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Tag: neil de grasse tyson

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the power problem: what’s with the obsession with the watts?

  • by Lee Rodgers
  • Posted on May 22, 2013May 21, 2020

“How did it go?” I asked a young Frenchman when he’d finally retrieved something akin…

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37 responses to “the power problem: what’s with the obsession with the watts?”

  1. chrisjennings Avatar
    chrisjennings
    May 22, 2013

    Great timing considering my new power meter will be here Thursday. Started in the 90’s using a mix of RPE and hear rate so not sure how this whole wattage thing is going to work. Hopefully I can manage to squeeze it in with the tried and true methods to get some solid results.

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 22, 2013

      ah, had you told me i’d have posted about how wonderful PMs are 😉 good luck with that, the examining of data was what killed me, that and the 30 minute power test…!

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      1. Clayton S. Avatar
        Clayton S.
        December 4, 2013

        usually it’s a 20 minute test to measure FTP

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  2. Olivier BAILLET Avatar
    Olivier BAILLET
    May 22, 2013

    Fantastic posting !

    Olivier Baillet

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    1. kirstenkoh Avatar
      kirstenkoh
      May 23, 2013

      This is a great post and something I have been thinking about for quite a while. We have just to listen to our incredible body and we will learn its ways. Thanks for this post! Awesome read 🙂

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  3. crankpunk Avatar
    crankpunk
    May 22, 2013

    merci!

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  4. Trump Avatar
    Trump
    May 22, 2013

    Crankpunk, I just ran your posting through my blogometer, and it recorded 100%. So it must be good….

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 22, 2013

      haha awesome, hope it is still functioning 😉

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  5. Gordon McCauley Avatar
    Gordon McCauley
    May 22, 2013

    Better to burn out than to fade away!..Love it!

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 22, 2013

      i’ve seen Gordon ride. he speaks the truth….

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  6. mihaicc Avatar
    mihaicc
    May 22, 2013

    Yep, not knowing how hard you go can help you more than having data limit you.
    And probably this article was approved by Jens Voigt 🙂

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 22, 2013

      wouldn’t that be cool, if i could get an ‘approved by Mr. Voigt’ stamp… still, the Jens Voigt Army like cp, so that’s good to know…

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  7. Aik Avatar
    Aik
    May 22, 2013

    Use the PW to break our limits instead. Love it!

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 22, 2013

      PW? did i miss something? what’s that?

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      1. Aik Avatar
        Aik
        May 22, 2013

        Auto-correct function. I meant power meter

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      2. crankpunk Avatar
        crankpunk
        May 22, 2013

        ah, gotcha!

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  8. EchiDna Avatar
    EchiDna
    May 22, 2013

    So as part of your new training programs – will you be analysing power data from participants? 😉

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 22, 2013

      i work with a VM – Vomit Meter. these, thankfully, are free.

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      1. EchiDna Avatar
        EchiDna
        May 23, 2013

        time taken to puke increasing = improvement? simple. I like it.

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      2. crankpunk Avatar
        crankpunk
        May 23, 2013

        🙂

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      3. Brian west Avatar
        Brian west
        December 2, 2013

        I told some folks I know about a climb in a race in the spring and his I had puked at the top. And they said it must have been awful. I Said it was awesome. I read about a guy not long ago who crunched his power meter numbers and came to the conclusion he’d never be any good and quit. What a maroon. Great blog.

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      4. crankpunk Avatar
        crankpunk
        December 2, 2013

        thanks Brian, glad you enjoy it! yes i still believe in the power of the mind rather than a belief in numbers. number can guide, but they should never ever dictate…

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  9. Rebecca Avatar
    Rebecca
    May 22, 2013

    You make me want a footprint on my back!!
    You blew my mind and then put it back together again with a new power… be limitless, disintegrate the mold. Exciting!! Thank you!

    And on a complete side note…. loved the ‘be battered’ photo 😉

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 22, 2013

      me too, re the batter foto! i was wondering if anyone else had noticed 😉 haha!
      yes, dismantle and put back together, that is the key… crank on Rebecca!

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  10. Jimmy Avatar
    Jimmy
    May 23, 2013

    I just ride till I drop…. No power meter, no HRM, just legs frozen in multiple cramps, head spinning, but smiling always… Started at 40km all cramped up… Now at 80km still no cramps… At 100km back in pain… But mileage is building… Arguably I would improve faster watching the HRM… But I guess I’m too stoopid for that… I just love the ride whenever I can find the time and trying to hang onto the next level of riders… Never mind getting kicked off the crit in only 20minutes of a 1 hour race… 90clipless shoe prints on my ass, but guess what… I stepped up… Was an amazing experience…

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      May 23, 2013

      sing it, Jimmy, sing it.
      may your crank stay firm and true.

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  11. Inga Thompson Avatar
    Inga Thompson
    May 23, 2013

    My Fav is the VM, Vomit Meter! You know you’ve been at it awhile when you detect the difference between puking from nerves and the puking from riding so hard that all functions lose control, dry heaves, shits, stop sweating. Seriously, those were my favorite races because you KNOW you gave it all and THAT is why we are there!

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  12. aki Avatar
    aki
    May 23, 2013

    I like your post. It reminds me of the HR fanatics that would drop off in order to keep their HR at a particular number.
    I use my powermeter as a recording of what happened. The powermeter is like a dashboard. My car’s tach doesn’t set a rev limit, it doesn’t determine power, it just tells me the engine speed. Likewise my powermeter simply tells me what my body is doing. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised, other times I’m disappointed, but I won’t back off because of a number on the screen, I back off when I need to back off.
    A friend who questioned the wisdom of using power to “limit” oneself couldn’t get this through his head. He thought I looked at the thing while I raced (in crits, where power is frankly unimportant). Sure I’ll glance at it, primarily to make sure it’s still on, but I don’t know my numbers until I download them to my computer.
    I don’t train scientifically so my powermeter is really a post-race analysis kind of thing. Plus the software makes for cool graphs and such.
    (I admit I use wired SRMs. In my best recent year 2010 my crank battery died in about May and I didn’t bother replacing it until the end of the season – I used the head just because it would record speed, cadence, and HR. Then I misplaced my HR belt. And the wiring harness failed. I still brought the head to races for some reason.)

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  13. May May May … | Lemuel
    May 23, 2013

    […] just like to end off with another brilliant post from CrankPunk, this time about Power Meters and the misconception in the way people use them. […]

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  14. Ray Alba Avatar
    Ray Alba
    May 23, 2013

    Better to invest in Coach Puppet… See how you can be motivated!

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  15. Christian Hesch Avatar
    Christian Hesch
    May 29, 2013

    If only i’d had a PM that fateful april day….I could have dropped old man Rodgers up an unkown Taichung hill….on my rented POS! 😉 hope you’re getting sorted mate, just rode 110k sunday, first time over 40mi in years~….no PM needed!

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    1. crankpunk Avatar
      crankpunk
      December 2, 2013

      just saw this – and you’ll NEVER drop Old Man Punk…

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  16. Crank Punk Coaching Systems: testimonial from Mr. MacDonald | crankpunk
    September 15, 2013

    […] already a well shared CP post sticking 2 fingers up to power meters & so you’ll not be surprised to hear that his training approach eschews such modern gadgetry. […]

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  17. Clayton S. Avatar
    Clayton S.
    December 4, 2013

    I believe it’s Jonestown, not Jamestown after the ill-fated people that followed Jim Jones to Guyana and drank the cyanide laced kool-aid, not everyone did.

    I use a power meter faithfully, I have one on everyone of my 5 bikes, 2 road, a cross, TT and track bike. I train with a coach who gives me specific workouts based on the type of race that I’m training for and I use my PM to help me achieve the goals I have set for myself, but by no means do I feel dependent on a power meter to tell me if I’m working to my limits. In fact my PM helps me to exceed my limits.

    After taking a test to determine my approximate functional threshold power level or FTP, I can use my workouts to actually increase this level by holding my power for certain lengths of time it allows me to be able to increase that amount of power I can hold so that eventually my next FTP can be higher. I usually test several times during the off-season to see if my power increases as a result of my workouts. In fact some of my workouts are designed to simulated what a race might throw at me like when someone attacks or when the pace suddenly ramps up to the point where many are thrown out the back. I know that I will be able to keep up that brutal effort because I’ve done it many times while training and using my PM to record my efforts.

    Trust me, using a PM does not have me accepting my limits, anything but, it helps me to improve myself so I can make it to the next level instead of just finishing middle of the pack. I do not care specifically how old my opponent is, what cat rider they are or even what their palmares reads, although I do respect the more experienced riders, in fact using a PM allows me to takes risks I might not otherwise do in a race like attacking off the front with 25k left in the race because I know what I can sustain for 40 minutes.

    Part of the reason for using a PM is I can train more efficiently, sure I still do the long miles, but with only so many hours in the day to train, yes I have a full-time job, no I’m not paid to ride my bike, I’d rather make the most of my workout by training in an efficient manner by utilizing the efforts that make the most of my workouts, something I feel without knowing what kind of power you’re producing would most likely lead to under-training.

    Say whatever about people relying on PM’s to train for races like babies sucking on a teat, but this is how many of us train so we aren’t laying on the side of a road with several km’s to go in the race with rabbit turds on our sweaty faces. I’ll see you on the road while you suck my wheel all the way to the finish!

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    1. Clayton S. Avatar
      Clayton S.
      December 4, 2013

      ok, maybe you will be the one in front of me, but they’ll be plenty of wheel suckers behind me!

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  18. Geoff S Avatar
    Geoff S
    March 3, 2014

    Clayton S for the win. I won’t let the power meter define me as I sure as hell won’t be even looking at it at “those critical moments”. It may guide me when I’m soloing tho (as I used to be totally rubbish at that….and with a PM I’m just plain bad…..significant improvement!) and it’s certainly opened my eyes as to how incredibly badly I used to train! My easy days were not easy enough and I sure needed to HTFU on my harder days. They’re a tool, not a “be all and end all”.

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  19. 6 TOP TRAINING TIPS FOR BEGINNER CYCLISTS: HOW TO START YOUR CYCLING CAREER - Crank Punk Coaching
    February 11, 2022

    […] Don’t be a slave to the numbers, utilise the tech properly and you may just exceed your perceived limitations. […]

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