tribble222

I've been reading The Time Crunched Cyclist and I want to do the CTS Field Test but I'm having trouble figuring out a suitable location.

I need to be able to ride for 8 minutes at maximal effort without any stop signs, stop lights, or hills. I'm in Oakland and the only places I've ridden here that allow me to ride that long without stop lights are very hilly.

Can anyone recommend somewhere flat nearby that might be suitable? I don't mind driving a bit if I have to.

Thanks!

DRietz

Alameda Naval Base laps?

ROJA

How about the POO (Port of Oakland) route? Check this out for more details and the specific (top secret) location: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...land-port-ride

I think it could be sketchy at night alone and hazardous during the day due to trucks. How about a Sunday morning at 7 a.m.? Maybe some of us would even come along!

jonathanb715

If those don't work for you head over the hills. Danville Blvd can give you long flat uninterrupted stretches. When I did the threshold test with a coach (her version was 20 minutes long) we used the roads in/near N. Livermore. I did several loops of Manning/Carneal/Highland. Go clockwise and you do hit 2 stops signs on the loop, but it's wide open enough that you can really get a good look down the road to be sure nothing is coming. It is a bit rolling but nothing too steep and long, so it worked fine.

JB

tribble222

Thanks for the replies! I really wanted some place without any stop signs at all. I ended up doing it up Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon (starting near Deerwood Drive). I found a ride on garmin connect where someone else did a threshold test there. It was a little more hilly than I'd like but nothing that affected me too much I don't think.

I might have to check out the POO ride sometime... I'm sure I'm much too slow for it now though--sounds scary!

gpelpel

Your home could be the best place if you have a trainer.

brentley

Most of the time you would do it on a trainer, that is the only 100% repeatable way to hold steady wind stop lights etc.
the readings will be slightly different (lower) that the road but predictably so.

SteelerHoo

the port of oakland is perfect for testing or getting on the TT bike. i go there a lot for tempo workouts and when i need to ride at night once the clock changes. it's not sketchy down there at all and you'll often see other riders out there doing their own workouts.

if you need to get in a test, you can use this route, just after you come off the overpass. it's about 3.2 miles and 8.5 minutes at 300 watts. obviously, if you need to go longer, just keep lapping https://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=174390

another good test route is North Livermore Ave. if you need to go longer, you can start on Manning Rd. https://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=174381

RoboCheme

I do my tests at three places, up Wildcat from Orinda, up Bear Creek Road from Orinda or up Pinehurst North. I find it much easier to maintain a steady power output going up a decent grade than riding the flats.

Doing it on a trainer didn't work for me at all (couldn't get my power above 75% of FTP). I dont' know why.

SteelerHoo

not sure how CTS calcs FTP, but to get the most accurate estimate of your ftp, best bet is to go with a 20' or 60' test where you can negate the impact of anaerobic efforts on the test. you'd then take 95% of 20' avg. power or the 60' avg power.

if you want to run these longer tests, either the port or diablo will do, though you might come in under 60' if you ride diablo.

agarose2000

Trainer for sure. Conditions are eminently reproducible and it's totally safe to hammer away.

If you need more motivation to hammer on the trainer, Spinervals sells a "time-trial test" type DVD. I haven't used it, but I own 5 other ones and they're all outstanding motivators - I've enjoyed them so much that if I'm looking for a pure workout, I'd rather do it on my trainer than outdoors!

bigbossman 

Yeah - I live close to that, and ride up to Las Trampas and back a lot. It is pretty much a 4.5 mile shallow climb, with a bigger bump at the end. - not flat at all.

Ultraslide

I will third this. I am on the TCTP as well, week 2 using an HRM. I did my "field" test on rollers, for all reasons previously stated.

SClaraPokeman

I have a fluid and a mag trainer. They are great for working out, but I question if the results whey give are really “repeatable”. Each time your put the bike on the trainer, the tire pressure and the pressure of the trainer’s roller on the tire will differ slightly from the prior workout. Therefore, although you have a computer that gives power or speed readings, you can never be sure that one workout is really faster or whatever than another. I’d say a variance of 5% would be pretty routine for trainer readings one workout to another.
Don’t get me wrong, trainers are very valuable for structured workouts, but I don’t believe that stress tests like Conconi are really valid on them. That said if you frequently use the trainer, you will definitely see an upward speed/power trend on your workouts that will translate on to the road. No doubt about that.
I also have a Concept rower, that machine I would say would be a valid one to do comparative stress testing on. (Although I discovered that bike trainers will help you ride faster on your bike than the elegant Concept rowing machine will.)

SteelerHoo

if you have a powermeter (srm, powerrtap, quarq, etc.) trainer variance (setup and tire pressure) is irrelevant.

if riding outdoors, within reason, grade and wind don't matter either. as long as you aren't on a descent or spinning out in a strong tailwind, you will generate your power. that's why people are using power as a metric instead of heart rate and avg. speed.

the only thing that fluctuates is your power output indoors vs. out. indoors is usually lower because of poor heat management, motivation and the difference in inertia when riding a trainer vs. outside. that being said, a small group of people can produce similar power indoors and out. unfortunately, i'm not one of them...

conconi tests and other similar tests are best done on a trainer where they are repeatable and it's much easier to take blood lactate readings. alternately, they are the only way to do a gas exchange test.

tribble222

Yeah I don't have a trainer or I might have used it for the test. It's not too crucial I get this perfect. While I'm not new to riding, I'm very untrained so I'm sure no matter what I do I'll get improvement. I'm just going off of heart rate because I can't afford a power meter.

agarose2000

My workout variances are well within 2% on the trainer when I look at my mph recorded on my hard workouts sessions. Granted, I tend to leave the bike on the trainer and not take it off (I have a 2nd bike for road use) but I haven't noticed a significant difference even when I was putting it on-off.

I can pretty much guarantee that the variances you'll get from wind, temperature, and traffic lights (!!!) will far exceed any variance you'll get from a trainer. I trust my trainer + speed data results much more than I trust my repeat efforts in outdoor conditions for fitness tests. For sure, small trainer improvements for me translate into surprisingly large speed improvements on the road, likely because in most road rides, there's a lot of concentrated effort in a small span of time, so a little improvement in a 1-hr trainer ride shows a surprisingly large effect when translated to a 2 minute roadie sprint up the hill to not get dropped.