Okay John, you got me. I do not have the weather report for the 1966 Paris-Roubaix race at hand. Yes, other years have had strong tailwinds as well, with aveage speeds higher than years with headwinds. Regarding the amount of pave, in 1966, there were 22km of pave versus 53.3km this year. You can do the math. If you have ever ridden over truly rough roads, you would know that one can ride faster, with much less effort, over a smooth paved road than a rough one. As to how to quantify the difference, there are too many variables to make any sense of it. However, last year's winning speed was 42.181kph, compared to Post's 45.129kph.
Let's throw in another variable as well: team tactics. That is to say, there are many more variables in ANY race than simply the choice of bike or equipment.
I thinkk this is veering off-topic, so I'll stop.
Mark Ritz Arcata, California, USA
John Wood <braxton72@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Mar 15, 2008 at 8:57 AM, Mark Ritz <ritzmon@sbcglobal.net> wrote: John Wood wrote: "And finally, if modern bikes are so clearly superior in every way, why does Peter Post's record for average speed still stands for Paris-Roubiax?"
There were two factors: first, a strong tailwind that year. How strong? Any numbers that we can compare to other years? Again, serious questions here. I'd find it hard to believe if no P-R's have had a strong tail wind in the subsequent years. I would think it would be easy to correlate wind speed/direction to average speed as well, if those numbers exist.
And second, the number and length of the pave sections was shorter than the current race course. There was a loss of pave in northern France due to modernization, and the race had become more of a flat road race. The race directors started looking for more pave to bring back the character of the race. So, Post had an advantage of less pave sections, but current racers have the advantage of "significantly better" equipment. If the equipment really is "significantly" better, shouldn't that easily outweigh (or at least equal) the advantage that Post enjoyed? It really would be easy to draw out any correlation between pave length and average speed, if anyone knows if and where those numbers exist. Anyone?
John Wood Red Lodge, Montana, USA
This, of course, slowed the race speeds down and made Post's record almost untouchable. I say almost because you never know...
Cheers,
Mark Ritz
Rainy Arcata, California, USA
http://www.kinetic-koffee.com