Well, the results are in, and below is this year’s side-by-side comparison of two very popular pro criteriums (Sunny King and Athens Terrapin Twilight). I still don’t know how to decide which race is harder … so y’all look at the data and make some comments about how you interpret it. Thanks! This year’s races were held on back-to-back weekends with Sunny King held in Anniston, Alabama on Saturday, April 21st at 7:30PM and Athens Twilight held in Athens, Georgia on Saturday, April 28th at 9:00PM.
Summary Data
Sunny King Athens Twilight Time 1:30:14 1:41:19 Distance 41.6 mi. 47.6 mi. Avg Speed 27.7 mph 28.2 mph Max Speed 36 mph 36 mph Avg HR 176 174 Max HR 187 189 Avg Power 269 245 Max Power 1013 1088 Placing 26th 20th
Heartrate Zones
Sunny King Athens Twilight Zone 5 (175+) 0:58:45 0:54:04 Zone 4 (155+) 0:31:15 0:46:50
Some notes about the data … first, it was really windy for this year’s Sunny King criterium, which partially explains the higher power / lower average speed. But a bigger factor in the Watts vs Speed differences between the races is that in Athens you have a long stretch of the course where you rest … from the downhill going into Turn 3 all the way through Turn 4. The only place to rest on the Sunny King course is about 3 or 4 seconds as you brake hard into Turn #3.
Here are the power maps … note that for the Sunny King race there is a lot more time to warm up on the course so a lot of the purple lines are from my warm-up laps.
2012 Sunny King Criterium – Pro men power map (click to enlarge)
2012 Athens Terrapin Twilight Criterium – Pro men power map (click to enlarge)
Here is a side-by-side on the lap data for the two races showing avg power, max power, and avg heartrate. Sunny King is on a slightly longer course so there is only 60 laps as compared to 80 laps for the Athens Twilight race.
Avg power Max power Avg heartrate Lap Sunny Athens Sunny Athens Sunny Athens 1 367 330 897 820 159 168 2 317 267 948 827 173 172 3 279 270 839 975 173 173 4 236 305 767 851 172 177 5 282 257 970 895 174 178 6 316 256 900 845 177 176 7 272 234 855 890 179 173 8 303 243 1013 919 180 173 9 238 258 934 891 179 174 10 268 231 822 860 175 176 11 253 272 917 873 176 178 12 260 271 804 918 176 179 13 271 284 820 931 177 179 14 282 250 928 821 180 182 15 265 249 814 973 177 179 16 289 280 853 917 177 180 17 246 234 780 901 179 179 18 276 268 879 876 175 179 19 256 261 874 884 174 179 20 326 236 935 934 180 179 21 260 249 884 903 180 179 22 252 262 945 864 176 178 23 251 234 717 897 175 177 24 256 262 807 896 177 179 25 246 244 852 920 177 178 26 289 256 916 976 178 178 27 291 238 872 903 179 177 28 295 226 827 790 179 175 29 250 216 870 794 178 175 30 272 235 882 706 174 175 31 274 239 898 885 175 176 32 249 253 910 875 176 177 33 250 260 679 900 176 178 34 252 247 735 933 172 177 35 233 218 821 885 170 176 36 265 257 897 883 175 172 37 240 232 869 842 169 178 38 247 232 855 881 171 172 39 274 222 896 832 174 173 40 260 241 657 856 175 172 41 258 262 789 930 171 176 42 261 228 893 820 175 176 43 276 224 900 800 176 171 44 259 215 812 862 174 169 45 242 267 900 775 174 172 46 251 244 825 755 174 174 47 242 229 793 817 175 169 48 247 214 744 851 171 169 49 266 191 720 813 176 171 50 276 246 880 821 176 166 51 238 225 744 775 178 170 52 294 251 873 868 179 171 53 269 240 819 844 178 170 54 253 259 825 802 178 172 55 246 214 788 816 174 171 56 277 280 791 842 177 171 57 278 325 886 971 179 181 58 264 202 965 783 177 174 59 322 243 867 701 181 169 60 330 212 744 743 185 170 61 224 852 167 62 232 816 169 63 244 832 173 64 245 885 173 65 261 731 172 66 232 827 172 67 238 876 173 68 244 846 173 69 239 854 174 70 212 817 173 71 236 879 172 72 253 875 174 73 243 812 176 74 261 782 174 75 280 865 175 76 254 919 178 77 226 827 176 78 284 850 176 79 276 922 180 80 363 1088 184
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