Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.
After two very busy days I finally got around to digging into my SRM data from the bike leg at Challenge Kraichgau. I mainly wanted to understand why, despite higher watt output, I was slower than last year. My questions were answered — more on that in a moment.
First, a look at the power comparison between 2010 and 2011. The yellow curve shows 2010 values, the red curve 2011. The curves are about 3 minutes apart — mentally shift the red one slightly to the left.
The curves are fairly similar in shape, with the red one generally higher than the yellow. I was able to put out more power throughout compared to last year.
A look at the heart rate curve shows that this year, despite higher power output, my heart rate was actually lower than last year. I won’t draw too many conclusions from that since heart rate depends on too many other parameters.
The cadence curves are largely identical — this year’s average was 81 rpm vs. 79 rpm last year.
The elevation profile shouldn’t have changed compared to last year either…
And finally, the answer to the riddle — the speed curve:
You can see pretty clearly that I was just as fast or faster on the climbs compared to last year, but lost significant time on the descents and faster sections above 45 km/h — and that despite the new bike. The missing aero helmet certainly contributed, though I wouldn’t put the entire time loss down to that alone. The conditions were also harder than last year, and at certain sections I simply wasn’t as aggressive. The combination of all three factors likely explains most of the time difference.