What is a good average Power for a Jr?

K50 said:

Hey guys, I'm wondering what a good average power production for a guy like me would be. In the Cyclist's Training Bible, the 'average' average power is 560-664 Watts for a senior rider. That seems huge to me as a Jr rider. on analyticcycling.comForcesPower Page.htmlOpen ↗

That is what I got as an average power for what I train at. I took a higher coefficient of drag, seeing as I'm using a mountain bike as my training bike, not a road bike. (does 0.006 sound ok or should I go to the 0.008?). I also live in the foothills probably 1000 - 1200m altitude. So is 262W okay? That's like half of what a senior rider produces...to me that sounds like I'm incredibly weak, which doesn't make sense as someone who can keep up with fast paced groups without a dying effort.

Thanks for any insight guys..If it turns out I'm weak, I'm gonna have to give'r for '06!

Oh man, you poor kid. You are totally reading it wrong. First of all, in the Training Bible, that power output of ~600watts is for a very short duration, I think a windgate test (the ironic part is that 600w for a 30 second sprint is INCREDIBLY weak for a grown cyclist, not 'good' as Joe Friel puts it.)
That figure of 600w is NOT for any type of sustained effort!!

Secondly, you overlooked the part on analyticcycling where the slope is at 0.03%!!!!!! DUDE! that is NOT a flat road! change it to 0%
Thirdly, where are you getting that 7.5m/s number from? I hope it's from a dead flat windless time trial because if it's not, it is USELESS.

Bottom line, don't try to predict wattage. If you want to know your wattage(which you DO NOT need) get a real powermeter.

Also, when you ask a question like "What is a good average Power for a Jr?", that is impossible to answer. Why? Because you have not specified the conditions and duration.

Let me give you some numbers to help you understand. I am a larger than normal rider at 6'1" 185lbs. 300watts average over rolling terrain with normal wind gets me about 22mph average, SOLO. (no stops).
200watts over the same situation might get me 17mph.
You can't try to plug these numbers into analytic cycling because of the terrain and wind that affects your speed.

And please, do not talk about a rider's "power", as if the rider has one power output. You need to say, "1 hour time trial power" or "5 minute power" etc. There must be a duration.

I would also advise you to forget all about wattage and all these numbers. enjoy cycling, don't get caught up into all this technology stuff. You are too young to worry about wattage.
have fun

OK, thanks for the tips, but actually I'm 21, not 13 lol...
Yeah, 7.5m/s is what I sustain on average on a flat road. My avg speed normally dips down to 26km/hour or so once I throw in 2 large climbs. This is for a 1.5 hour ride to 2hrs. If I change the slope to 0 that puts me to a mean 92.4 Watts.

And I was riding a hardtail that is about 25lbs with V-brakes and about 38psi tire pressure, so this will probably vary considerably compared to a road bike. (Is analytic cycling defaulted to a road bike rolling resisitance?)

Yeah I'm not serious about checking out my power, I was just curious, and still bummed out that I missed two seasons of competing because of school and heavy flooding...just wondering.

Well that should help clear up some issues there..

I forget to add this too: your frontal area is probally more like .6 to .7 not .5
that will also make a difference.

If you are hanging with the group ride or in the races, that's all you need to know.

K50 said:

(Is analytic cycling defaulted to a road bike rolling resisitance?)

Yes, it is. You'll need to increase frontal area, drag coefficient, and rolling resistance, and change the slope to zero as has been mentioned.

Bottom line is that it's going to be very difficult to back into your power numbers using the online tools because your riding conditions vary so much from the model.

frenchyge said:

Yes, it is. You'll need to increase frontal area, drag coefficient, and rolling resistance, and change the slope to zero as has been mentioned.

Bottom line is that it's going to be very difficult to back into your power numbers using the online tools because your riding conditions vary so much from the model.

Haha! So I'm wasting my time....hehe I better not worry too much about it then, yeah it's complicated to compare a road bike to a mountain bike. But nonetheless, thanks a lot guys for giving me some better ideas about what's up there! That makes a lot more sense. And yeah, if I can keep up with the fast dudes, that's all that matters! 😄 Yeah those are fun times!! I had a blast this year on group rides. This was my first year on a team, and I gotta say you just can't beat the extra support you get and hanging out with other cycling nuts. It's awesome! Plus wearing a team jersey is uber-cool! lol.. The '05 PEDALHEAD jersey looks real [censored]' hehe but now I'm just blabbering about nothing that has to do with power...

K50 said:

Hey guys, I'm wondering what a good average power production for a guy like me would be.

It would depend on your weight and time of the entire effort and your age.
http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/profile.html
http://www.midweekclub.ca/articles/

Since you are under 18 you might not want to worry about it so much and just enjoy riding your bike. 🙂 If you know any adults with a power measuring device, you might ask them to give their average watts/kg on a long climb (five minutes to an hour - whatever is a convenient milestone climb in your area) and their time, and then you can roughly gauge your progress with just time, and use this as a check on the calculations from analytic cycling.

Woofer said:

It would depend on your weight and time of the entire effort and your age.
cyclingpeakssoftware.comprofile.htmlOpen ↗
midweekclub.caarticlesOpen ↗

Since you are under 18 you might not want to worry about it so much and just enjoy riding your bike. 🙂 If you know any adults with a power measuring device, you might ask them to give their average watts/kg on a long climb (five minutes to an hour - whatever is a convenient milestone climb in your area) and their time, and then you can roughly gauge your progress with just time, and use this as a check on the calculations from analytic cycling.

LOL again, please, I'm 21!!! 😄 NOT THIRTEEN! I'm an engineering student lol....I have no idea why people think I'm under 18 lol...that's just too funny. Maybe because I laugh too much and it makes me seem immature..I don't know..but yeah thanks for the tips!

K50 said:

LOL again, please, I'm 21!!! 😄 NOT THIRTEEN! I'm an engineering student lol....I have no idea why people think I'm under 18 lol...that's just too funny. Maybe because I laugh too much and it makes me seem immature..I don't know..but yeah thanks for the tips!

A junior is someone 18 and under. An Espoir is someone 23-19. You asked what is a good average power for a junior.

Woofer said:

A junior is someone 18 and under. An Espoir is someone 23-19. You asked what is a good average power for a junior.

Yeah I found that out the hard way...I'm done guys. No more junior riding for me. I only had one pathetic season. Now I'm senior, and a weak one at that. Well, I'll keep trying anyways. Too bad I missed so much and have no idea what's really going on. I only know me as a guy my age. No one else. It sucks training alone and knowing nothing. Damnit....