Splitting Hairs and Atoms with Randy Brich: Power To The Pedal

What does Lance Armstrong have to do with nuclear power?....Read on and find out

 - By Randy Brich -

Finally back home after the Leadville 100.
I'm. Dead. Wasted. Exhausted.
What a great event and an honor to win. Thanks 2 all who came out.”
   -- Lance Armstrong tweeted after Leadville 100 mountain bike race

Lance Armstrong’s August 15, 2009 record-breaking win of the Leadville 100 mountain bike race further solidifies his standing among the all time greatest cyclists in the world.  Despite unseasonably cool temperatures and a nearly flat rear tire for the last 20-30 minutes of the race Armstrong hammered the 100 miles, climbed more than 14,000 feet (started at 10,600 and topped out at 12,800 feet at the turnaround point – the Tour de France’s highest point is a mere 8113 feet) in 6h28m51s.  With an impressive 15.43 mph average speed, he bested his nearest rival Dave Wien, a 6 time Leadville 100 winner, by nearly a half hour and beat the course record by 15 minutes.  

Combine Lance’s Leadville 100 win with his Colorado State Mountain Biking Championship win the prior week and his third place finish in the Tour de France earlier this summer and you have an incredibly impressive comeback (especially for a 37 year old guy who retired over 3 years ago, barely rode a bike longer than a few hours at a time a few days a week and broke his collarbone in an unfortunate crash during a spring tune-up race in Europe).  And, we can expect more great things from Lance in the future as he cranks his comeback into high gear and takes a clear shot at the Tour de France next year -- without any of the distractions that plagued him this year. 

By now you must be wondering what Lance’s performances have to do with nuclear energy or anything else on this website for that matter.  Patience.  We’ll get to the connection with nuclear energy soon enough but first let’s look at some numbers. 

Serious bicycle racers know performance is quantifiable and train and race using power meters – devices that measure energy output in watts – installed on the bike and downloaded to a PC after the ride.  Regardless of the weather, the terrain or the temperature the power meter never lies and always gives you an accurate account of your power output over any given course or distance. 

Lance is capable of generating 500 watts for 20 minutes while climbing huge mountains in France during racing competitions (i.e., the Tour de France).  His endurance power output is considerably less but still formidable and he can likely sustain more than 350 watts for a very long period of time as his lactate threshold runs around 380 - 400 watts.  In his Leadville 100 victory we can assume he averaged 350 watts, or, about 2.27 KW (350 watts x 6.48 h = 2268 watts) – enough to power an average residence for a couple hours or so.

According to Lance’s coach, Chris Carmichael, once Lance announced he wanted to race the Tour de France all they had to do was get him back to racing shape while he juggled his schedule overseeing an extremely effective cancer fighting foundation.  They agreed on a structured program that began in earnest last October:

Lance’s Training Outline for October 2008
2 x per week 5-5.5 hrs endurance pace
2 x per week 3-4 hrs endurance pace with 2 x 20minutes at just below LT pace (380-400watts)
1 x per week Tuesday-nighter
1 x per week 3-4 hrs with 2 sets of 4 x 20seconds max effort x 40 seconds recovery
1 x per week day off-travel, rest.

Combine Lance’s power producing capabilities, his willingness to train at a very high level with a well-engineered state-of-the art bicycle. 

And you have all the ingredients necessary for a major comeback.  As they say the rest is history – in less than a year Lance Armstrong returned to the upper echelon of bicycle racing and an even greater performance is likely next year and the year after that, and the year after that…

But, what does this have to do with nuclear power?

Well, humor me for a few minutes as I relish Lance’s comeback and speculate on what it might be like if the U.S. decided to hold an energy race. You know, take all the prospective energy producing technologies (i.e., coal, natural gas, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and nuclear) and see which one can produce the most amount of energy in the least amount of time with the smallest footprint using the least amount of materials. 

Any guesses which technology would win?  Readers of Nuclear Street know. 
The French know.  Heck, the rest of the world --http://www.iaea.org/programmes/a2/  52 nuclear power reactors currently under construction worldwide but none in the United States – knows. 

Now, if only we could get Lance Armstrong to know it, embrace it and become our ambassador for virtually unlimited energy and cancer fighting isotopes.  What a winning combination that would be – Armstrong and nuclear power – a real American comeback.

About Randy Brich
Randy graduated from South Dakota State University in 1978 with a M.S. in Biology.  Following graduation he switched gears and began a lifelong study of ionizing radiation and its beneficial applications to humanity.  During the course of his study he worked as a staff Health Physicist with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission specializing in the licensing and inspection of uranium recovery facilities.  He transferred to the Department of Energy where he worked as a Health Physicist at the Nevada Operations Office and later to the Richland Operations Office specializing in environmental monitoring, dose reconstruction, worker protection, waste cleanup and systems biology.

Since then he has retired from the federal government and, after taking time out to build an energy efficient house near the Missouri River, has formed Diamond B Communications LLC.  Diamond B Communications LLC uses a multimedia approach to explain complex energy resource issues to technical and non-technical audiences.  He also guides for Dakota Bike Tours, the Relaxed Adventure Company, offering tours of the Badlands National Park, the Black Hills and Devils Tower National Monument.

If you have questions, comments, or know of a book that you think Randy should review Email Randy Brich>> randy@nuclearstreet.com