Re: Today's Ride

On 6/21/2025 9:07 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sat, 21 Jun 2025 20:12:02 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
 

On 6/21/2025 4:59 PM, cyclintom wrote:

We had a 25 mph headwind all the way out with 35 mph gusts.I wouold be riding along working pretty hard at 12.5 mph and as the gusts hit I would be instantly at 11 mph. Normally this would be somewhat compensated for by a tailwind on the way back but I guess it was more a cross wind as we turned back.

>
Congratulations! 12.5 mph into a 25 mph headwind takes quite a bit of
power, something close to 400 Watts. I'm very amazed a guy your age can
do that!
>

23 miles and average speed of only 8.18 miles per hour average ...

>
Ah. 8.18 mph sounds much more believable. That might be around 200 Watts.

 This is easier and includes more parameters.
I had to guesstimate on some of the values because Tom doesn't
disclose which bicycle he's riding, how much he weight, roadway slope,
etc.
 <https://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html?units=imperial&rp_wr=199.999&rp_wb=17&rp_a=5.9998&rp_cd=0.63&rp_dtl=2&ep_crr=0.01&ep_rho=0.078035&ep_g=0&ep_headwind=25&p2v=200&v2p=22>
To maintain a ground speed of 12.29 mph into a 25 mph headwind, Tom's
pedaling needs to produce 396.28 watts of power.
(Punch the Units: Metric button to change everything to metric).
 At 8.18 mph, 217 watts of power is required.  Yeah, that's more
realistic.

Not for an 80 year old. Tommy insists he can only sustain 90 watts.
https://rec.bicycles.tech.narkive.com/q35jywK7/average-speeds
"It appears that good riders at 60 can average about 90 watts of full time power. "

<https://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html?units=imperial&rp_wr=199.999&rp_wb=17&rp_a=5.9998&rp_cd=0.63&rp_dtl=2&ep_crr=0.01&ep_rho=0.078035&ep_g=0&ep_headwind=25&p2v=200&v2p=22>
 Without a headwind, 8.18 mph requires on 47 watts of power.