Physical Cycling is a form of Sports Science
Anyone who watches ESPN has seen their Sports Science segments which detail how Elite athletes in a variety of sports do their thing. Physical Cycling is simply Sports Science applied to cycling.
Sports Science and Physics
Physics is the study of physical phenomena. Sports are physical and Physics provides provides a means for “explaining” what is happening. Cycling is physical as well, and so Physics also provides an important framework for “explaining” cycling. It is so useful, that our attached devices provide our realtime feedback using this Physics based foundation.
What does Physical Cycling seek to “explain”?
Physical Cycling is the implementation of a Physics based Sports Science description of cycling. Some of the things it seeks to explain include the following:
- Why a cycle moves as it does
- How a cyclist powers a cycle
- What are the power generation ability of cyclists based on their training
- What is needed to execute various cycling scenarios such as ascents and sprints.
- What are the specific requirements if a cyclist wishes to accomplish a specific cycling scenario such as climbing the Alpe d’Huze in a specific time
How does Physical Cycling do its Thing?
Physics gains insights by building representative models of physical phenomena that can be used to perform analytics to “explain” aspects of that phenomena. Physical Cycling is therefore about building representative cycling models of the cycling process that can be used to provide reasonable accurate descriptions of cycling.
There are actually multiple models that make up the physical description of the cycling process including cyclist, cycle, cycling, and scenario. Fortunately, these models can be built with a sufficient level of detail without having to resort to extreme mathematics.