800ftw. wrote:
I've heard that cycling is about half as effective at aerobic exercise than running, given the same effort level.
So a 3/4 hour cycle is like a 1:30/2:00 run. Also remember that Lance was basically an ultramarathoner. The training for the Tour de France has no relevance to like a track 5000m.
It's not that it's half as effective, it's that there is virtually no eccentric component to it, which means not as much energy is transmitted through the body in comparison to running.
Cycling efficiency is typically around 25%, meaning 75% turns into heat. Running is more like 40%, with 60% turning into heat. Of course that's simplifying it, but that's the gist of it. For whatever reason, a cyclist or swimmer can handle about 2.6x as much time in the saddle or water respectively compared to a runner. A 10 hour week for a runner is roughly 26 hours for a cyclist or swimmer.
63kgs is definitely not too light to be a world class TTer. The biggest issue is almost always that someone has not put enough time in the position and their body is stretching at the same time it's trying to contract: not good.
Since we are all saying what are best were...
Raced at 69-72kgs
10s - 1380w
30s - 1002w (at 6250', pointing to the fact sprints are not affected by altitude much, if at all. i was living at 6250' as well)
1m - 780w (72kgs)
8m - 460w (joe martin tt around 7pm, came after a 100 mile morning stage)
17m - 428w (avg elevation 4000')
40m - 402w (normalized, likely inflated due to massive 1' inherent ability and on a circuit with a 1' climb followed by a couple minute return to the base of the climb)
Got started late. First race at racing age 26. Blew through the categories for obvious reason, but had no clue how to race and couldn't get on a good team because I was "too old". There are age limits for the domestic teams and by the time I was a Cat 1, racing age 28, they said I was too old. Didn't realize what my strengths were at the time, which is really unfortunate. Also did too many 3 hour intense rides and not nearly enough 5+ hour rides. Would completely crack in the long stages due to this poor training program and thus the domestic pro teams had no interest. If only I knew then....