Stage two of the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan will live long in the memory of the overall winner, Christopher McGlinchey. As you can see from his data recorded on the stage he did some truly monstrous efforts (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
On stage 2 of Kerry Group Rás Mumhan at the weekend, yellow jersey wearer and eventual overall winner Christopher McGlinchey finished 2nd to Bryan McCrystal (ASEA-Wheelworx) after joining the breakaway on the descent of the Healy Pass.
The Belfast man rode like a man possessed all day, especially so on the downhill sections, and probably won the race that day.
His descending has set a new Strava record for flying off Healy Pass and was quicker than some top international pros who raced down it when they rode the Rás.
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McGlinchey's speed and bike handling down the climb in wet conditions is perhaps not surprising considering he is a former international downhill rider.
Further down you’ll see the breakdown of his data on Strava for stage 2 at at Rás Mumhan, including heart rate and power.
But first, here’s a breakdown of three ‘segments’ on Strava where the Irish Development Team man excelled.
Healy Pass Descent Technical Section – 4mins 22secs
This downhill stretch of road was anything but safe, as some riders who came to grief will attest.
But McGlinchey’s timed descent of 4:22 is the fastest ever recorded time on the descent – one second faster than Simon Yates.
Yes, he is the Orica-GreenEdge rider who rode the An Post Rás in 2013, finishing 6th on the stage into Glengarriff.
Interestingly, UCD CC-Fitzcycles.ie man Paul O’Reilly also went downhill at quite a clip – going just four seconds slower than McGlinchey.
On Strava, McGlinchey called it “the most brutal day ever on a bike”.
To achieve that time, it required him to reach a maximum speed of 65kph, or 40mph in old money.
His average heart-rate was 164bpm while his maximum reached 173. And his maximum power was a hefty 957 watts.
Trafreask to Ballingeary
When he got in the break on Saturday, McGlinchey didn’t hang around.]
On this ‘segment’ – a 50 kilometre stretch of road from the bottom of the Healy Pass to Ballingeary, he also clocked the fastest-ever recorded time.
An average power of 300 watts for an hour and six minutes is impressive, as is his maximum power of 1,013 watts.
But most impressive of all is the 90kph he hit along the way!
Ballingeary to mouth of the Glen
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After such a sustained effort in the early part of the stage, McGlinchey did get distanced by Bryan McCrystal and Ali Macaulay.
However, he managed to pull back a one-minute deficit on this 5-kilometre ‘segment’ in what turned out to be a race-saving situation.
Riding back up to the wheels of the aforementioned duo required McGlinchey to do 370 watts for 10 minutes at an average speed of almost 26kph – all of it uphill.
His time of 10:54 for the effort is 25 seconds slower than the man with the fastest time for the climb – ONE Pro Cycling man John Ebsen of Denmark.
McGlinchey is 72kg and 1.79m in height.
Chris McGlinchey's stage 2 ride in Kerry
Speed: 23.5mph average, 54.1mph maximum
Heart Rate: 150bpm average 179bpm maximum
Cadence: 91 average, 195 maximum
Average Power: 294 Watts
Maximum Power: 1,335 Watts
Distance: 89.3miles
Moving time: 3hrs 47mins 52secs
Elevation: 5,660ft
Calories: 4,482
Temperature: 41℉
Weighted average power: 314 Watts
hen you ride with a power meter, you'll notice how your power jumps all over the place based on the terrain, grade, wind, and other factors. Weighted Average Power looks at all of this variation and provides an average power for your ride that is a better indicator of your effort than simply taking your average power. It is our best guess at your average power if you rode at the exact same wattage the entire ride.
Total work: 4,020kj
Total Work, expressed in kilojoules (kJ), is simply the sum of the watts generated during your ride. There is a close 1–to–1 ratio with 'total work' and 'calories expended' during a ride.
Training load: 273
Strava calculates 'training load' by comparing your power during your ride to your FTP and determining how much load you put on your body during the workout. Training load is a great way to determine how much rest you need after your workouts. A score of 125 or lower takes 24 hours to fully recover from. A score of 125-250 takes about 36 to 48 hours to recover from. A score of 250 to 400 takes at least three days to recover from and a score of 400+ takes at least five days to recover from.
Intensity: 85 per cent
Intensity is Strava’s way of showing how difficult a ride was as compared to a riders function threshold power (FTP). Strava looks at a rider’s weighted average power for the ride and compares it to their FTP. If riders’ weighted average power was 250W and FTP 300W, the intensity would 83%. It's very possible to have an intensity of over 100% if the ride was shorter than an hour. And endurance or recovery ride is 65% or lower. A moderate ride is 65% to 80%. A tempo ride is 80% to 95%. Time trial or race effort is 95% to 105% and short TT or race effort is any score above 105%.
Extreme suffer score: 152
The Strava ‘suffer score’ is an analysis of riders’ heart rate data. By tracking heart rate through a rider’s workout and its level relative to the athlete’s maximum heart rate, Strava attaches a value to show exactly how hard the rider worked. The more time riders spend going full gas and the longer their activity, the higher the score. You can compare your score to others to discover the ‘epicness’ of your ride.
Zone Distribution
Z1 Active Recovery (1 - 203 Watts) for 40mins 55secs, 18% of moving time
Z2 Endurance (204 - 277 Watts) 52mins 27secs, 23% of moving time
Z3 Tempo (278 - 333 Watts) 57mins 07secs, 25% of moving time
Z4 Threshold (334 - 388 Watts) 37mins 48secs, 17% of moving time
Z5 VO2Max (389 - 444 Watts) 17mins 50secs, 8% of moving time
Z6 Anaerobic (445 - 555 Watts) 13mins 49secs, 6% of moving time
Z7 Neuromuscular (555+ Watts) 7mins 28secs, 4% of moving time
Heart rate analysis
Z1 Endurance (less than 139bpm) for 40:47 mins, or 18% of time
Z2 Moderate (139-150bpm) for 1hr 8mins 12secs, or 30% of time
Z3 Tempo (150-162bpm) for 1hr 28mins 32secs, or 39% of time
Z4 Threshold (162-175bpm) for 28mins 55secs, or 13% of time
Z5 Anaerobic (higher than 175bpm) for 1:26secs, or 1% of time
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