TOUR DE LANCE: CYCLING PHYSICS.What does it take to be the fastest and most resilient rider on two wheels? Sheer devotion to cycling and physics! Take a spin with Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France—cycling's most prestigious race—seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. as he speeds through a winning day in the 2001 Tour de France Tour de France World's most prestigious and difficult bicycle race. Staged for three weeks each July—usually in some 20 daylong stages—the Tour typically comprises 20 professional teams of nine riders each and covers some 3,600 km (2,235 miles) of flat and . On July 29, 2001, world-champion cyclist Lance Armstrong became the firs American to win three consecutive victories in the Tour de France, the world's most grueling and popular cycling race. The three-week, 3,489-kilometer (2,168-mile) Tour is divided into 20 "mini-races" called stages. They include speed battles up and down brutally steep French mountains (see map). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 29-years-old Texan conquered the entire course in a total time of 86 hours, 17 minutes, 28 seconds--the third-fastest Tour in the race's history. "Nobody can beat him," says former victor Eddy Victor Austin Eddy (b. 14 February, 1955 in St Kitts) was a West Indies cricketer in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for the Combined Islands and Leeward Islands in his first-class career. External links
tes·tic·u·lar adj. Of or relating to a testicle or testis. testicular pertaining to the testis. , brain, and lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell. . July 17, 2001: MORNING RUSH HOUR Armstrong climbs out of bed at 7:00 a.m. and joins his eight-member team for breakfast. What's on What's On (Traditional Chinese: 熒幕八爪娛) is a weekly half-hour TV series that airs on Fairchild Television. Format Originally started in 1996, the show is currently the longest-running program in Fairchild Television history. the menu? Pasta. "Let's face it, spaghetti firs thing in the morning isn't exactly my idea of a fun breakfast," Armstrong says. But the champ knows pasta is crammed with complex carbohydrates complex carbohydrates, n.pl polysaccharides; nutritional compounds composed of multiple monosaccharide (simple sugar) building blocks. Complex carbohydrates include starches, glycogen, and cellulose. , chemical starches that will power him through today's race: a 208-km (129-mi) sprint from the village of Aix-Les-Bains and up the mountain L'Alpe D'Huez. The stage is considered the Tour's most punishing, including two steep 14-km (9-mi) climbs, and a hair-raising 60-mph descent. Meanwhile, one million fans line the roads, waiting to catch a glimpse Verb 1. catch a glimpse - see something for a brief time catch sight, get a look see - perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight; "You have to be a good observer to see all the details"; "Can you see the bird in that tree?"; "He is blind--he of the famous maillot jaune--French for "yellow jersey"--which is worn only by the Tour's overall leader. This morning the jersey belongs to Australian Stuart O'Grady--but Lance has plans to change that. Armstrong thrives on steep climbs, having spent the last year training six to eight hours a day in the mountainous terrain of the Alps and Pyrencees. As a result, his cardiovascular system cardiovascular system: see circulatory system. cardiovascular system System of vessels that convey blood to and from tissues throughout the body, bringing nutrients and oxygen and removing wastes and carbon dioxide. (heart and blood vessels Blood vessels Tubular channels for blood transport, of which there are three principal types: arteries, capillaries, and veins. Only the larger arteries and veins in the body bear distinct names. ) functions like a well-oiled engine: his [VO.sub.2] max--the maximum amount of oxygen the lungs can retain during one hour of exercise per kilogram of body weight--tops the charts at 84 milliliters. An average human registers less than 40. LET THE GAMES BEGIN An official swings a checkered flag and the day's race takes off. Immediately, cyclist swarm together in a beehive-like formation called the peleton (French for "pack"). Lance cruises comfortably in the middle. Why not race ahead? As his team's strongest rider, he needs to conserve his energy for an explosive finish. Pedaling an average of 25 mph is hard enough. And the faster you ride, the harder you need to pedal to overcome wind resistance or drag, the force acting against you as you glide forward. To reduce drag, racers take advantage of a team-orchestrated physics trick called drafting--in bike language "wheel sucking"--in which teammates take turns shielding each other from the wind. A rider tucked just 15 cm (6 in.) behind another rider expends almost 30 percent less energy than the front runner front runner n → favorito/a front runner n (fig) → favori(te) front runner n (fig) → . Increase that distance to 61 cm (24 in.) and energy savings are slashed to just 10 percent. DRIVE-THROUGH LUNCH Each minute Lance cranks his pedals, he burns 17.5 calories (units of energy Because energy is defined via work, the SI unit for energy is the same as the unit of work – the joule (J), named in honour of James Prescott Joule and his experiments on the mechanical equivalent of heat. in food). after three hours his body has consumed a staggering 3,150 calories--which translates into digesting six Big Macs, and more fuel than the average teen expends in a day. To maintain his energy output, he'll need to recharge. But how do you eat and drink while riding a bike? Think high-speed drive-through. Lance's team car pulls up beside his speeding bike and his coach hands him a "feed bag," a cotton pouch with shoulder straps. It's crammed with energy-rich foods: a peanut butter and banana sandwich, energy bars, two honey cookies (Lance's favorite), and a sports drink sports drink Performance drink Sports medicine A thirst-quenching beverage used in sports-related activities, which may boost energy and/or help build muscle mass; water, sugar, salt, potassium are common to all SDs. See Hydrotherapy, Water. . The nourishment restores Lance's depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d glycogen glycogen (glī`kəjən), starchlike polysaccharide (see carbohydrate) that is found in the liver and muscles of humans and the higher animals and in the cells of the lower animals. , linked sugar molecules stored in the body's muscles, which are later broken down and used as fuel. HOME STRETCH The most torturous part of the race looms just ahead: a legendary 1-km (3,500-ft) uphill climb over 15 km (9 mi) to a mountaintop moun·tain·top n. The summit of a mountain. finish on L'Alp d'Huez. The ascent reduces most riders to a slow-motion crawl--but Lance feels right at home. Armstrong's strength is due in part to his loss of 8 kilograms (18 lbs) after chemotherapy, a regimen of powerful cancer-fighting drugs. The weight loss altered his weight-to-power ratio, or how much energy (measured in watts) Lance needs to pump into his pedals to move one kilogram of weight uphill. To win, Lance has to generate 6 watts of power per kilogram. At a trim 68 kilograms (150 lbs), that adds up to 408 watts of power--enough to light a room! "A heavier rider needs to put out more watts than a lighter one," explains Coach Chris Carmichael
FINAL SHOWDOWN Lance decides it's time to cash in the energy he conserved hiding in the peleton. At the base of L'Alpe d'Huez, his legs spring to life and he explodes past the pack. Armstrong chases down main rival Jan Ullrich from Germany, looks him straight in the eyes, then bursts past him for a 15-km (9-mi) solo sprint to the finish line. Lance cranks his pedals an average of 90 revolutions per minute to win this particular stage in just 6 hours, 23 minutes, and 47 seconds. The victory puts Lance within striking distance of the overall Tour lead--and the revered yellow jersey. TOUR DE FORCE Armstrong goes on to win three more stages, and finally nabs the Tour victory. He proudly completes 10 laps around the Arc de Triomphe Arc de Triomphe Largest triumphal arch in the world. A masterpiece of Romantic Classicism, it is one of the best-known monuments of Paris. It stands at the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western terminus of the Champs-Élysées. in Paris. "This is a good time to be Lance Armstrong," he says. MAN OR MACHINE? FITNESS LANCE AVERAGE MALE [VO.sub.2] max 84 [O.sub.2]/kg/hour 40 [O.sub.2]/kg/hour Resting heart 32-24 72 rate beats/min beats/min Stroke volume 200 ml 100 ml (amount of blood sent to body with each heartbeat) RELATED ARTICLE: HANDS-ON SCIENCE BUILT TO LAST Think Lance felt "stressed" during the Tour de France? Consider his bike frame: It supports his weight and absorbs jarring ground forces. That's why a good bike frame is both strong and flexible. Engineers evaluate these properties when searching for bike frame materials: 1 elasticity (ability to bend and return to original shape) 2 yield strength (amount of force needed to bend material to a point where it no longer returns to original shape) 3 ultimate strength (amount of force needed to break material) YOU NEED: plastic comb * rubber band * ballpoint pen * paper clip * wooden pencil TO DO: 1. Try to bend and stretch each object. 2. On a scale of 1 to 10, rate each object's flexibility, yield strength, and ultimate strength. 3. Determine which material would make the best bike frame. CONCLUSIONS: Which material has the greatest elasticity? Yield strength? Ultimate strength? Is there a materials for which yield strength and ultimate strength are close? Can a material have a low elasticity and a low yield strength, and still have a high ultimate strength? Why? RELATED ARTICLE: Physical/Life Science: Drafting * Cardiovascular System Cross-Curricular Connection Language Arts: Write a short story in which the main character overcomes a tremendous obstacle to achieve his or her goal. Did You Know? * An average bicycle wheel is designed to support 400 times its own weight, making it one of the strongest man-made objects in the world. * An average bike built in the 1800s--crafted almost entirely of steel tubing and Cast iron--weighed about 80 lbs. * During the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong's heart beat 2,153,600 times; he burned 132,000 calories. * On average, it takes a professional cyclist less than 9 seconds to repair a flat tire. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] National Science Education Standards The National Science Education Standards (NSES) are a set of guidelines for the science education in primary and secondary schools in the United States, as established by the National Research Council in 1996. Grades 5-8: motions and forces * structure and function in living systems * regulation and behavior * abilities of technological design Grades 9-12: the cell * motions and forces * matter, energy, and organization in living systems * abilities of technological design Resources "Lance Armstrong Has Something to Get Off His Chest," by Michael Hall, Texas Monthly, July 2001 Peak Performance: Sports, Science, and the Body in Action, by Emily Isberg, Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. , 1989 The Exploratorium's Science of Cycling Web site: www.exploratorium.edu/cycling Lance Armstrong's Web site: lancearmstrong.com |
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