In episode 6 of the Triathlete Training Podcast I talk about how it might be much easier to qualify for the World Championships than you realize, and I talk to Jason Smith at Friction-Facts.com about ways to reduce friction on the bike and gain free speed.
World Championships
If you haven’t race in ITU World Championships in either triathlon or duathlon, I strongly suggest you consider it.  If you’re not a competitive triathlete, give duathlon a try.  It’s much easier to qualify for the World Championships.  In some cases, all you need to do is show up to a qualifying race and finish.
If you don’t live in the United States, contact your national federation to get the qualifying standards.  For US athletes, qualify for the 2014 Duathlon World Championships in Spain by racing at the Duathlon National Championships in Tucson, Arizona. The top 18 finishers in each age group, rolling down to 20th place,  for both the sprint and standard distance race qualify for Team USA.
Triathletes can qualify for the 2014 World Championships at the National Championships in Milwaukee in August.
Team USA qualification standards are here:
http://www.usatriathlon.org/audience/team-usa/qualification-2013.aspx  
If you need help training for a duathlon check out these training plans:
Duathlon Training Plans

NEW Advanced 10k/40k/5k
NEW Advanced 5k/20k/2.5k 
Base Training Plan
Beginner 5k/30k/5k
Intermediate 5k/30k/5k
Beginner 10k/60k/10k
Intermediate 10k/60k/10k
Intermediate 10k/40k/5k

 

Jason Smith of Friction-Facts.com

Jason set up a lab to test friction on different bicycle parts.  On a flat course with no wind at 250 watts, roughly 70% of your energy is used to overcome wind resistance.  Most of the remaining energy is used to overcome rolling resistance on each tire (20%), and about 10% of your energy is used to overcome friction on the moving parts on your bike - the chain, the pedals, the pulleys, etc.  (These are very rough numbers.)
The easiest way to reduce friction and gain time is by racing with a clean chain and using the best lube on your chain.  In a test done for Velo News, the Rock-n-Roll Gold Chain Lube and the Rock-n-Roll Absolute Dry performed the best, and they were almost 5 watts better than the worst testing lubes.  For an athlete putting out 250 watts on a flat course at 25mph, 5 watts of time is worth about 27 seconds over 40k.  Knowing this, I’d make sure I was using one of the best performing lubes.  And I’d make sure I was cleaning my chain before every race.
You can make bike speed/watt/time calculations at http://bikecalculator.com/
At Friction-Facts.com Jason offers 5 test results for free, and another 5 test results for just $10.  I highly recommend checking out the reports.