Optimal strategy for closed-circuit cycling races
SEP 23, 2013
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027366
MIT Technology Review : Imagine an outdoor bike race that follows a basic out-and-back path with two long straightaways and a turn between them—like the end of the final stage of the Tour de France on the Champs Élysées in Paris. If there is a strong wind along the length of the course that provides an equal head- and tailwind depending on your direction, what is the optimal strategy for maximizing your speed? Do you maintain the same speed regardless of the wind? Do you pedal with the same power, going faster with the headwind and slower with the tailwind? Do you vary your power and resulting speed depending on the wind? Brad Anton of Cornell University in New York modeled all three options and found that the third option is the most effective. In a 24-mi (38.6-km) race with an 8.5-mph wind and a rider capable of sustaining 25 mph in no wind, the first option would average 23.5 mph; the second, 23.6 mph; and the third, 24 mph. Anton provides a rule of thumb for using the third strategy. A rider would measure the wind and then determine a target speed—the average speed the rider wants to have when finishing the race. During the race, the rider would maintain the target speed plus one-quarter the wind speed in a tailwind and maintain the target speed minus one-half the wind speed in a headwind.
© 2013 American Institute of Physics
