Brain Teaser - Riding against the wind

[Claudio L.]

(05-28-2015 08:33 PM)CR Haeger Wrote:  I did work it with additional friction losses due to rolling resistance and (rider to wheel) drive-train losses. Perhaps these end up being negligible effects or drop out of the equations. Maybe these become more apparent when the difference in times is greater, say 3 and 5 minute 1-mile trips...

You are right, I think all other effects are probably negligible for the given rider speed. The quadratic term can grow very quickly and render all other losses insignificant for the few digits we measure time with.
I didn't try to solve #2, I was actually trying to solve #1, but thought constant power was a more correct assumption, all others seemed arbitrary and without substance.
Somebody should contact the author of the puzzle and tell him his assumption is not a good example for kids learning physics. They shouldn't pull wild assumptions out of thin air like that.