I have noticed that the elite cyclists could ride much faster than the ordinary people. According to physics doubling the speed means quadrupling the air resistance so by riding so much faster their energy output must be even a lot higher. How could they manage to do that? Only by stronger physically or is there any secret to their riding skill?
Both. That is why we need to train hard and also need to learn how to pedal efficiently. There have been a lot of studies on this subject which is often considered as the single most difficult technique to master.
Studies include:
(1) pedalling with longer or shorter crank is more efficient?
(2) sitting more forward or backward is more efficient?
(3) pedalling a lower gear faster or pedalling a higher gear slower is more efficient?
(4) is pedalling a circle the most efficient way? (it is commonly agreed to be more efficient than pedalling square)
(5) is the body position the lower the better?
(6) is pushing (downstroke) and pulling (upstroke) at the same time better than pushing with one foot and unweighting with the other?
(7) is climbing while seated better or standing better?
(8) which ankling technique is better, toes down, heels down, toes down on downstroke (and toes up on upstroke) or heels down on downstroke (and heels up on upstroke)?
(9) is there any other technique to push oneself further (alternate the foot with harder effort)?
There seems to be no firm answer to many of the above questions yet. I will try to dig out what I have read and share with you later.
8 m/s (28.8kph) 112.2W (the power for an easy ride)
12 m/s (43.2kph) 333.2 W (now I know how much
cooling I need for an
hour's ride on the trainer)
Increasing the speed from 4 m/s to 8 m/s doubles the speed, but the power output is only 4.86 times, not 8 times.
Air resistance is roughly proportional to the square of speed but the internal resistance is probably more like a linear relationship. Total resistance come from air PLUS internal resistance (hub bearing etc.) and at contact between tyres and roads, so the power output is the SUM of air resistance which is proportional to the square of speed and other resistance which is proportional to the speed, and the total is only slightly more than the square of speed.