Beginner

Heath

Hey all...i have just recently become interested in cycling and more to the point track cycling. I am currently undergoing a sprint trial (on a bike ergo) for a university honours degree student in Brisbane and have found out some rather interesting information about myself. So far i have had my VO2max score tested with the gas mask and everything, supposedly extremely accurate, and also i have had my power output tested. My score for the VO2max was 76.9ml.kg.min and my max power output was 1303 (watts?). The power output is expected to increase with training....Basically im just wanting to know if i have the basic building blocks to be successful in track racing..so if anyone could give me some advice i would greatly appreciate it.

bikeguy

Probably. 1300 watts is good considering if you haven't done much training but far from the 2000+ needed for elite 200 m track cyclists. I would point out that if you're an animal in the gym and can power clean, snatch, deadlift or squat like a beast particularly for reps than your power output on the bike will most likely be very high for a short sprint even if you have barely even ridden a bike. Your V02 max is outstanding. I'm having my V02 max and Wmax measured as well next week and I'll get lactate values at my Wmax as well. I wanted a 30 second wingate test too but he said they didn't do that there. Don't know why, it's much simpler than the V02 max test as far as I know.

Oh, I should also mention that if you are a huge guy and weigh 110+ kg with a big drag coefficient and inertia than 1300 watts isn't going to give you a reasonably decent 200 m time (or much else for that matter) but if you weigh under 90 kg than I think it's a good start. It's hard to say how much you'll improve though so nothing is really out of the question.

drewjc

1300 watts is quite good for someone who doesnt ride much and 76.9 is excellent for an amateur. Depending on your weight and a few other factors it is hard to reasonably estimate your ability as a track rider but you definitely have a good base, possibly even as a road rider.

Bikeguy, a wingate test doesnt measure VO2 so doing one of those instead of a VO2 max test is of little use. Wingate test measures anaerobic endurance and max power while a VO2 max test measures aerobic power and peak VO2. One is basically an endurance test and the other a sprint test. Good luck with the testing anyway, hope you get some good results.