Project Syd -- Launch Testing
Just a minute of your time...
Just like the last entry, when we looked at Syd's aerobic baseline, we also performed some tests on her anaerobic power-to-weight. Specifically, we tested her ability to go hard for a minute. This is a crucial characteristic of racing a bike, particularly for women. Women's racing is often about the sprint. Staying with the group, and challenging the sprint, requires long bursts of power, much higher than one can sustain more than a few minutes. In cycling, you can be the best at going fast on your own and still get blown away on short hill when the punchy members of a group decide to suffer. Great time trialists are sometimes quickly eliminated from the group when those that excel at producing short bursts of power take to the front and showcase their ability to suffer. On a short, steep hill -- the most obvious place for such an acceleration to occur -- those with the best power-to-weight are at a significant advantage. Those without that advantage have to be smart, or face a long solo sufferfest just to finish. We need to find out what kind of rider Syd is so we can better focus her training and tactics.
Before we get to exactly what we're doing with Syd for the test, let's back up a bit and explain some basics. Power is the rate energy is burned over time. For the human machine, there are three basic energy systems: the ATP-PC (or phosgen system), the anaerobic (lactic acid system), and the aerobic system. Each system is associated with a time duration, and each has an important role to play in cycling. The ATP-PC is for short, instant bursts of energy, like running from an escaped mental patient, or sprints in cycling. The anaerobic system is for hard -- and painful -- efforts lasting from 30 seconds to about 3 minutes. It's about as fun to test as an electric fence, and in cycling in the real world, usually involves a hill, a breakaway, extended surges at the end of a race, a criterium after a turn, or annoying everyone on a group ride. The final system, the aerobic system, is for efforts longer than 5 minutes or so. It is basically what keeps you going on a bike -- most of bicycle racing is riding at the top end of this system.
While these systems seem like discrete elements, they are really a few different curves on a bigger continuum. For instance, riding hard for about 5 minutes is both anaerobic and aerobic, and if it started from a sprint to get away, then it also involved the ATP-PC system. In testing these energy systems, to sort them out from one another, you try to focus the effort of the test with making it a max effort for a given duration that squarely puts you in the right curve.
So, back to Syd, we did a test for one minute, trying to determine just how good her anaerobic abilities were, and to develop a better understanding of the type of rider she'll become. We used a hill that is steep -- over 10% grade -- that takes longer than a minute for most anyone to climb. We've also run this test on one of our elite riders, one who excels at this type of effort, so we know what the high water mark is. The results? Check out the video:
The second test results put her in the Cat 2 range in the power profile chart. Even more impressive, is that without knowing the exact time, she kept going for an extra 30 seconds. When she finally stopped --collapsed really -- she did nearly the same watts for a minute and a half as the aforementioned elite rider when she recorded her personal best in training. I suspect her one minute will improve, both with technique and training, and perhaps even focusing the effort down to exactly one minute. (Honestly, she might have been holding back to make the hill.)
So Syd is appearing more of an all-rounder, a rider that might excel both aerobically and anaerobically. As she continues to ride, and starts to race, that distinction might become more meaningful.
--Joe Laltrello
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