It is indeed! Looking at a power calculator, in order to do 20mph on flat ground, no wind you need to put out 213W, which sounds great until you realise that's 4W/kg for me! That is sat on the tops mind, in the drops it says you would only need 167W, so I understand I'm effectively limiting myself in that way. Anyway, regarding weight for a 63kg rider to do 20mph in the same conditions you need 217W, which is just a 2% increase for a 20% increase in mass, and therefore possibly, a 10-15% increase in power output. This translates to 3.45W/kg for that rider, so fitness wise they're not working as hard. It really depends how much of that mass went to lean muscle and fat. On the hills of course you need to put out more power to haul the bulk but you also have more power to do it with, works out about even.
Do you happen to know how much of a difference lycra makes vs baggies? I think a wind tunnel test it was something like 10% difference, which is of course a huge difference, and I've heard some people say it makes little difference to their speed and more their comfort, which isn't currently an issue for me.
Definitely going to start using my second ring more. It's just lack of confidence I think, and having a bad habit of having a "set and forget" chain ring rather than actually use them as they're meant to be, and of course a straighter chain line as you said can save a few watts.
I agree regarding racing. I'm definitely going to try, because in the next 5 years no one knows what will happen. I'm 20 years old now, and peak cyclist age if I recall physiologically is 27-28. I know lots of older people win races, because they have experience. For me though, my lungs are the major factor so it's all about whether they improve or not. Even if I fail, at least I'd be a damn fast commuter!
Sounds good to me, 10 mins of easy spinning activates the legs for sure. I did notice today my legs felt fresher of course after the shorter warmup I did, but I didn't really push my lungs too hard which was perhaps a mistake in hindsight.
Haha thank you! I've done a 100k before but that was over a year ago so I don't count it anymore, and it was only at 12mph because I was far less fit then. Nowadays I could probably go faster, it's just finding the time and motivation to go out and do that distance, I've become a bigger fan of shorter rides more frequently nowadays.