Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by S on November 9, 2011 at 12:06pm

I don't think there's anything like that but you'd have to find perfect conditions (i.e. absolutely no wind, nothing on the course to slow or stop you) to use a road course to get your power output.  You could use heart rate measurements to get a rough idea of how you stack up or you could go to one of the places in town (e.g. get a grip, athletico, uiuc) to get a LT/VO2 max  test.  It's a bit pricy though.   Of course, you could always jump in and race in a crit, it'll cost you around 20-30 and you'll see how you stack up with the local competition which is probably a better measure than seeing how well you can do against pros that may or may not be doped to within an inch of their lives.

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Permalink Reply by Vision Quest Coaching on November 10, 2011 at 12:07pm

Come to Vision Quest, And we can test you at our chicago or Highland Park Facility. We do a 20 min all out effort. You need something controlled with no variables that can be a true all out effort. 

 

Feel free to contact us-

dave@visionquestcoaching.com

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Permalink Reply by chixieonfixie on November 10, 2011 at 3:27pm

 

And how much does VQ charge for that, about $200?

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Permalink Reply by Vision Quest Coaching on November 10, 2011 at 4:19pm

Good question, Robbie Ventura does our Lab testing and its a Performance assessment. Its A to Z -

* bike fit

* pedal stroke analysis

* Blood LT test

* and some of bike components such as core, agility, range of motion assessment. This is the best way to figure out what your LT is. 

If you want just a field test, come in and check out one of our "taste of vqs" its $165- heck we have one starting in a week called "the taste of the taste" for $75 bucks. We will test you in the class (field test) but will still give you that same number that your looking for. And, take the 4 other classes as learning how to training certain aerobic systems. 

Let me know if you have some other questions- If you ever want to come by and check us out, please feel free to do so. 

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mailing on November 11, 2011 at 2:36pm

The reason the River Road climb up to Route 9W works well is because it is a long, steady, gradual climb without cross streets that takes 5, 6, or 7 minutes.  Your ability to overcome gravity is an effective representation of your power output, because the power required to do the climb overwhelms the effects of the wind and other day-to-day variables cited by S in his/her reply.

 

Alas, there are no long, steady, gradual climbs, with or without cross streets, that take 5, 6, or 7 minutes in the Chicago metro area.  That's why, in this area, we need a Compu-Trainer or power meter to evaluate our progress.

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