TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

Man I hope to get slightly close to where some of you are. I'd love to ride more but my excuse is crying children. I feel guilty leaving them with someone else while I disappear for a few hours. If for whatever reason I cant ride for a week (work trip, sick), it seems like I loose a lot.


Is anyone here on Zwift? I have a computer than can handle it now so I'll be trying it soon. i've been trying interval training and it is difficult, even my lame 3x3 min @ 190W. The holder of most local strava KOM I follow does 3x15 min at 330w on the days he's not out for hours. Ugh.

Itty

Interval training is supposed to be difficult, so you must be doing it right.

I was on Zwift for a while last winter. I think you have to pay for it now right?

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

Its 14 days free trial, plus you get 2 months free if you pay for Strava.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Well, how hard did you go?

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Well, finally did an FTP that worked out where I didn't blow-up and was close to my max. FTP was 256.5w/177lb = 3.2w/kg of sadness. OMFG I am pathetic. When do I put the gun in my mouth and put my brains on the ceiling?

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

256w for an hour seems pretty awesome to me regardless of how fat you are. You're my hero.

How did you test anyway?

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

Kudos

Solid numbers, especially considering how recently you took up cycling. It shows some basic talent. I can't stress enough how important it is to simply be light. Power goes up usually and w/kg obviously. On days you don't ride, only eat two meals and not 2000cal ones. Small meals, snacking in between meals and at least 1L water every day.

A few weeks ago I was up to 320w FTP @163lbs. In 2004 when I was a badass, peaking for Worlds/Nationals that was more like 360watts @ 163lbs. Time change cutting into training, extra work with multiple ctrs of new wheels, broken stationary trainer put the kibosh on any hope of CX Nats this year, down to 295watts FTP.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Thanks, the number is low for the game, but I'm quite happy considering that I came from chain smoking and no cardio between age 14-32. I feel a little vindication now for taking some pride with that number, thanks. My goal for 2016 is approach 280w on FTP, which should make me a solid cat-4 road racer for the next couple of years, would like to approach 300w in the next two years. Long term, I want to make it to cat-3 by the time I turn 40 (35 now) so that I can enter masters racing with some dignity.

I made the most notable gains this summer when I was riding in OKC. I would ride easy on Monday, hard on Tuesday, hard on Thursday, long on Saturday, long on Sunday. I think the amount of rest between hard rides did me some good; I ride for fun too frequently when I'm home, and the fun quickly turns fast.

Diet, omg, I know. I'm not really losing weight anymore and still drinking 1-5 beers per day. In January I will go back to work and that will stop. A 2000 calorie day hurts to think about. I think I will heed your advice on two meals per day, and I will avoid meat on those days since it's so calorie dense and I'm enjoying somewhat exotic vegetables in my new leCrueset French Oven, lol.


Thanks again for the kind words.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

It's a 20 minute test, multiplied by .95 to get that number adjusted for 1-hour. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but that's how everyone around here does it. I rode to a target of 275w, 170bpm heart-rate, for 20 minutes after a 1-hr warm-up and went as hard as I could the last five minutes or so, well into 300w. I chose that target heart-rate as that's what looks familiar from 45-minute CX races.

Judging from a few hard rides and races, I think I tested well and accurately.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Anyone interested in all-red Spesh Audax shoes in size 46? I needed a 45, looking to pocket $150.

Also, anyone have an opinion on Giro lace-up Empire SLX? I can get them on the cheap through the team.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Testing method no bueno, IMO. Riding 275w for 15min and 300+w for 5min will result in an artificially low 20min number, since it takes so much extra effort to exert the extra ~30w or so during the last 5min. If you have enough in the bank for a 30watt surge over the last 25% of the test, you should have been riding to ~290w for the entire time.

I wanted to just get a ride home after the couple of FTP tests I did last summer. You should be seeing max HR by minute 3 and maintaining the entire time. I was always very uncomfortable by minute 10 and basically dying by minute 15. No way would I be able to chuck down FTP+5% power for 15 minutes and then go FTP+20% for another 5.

For comparison, last September was my peak, and I FTP'd at 266w. 20min test was 280w. I averaged 309 over the first 5min, 269 over the 2nd 5min, then 272 over the 3rd and 4th 5min groups. The day before, I did a 5-minute test at 325w and that was all I had.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Roger, will test again and follow your advice. It appears the number will go up.

Itty

Well to be honest, even holding a constant power over 20 minutes and subtracting 5% isn't a very good way to measure FTP, but it can estimate it pretty close. And going 100% for 20 minutes is a lot easier than going 95% for an hour, not to mention how much TSS you'll rack up (possibly interfering with your training plan, if you have one).

Just keep in mind these numbers don't necessarily mean much, and repeatability is the key thing for power training.

FWIW my estimated FTP was ~295 W as a Cat 2 who sucked at time trials. Edit: @150 lbs.

dubya

iTrader: (1)

Dude, you're in TX, right? Your boy Lance can hook you up with an excellent EPO plan that will guarantee more power and faster recovery. And the best part is that you'll never have to give up the beer!

Seriously though, that's a great starting point. Assuming you have your own power meter, the book

Training and Racing with a Power Meter

Training and Racing with a Power Meter

would be an excellent resource to have if you don't have it already.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

EPO chemtrails.

I've been through that book and Horner's, thanks.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

The idea is a somewhat standardized test which I can replicate to measure progress. I'm not willing to get on a trainer for an hour at a time, once per month and look at numbers. Hopefully that is not a fatal flaw.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

In theory, he did not go 100% for 20 min and relate that to 95% for an hour. Rather, the calculation assumes 105% for 20min to be equivalent to 100% for an hour (rounding errors ignored). When dealing with LT (Sorry, old timer) that is a significant distinction.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Also, I'm a total newb at all of this **** so tell me if I'm doing something incorrectly.

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

While your actual FTP number might be different, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you test the same way to track changes accurately. Relative vs absolute. Ego wants and absolute number of course. Doing a true 45-60 minute FTP test is basically TT nationals, a 40k TT where you come in at peak fitness, rested just enough then systematically destroy yourself.

Virtually every pro who has ever done a world class hour record attempt describes it as beyond excruciating and the hardest thing they have ever done on a bike. You can only do a few of those a year with messing yourself up. Even 20 minutes is hard on the system but much easier to recover from than a full 45-60 minute test. RPE (Perceived Effort) needs to be the same during each test.

IOW, 20 minutes with as near constant power output as possible. That's how to ride the fastest (flat, windless) TT and correspondingly, the most accurate measure of your maximal power over that time interval.

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

Toolbox: Power Profile Testing - PezCycling News