Road Bike Racing - Finding FTP

I've had my PowerTap for a few weeks now and I haven't gone and done the regimented tests for approximating FTP. However, I have a ~1 hr loop I do in the mornings with a couple stop lights along the way.. Anyway, I currently have my FTP set in CyclingPeaks as 215, which is about 10 watts more than my actual max 20 min power. However, my typical Normalized power for an hour long threshold ride (with warmup) is around 230...

So which should I base my FTP on? - actual sustained power or Norm power? I ask because my 1hr 20min ride this morning was given a IF of 1.065 (norm power: 229). I thought I had read somewhere on the CyclingPeaks site that if you get an hour+ ride with an IF of more than 1.05 then chances are your FTP is higher than you have it set.

Your FTP should be around 94 or 95% of your 20MP. Start there and see if that works. I.e., go at 215ish for as long as you can.

I can't remember at the moment, but is 20MP supposed to be your normalized or average 20 minute max? I've always taken the average...

Normalized power for an hour is a good start, but you have to be careful. You really need an uninterrupted effort in order for it to be reliable. Those few stop lights are giving your body several extra minutes to recover, which is going to alter your NP.

-bullseye

I've had my PowerTap for a few weeks now and I haven't gone and done the regimented tests for approximating FTP. However, I have a ~1 hr loop I do in the mornings with a couple stop lights along the way.. Anyway, I currently have my FTP set in CyclingPeaks as 215, which is about 10 watts more than my actual max 20 min power. However, my typical Normalized power for an hour long threshold ride (with warmup) is around 230...

So which should I base my FTP on? - actual sustained power or Norm power? I ask because my 1hr 20min ride this morning was given a IF of 1.065 (norm power: 229). I thought I had read somewhere on the CyclingPeaks site that if you get an hour+ ride with an IF of more than 1.05 then chances are your FTP is higher than you have it set.

Andy Coggan's Seven Deadly Sins
How to determine your Functional Threshold Power (roughly in order of increasing certainty):

1. from inspection of a ride file.
2. from power distribution profile from multiple rides.
3. from blood lactate measurements (better or worse, depending on how it is done).
4. based on normalized power from a hard ~1 h race.
5. using critical power testing and analysis.
6. from the power that you can routinely generate during long intervals done in training.
7. from the average power during a ~1 h TT (the best predictor of performance is performance itself).

Note the key words "hard", "routinely", and "average" in methods 4, 6, and 7...

He additionally added the 75-78% of MAP as used by the RST method found @ www.cyclecoach.com

If it ain't one of these, it's typically not considered reliable. But if your 1 hr 20 min ride was over 1.0 IF, it definitely would spark examination.

Your FTP should be around 94 or 95% of your 20MP.

Your FTP is what it is. It might be around 95% of your 20 minute power, but if you have exceptionally high or low anaerobic work capacity, it might not be. There is certainly no reason why FTP should fall at a particular fraction of 20 minute power for a given individual. See the 7 deadly sins listed above.