Gonzalo Vilaseca has competed in long cycling endurance races of 5 to 7hours, but now wants to switch to shorter, more intense races of 2 hours length.

What are your previous experiences with power meter training?
I have been training by power for the last three years. Two years with an ergomo, and one year with an SRM. The first year I was my own coach and I did pretty good. The two following years I had a coach, during the first year my results where the same as when I coached myself, the following year my results improved, but so did my training hours. I can’t compare wattages between seasons because of issues I had with my ergomo. I can’t train without a powermeter now, it’s my eyes.

Read the full interview with Gonzalo Vilaseca

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Today I will introduce you to the third participant in the Power Meter Project 2007: Marc Moeller. There is a total number of 6 participants and their training programs start in the beginning of 2007.

What is your main goal with the Power Meter Project 2007?
My goals of the project are to find out if strict interval work over time will push my lactate threshold power up substantially. I also would like to have a more impressive sprint after a long lead out effort. I also would like to have those really tough 4-5min super hard efforts in me that determine the course of a race.

Read the full interview with Marc Moeller

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Today I will present a tri athlete, Dave Simonsen, who has finished three iron man competitions. He is currently training 5-6hrs pr week on an indoor trainer which has a calibrated power tap rear fly wheel.

Name: Dave Simonsen
Power meter: Cycleops Pro

How would you describe yourself as a cyclist?
I am a three-time iron man triathlon finisher, and my strength is long, slow distance. My weakness is power over long distance. I typically do much worse during the 2nd half of the bike leg of a triathlon.

What are your previous experiences with power meter training?
I have recently purchased a power meter, so my experience is minimal. I have recently started using a Cycleops Pro 300PT.

What is your main goal with the Power Meter Project 2007?
I would like to increase my power to an average of 200 watts during a 112 mile distance. I also would like my power during the second half of a 112 triathlon bike leg to equal the first half.

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The first rider I will introduce you to is Paul Skiba, who raced as a professional in the early 90’s. His current training amount pr week is 12-15hrs, less in recovery weeks.

Name: Paul Skiba
Age: 46
Power meter: SRM Dura Ace

How would you describe yourself as a cyclist?
I’ve been a cyclist and a fan of cycling for the last 23 years. I took up cycling in the mid-80’s when I found myself stationed in Naples, Italy where I worked for NATO. I rode primarily on the road during this time. In the late 80’s and early 90’s I took up mountain bike racing. I lived in Boulder, CO and raced for a team that was headquartered in Chico, CA. I rode as an expert on the Grundig World Cup for 2 seasons. After a near fatal accident I returned to the road as a recreational rider. During the last few years I have returned to the road race scene as a master racer.

My strength as a cyclist is my ability to hang with the fastest racers in the pack. My weakness is my inability to separate myself from the fastest racers. My endurance is good. My climbing is good. My sprint is good. None of the above are great.

Read the full interview with Paul Skiba

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Bicycling.com has published an article worth reading. It is about the Massachusetts Institute of Technology cycling team who train in the wind tunnel to optimize their aerodynamics. Wind tunnel optimization is used of many of the professional teams at the Pro Tour. Mark Cote worked with the former Team CSC captain Ivan Basso to optimize his aerodynamics through optimization in the wind tunnel.

In the interview Mark Cote answers questions related to wind tunnel optimization and team time trials:

On aerodynamic wheels:
“Most people don’t realize that a non-aero helmet creates four times the drag of a non-aero wheel set. So you can spend two thousand dollars on a wheel set, or spend two hundred on a helmet and be faster. How you put your race number on matters more than having an aero wheel; today, we glued on our numbers to get them to fit flatter. Then there’s water bottle placement: On a round-tubed frame, having a bottle on your seat tube is more aerodynamic than not having one at all, and it’s much more aero than putting it on the down tube. And wearing gloves in a time trial will slow you down more than using a non-aero front wheel.”

On shaved legs:
“Shaved legs? I think they’re faster, but we haven’t really tested them in the tunnel. I did try to convince Ivan Basso to shave his head when he came to MIT. He wouldn’t do it, even though it was for science.”

Read the full interview at Bicycling.com

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Tim Maloney from Cyclingnews.com has made a very interesting interview with T-mobile´s time trialist specialist Serguei Gonchar, Ukraine. Gonchar has been one of the best time trialists in the world for the last decade.

A couple of highlights from the interview:

On being called Honchar: “Yeah! In the last few years, people got used to calling me Honchar, especially in Italy, but that is not my name. So during the Tour De France, when I was team leader for a few stages, it was even more important to get my right name out there. It was the fault of a secretary in the passport office back home in Ukraine and I have had to live with this. But finally I was able to say ‘my name is Gonchar, so call me that’.

On the Floyd Landis affair: “I really can’t say anything at this point… except that I’m sorry to see a sponsor like Phonak leave the sport. They have been around for a long time and have supported cycling so it’s too bad they are leaving. Cycling is taking hits from all sides lately… it’s seems like some kind of fashion trend!”

On his gear choice in time trials: “Not many other riders can [ride such big gears]… I guess I have become famous for it! I don’t really know where it comes from. I’ve always ridden time trials like that since I was a young rider and have always used big gears for time trials. When I’m in the race, it doesn’t feel to me like I’m pushing a big gear, but like I’m pedaling with agility. But afterwards when I see myself on TV, it looks like I’m pedaling slow and going slow,”

Read the full interview

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