nemeseri

I'm about to get serious about training and I know that requires frequent threshold testing. I live close to Daly City in SF and simply I don't know any nearby roads that would be appropriate for a 20 min TT.

The Clockwise Lake Merced loop would be ok, but it has some downhill parts (and a couple of traffic lamps). I'm not sure about doing threshold testing on hills, but I have no uninterrupted long enough climbs nearby. Testing on ocean beach would be a receipt for a ticket too.

Do you guys have any favorite places? Thanks.

Leinster

If you're ever up in wine country, Silverado Trail in Napa is a long rolling straightaway with no stop lights and a good shoulder. Wooden Valley Rd from Fairfield and Pleasants Valley Road in Vacaville would also give you a long, low-traffic, uninterrupted effort.

Warren128

The Polo Field in Golden Gate Park? I just got back from doing some laps there myself

gsa103

Just about any decent hill climb will work.

spdntrxi

you will have a higher FTP on the hills then on the flats though.... just keep that in mind.

nemeseri

Well... I will look stupid, but I tought it doesn't have a paved track. Thanks! It might be the perfect place for a threshold test.

nemeseri

I read about this and it's sounds confusing. How do you manage this? You have an FTP for flat and an FTP for hills? Or what's the deal with this?

Warren128

Back in the 1970s, I was a teenager, and I had dreams of being a bike racer. I used to train on the track there with a mechanical stopwatch attached to the handlebar of my bike to time myself around the 1 km track.

I have since learned that the track was built in 1906 specifically as a velodrome, and has a rich history of bicycle racing throughout the years.

You can read more here:

License to Race: Cycling on the Golden Gate Park Polo Field 1930s?1950s | https://www.flysfo.com/

Warren

cthenn

I tested on a climb as well, and that's what I use. I almost never ride full gas for an extended period on the flats, if only because there aren't many long, uninterrupted stretches of flat (without traffic lights/stops, etc) around here. I'd probably have to go out east to the Livermore valley area to find stretches of roads that are long enough to get a (mostly) uninterrupted test. San Pablo Dam Road is long enough, but you have to make one 180-degree turnaround to get 20 min. But, also, I love to climb, and normally use the flats as a recovery and transition area between hard efforts, which is why I tested on a climb.

If you are doing most of your training/hard efforts on hills, then test your FTP there. If you are racing, then probably you will want to test on a flatter road, since in races, the speeds are much higher and you will doing your hard efforts in the big ring more (IE - not in climbing gears).

nemeseri

Amazing. Thank you for sharing this. I will definitely check it out soon. Probably that's the best flat place to test myself... so I might be a regular guest there.

nemeseri

Interesting! Probably I will try to measure both and find out which one suits me better... Thanks.

caloso

More information on the Polo Field Cycle Track. It seems to be open 24/7 and lots of riders in the City use it for training. Friends of the Polo Field Cycling Track

ricebowl

Since you mentioned Daly City, what about San Bruno Mt? If you go up the colma side traffic is not really a concern Strava Segment | San Bruno Mtn- Price to Summit. If you do the annual hill climb route from brisbane you have to contend with a couple of stop lights.https://www.strava.com/segments/san-...l-climb-378701

nemeseri

Thanks for the suggestion! Basically San Bruno is my training mountain and I climb there regularly. It has a very short down hill part in the middle when you enter the park and I don't know whether that's a problem or not for measuring FTP. Also it has widely variable wind conditions what makes it quite hard to compare efforts (without power meter). From Colma I can climb it under 20 mins, but from the Brisbane side (starting from Geneva Ave) it can work. I think I will do the test on the polo field track and on San Bruno mountain to have an idea about my FTP during different efforts.