know he probably had a 54/11, and which he could easily turn for 39 mph for a short period of time.

jon cross · May 5, 2005

The thing about the euro and domestic pro guys, the big sprinters out there, is that they are capable of unloading that 1500+ watt sprint at the end of a 4-5 hour day. The climbs and surges and chases and all of the racing leading up to the finish don't slow them down as much as they would a normal rider. I can crack 40 training on my own, my max that I recall is 42.6, but this doesn't make me a threat in a race necassarily because I won't be able to do that at the end of a 70 mile crit or a 5 hour road stage. Hell, sometimes I have to sprint like hell just to keep from getting dropped in corners. Leadouts and all of that help, but the bottom line is that McEwen, Zabel, Petacchi and the like are just all around amazing athletes.

sanjuro · May 5, 2005

Sprinting in a race is all relative. Unlike time trialists, there is no objective standards to measure yourself.

Maybe my top speed is on a slight downhill. Maybe your top speed is with a headwind. Maybe your top speed is coming around other riders or when you train by yourself.

I think you know who the good sprinters are. They are the ones who move to the front a mile from the town limit sign. The guys who cross the double yellow for a clear path. These are guys who lean on you to back you down. The guys who win most of the pack sprints.

indieboy · May 6, 2005

no objective standards to measure yourself????

sanjuro · May 6, 2005

indieboy said:
no objective standards to measure yourself????

No objective standards to determine sprinting ability. It is not size, HR, top speed, or wattage. Sometimes it is how much you want it.

SuspectDevice · May 6, 2005

sanjuro said:
No objective standards to determine sprinting ability. It is not size, HR, top speed, or wattage. Sometimes it is how much you want it.

No, not really like any element of cycling there is a skill and tactical component, but power to weight ratio is ultimately what will determine success in a sprint.

17 watts per kg is good enough for someone with a decent threshold that can make it to the front of a race, but we define a world class sprint as 22 watts per kg or higher, which for someone who weighs 70 Kg would be about 1600 watts. As they motorheads say, there's no replacement for displacement.

Westy · May 6, 2005

The Toninator said:
Now the real question is who can keep the higher watt ratio for the longest period? The world may never know.

That is all I care about. I try to do a test every month or so to track my progress. Here is all I have to show this year.

10 mile TT at 3% grade. Sometimes going all out, sometimes not, no warm up.

Date Time Avg BPM Avg Power
2/18/2004 37:03:00 148 316
3/25/2004 37:10:00 149 323
2/1/2005 39:38:00 166 281
2/9/2005 35:48:00 163 334
3/25/2005 39:16:00 143 289

Westy · May 6, 2005

The Toninator said:
sweat, i want one of those toys.

I'm thinking about selling it. Wink wink nudge nudge.

Westy · May 6, 2005

The Toninator said:
I'm in the process of trying to buy a new frame no can do, unless you'll take $3.78 for it?

I'll accept hourly payments of $3.78 for 100 consecutive hours.

What kinda frame you gettin'.

jon cross · May 6, 2005

The wattage output at lactate threshold compared to a rider's weight is probably one of the more useful figures you could look at to get an idea of a rider's potential. It still won't tell you how a rider will do in a field sprint, however. Ignoring the tactical and technical components, you're still talking about acceleration from 30 to 40 mph as fast as you can. Power is an obvious factor, but equally important is muscle composition. For instance, I am made up of more slow twitch muscles. I can crank out 415 watts at threshold and hold it for 30-40 minutes no problem, but I regularly get dropped in field sprints at the races because I have trouble with snapping the bike up to high speeds. I can hit the same top speed as almost anyone out there, but I need much more of a windup to do so, which means winning field sprints for me is a pretty rare thing. Other people can explode off the 200 to go and jump from 25 to 35 mph in 20 pedal strokes at a cadence of 140. You need to be very quick as well as powerful .

sanjuro · May 6, 2005

I mentioned weight because I was thinking about Freddy Rodriguez, on the small side at 145lbs. He is no Tom Boonen, who I think is 6'1", 180lbs, or Petacchi, at 170lbs.

There are obvious signs of good sprinters, like wattage, but the whole package is more than VO2 or haemocrit numbers.

33.8

Muffin

makes avatars better

Chimp

Muffin

Muffin

Al Bundy

makes avatars better

Want fries with that?

JRB

Guest

Chimp

Muffin

Al Bundy

talks too much

Muffin

Al Bundy

Want fries with that?

Al Bundy

Want fries with that?

Turbo Monkey

Want fries with that?

Want fries with that?

Tube Smuggler

Monkey

Tube Smuggler

Want fries with that?

Tube Smuggler

Muffin

Turbo Monkey

the teste

Muffin

the teste

Muffin

the teste

Monkey

Muffin

Muffin

Tube Smuggler

Muffin