Weegan Power Output

To give you a comparison, Bradely Wiggins, a TT specialist can put out 367 watts for an hour long TT. I myself have only done 310 watts for an hour [this ride was 304 watts for the hour]. Ouch....thats demoralizing. Oddly, he and I are equally stick figures with respect to skinniness but he has a good 8-10 kg on me!

So one common misconception among cyclists - especially the ones I keep in contact with - is that vegans lack power because we lack 'animal protein'. Specifically the kind of protein you get when you ingest raw cow, baby goat, and filets of sushi-grade tuna. Now, having indulged in these foods before, I am quite aware of how tasty they are, despite their horrendous effects with respect to animal rights. But before I go off on another veganized rant of all things wrong with the food pyramid and then declair war on America's diet pyramid, let me stop myself now and get into the notion of power. In cycling, the true objective measure of power is wattage - everything is measured in watts. Fortunately for me - and all others owning an SRM - wattage is attainable to all cyclists who are willing to invest in the fancy whizbang gizmo known as an SRM power meter.

So last night, I take the TT biccicletta out for a quiet spin. This was not an all out f*ck-fest of pain and suffering but a very bearable one. I was to keep the heart rate below 170 bpm on the climbing intervals and every 2.5 minutes, attack [on the climb] @ X > 650 watts. Sounds like a lot of fun and really interesting training huh!? So I did just that and was surprised by the output myself. In truth, this is NO WHERE near the big boys of the pro tour. In fact, I'd get dropped from the gruppetto [the struggling group of big legged sprinters that get dropped on the climbs from the light weight skinny kine!]. Then again, the big boys dont get off their bikes and run 13.1 miles huh? ;-)

Nonetheless, I have put on my blog, a YHP running first! Some power output from last nights hour long ride. Nothing especially epic as most of the power was pretty meh with the intervals coming into play every now and again, but it clearly paints one picture: vegan boys got some power. And while the only source of 'animal protein' I get is the occassional bug that flies in my mouth when I'm running / cycling, I am still proud of the output after only 1 year and 2 months being on the bike! Now all I need to do is get the big big legs like Cancellara and then we'll be okay but until then, loads of brown rice and kim chee will have to suffice....

not that I'm complaining mind you! :-)