mgurtzweiler

New CAT5 racer almost done with my 10 races and am having wildly mixed results and I think it comes down to my total lack of sustainable power from 45 seconds to about 2 minutes. I train between 10-14 hours a week. About to work my way up to 20 a week by including my commute. Stopped commuting by bike because I was afraid of just over doing it but I've learned to listen to my body better (i hope!) Here are my graphs.



I do really well in some races, best place is 4th when I got in an early break on a 9 turn relatively flat circuit race, was in line for 2nd but a crash next to me and my avoidance of it put me out of line. Flat crits I'm laughing till the last half of the last lap when people really turn it up and I lose 10-12 places. The two races where I've went off the back of the pack have been those with 1 really hard 1min-2min climb.

Anyhow, is this really as easy to fix as doing The Sufferfest's revolver twice a week till I puke (i think it's like 15 1x1s heh)? I think that no-mans land of power is really hurting my chances of placing well and I am hesitant to upgrade to CAT4 until I get this under control.

Thanks for the advice.

overgeared

looks like your minute power is, rankings-wise, on a par with your 20 and 60 min power but the issue is with the 5 minute duration which aproximates to your vo2 max.

i would first and foremost look to do some VO2max intervals of 4 minutes.
you could do some longer duration (2 minute) anaerobic capacity intervals but you'd be training the same energy system that's behind your minute power.

another more fundamental question i might ask myself is if i am i doing 14-20 hours a week and only hitting cat 4 numbers shouldnt i be reducing some of that volume in favor of intensity.

mgurtzweiler

The graph is 10 sec, 1 min, 5 min, FTP. You have a good point re: intensity. I've been following a trainingpeaks virtual coach program since February. I bet the average hr/wk is 8-10, I was recalling my big build and base weeks where i hit 14hrs. I only mentioned the up-to 20 because it was a thought I had last week since I can pretty much ride my bike to work in the same amount of time it takes to drive (so its "free") but maybe more harm than good.

This is my Fatigue resistance exercise from Training with a power meter. All data are from races or training. Yah I'm bad and never did the tests correctly Everything below 20secs is probably spot on however, 5-20secs is just me jumping out of corners never in position to contest a sprint.

Time Watts % difference
5s 1085
10s 887 18%
20s 703 35%
---
30s 660
1m 468 29%
2m 371 44%
---
3m 349
5m 309 11%
8m 292 16%
---
20m 272
60m 262 3%
90m 260 4%

AzTallRider

Have you considered joining the Google "Wattage" group?

https://groups.google.com/group/wattage?hl=en

The group has many knowledgeable coaches, including the authors of the book you've mentioned. Thoughtful posts that include relevant data, which you have, get excellent response. Other than that, I have nothing to offer except to echo "high-intensity".

IMO, commutes are a wonderful way to work extra training time into your week. I do hill repeats, LT intervals, etc... all on my commutes in to work. All my training, except weekend rides and indoor work, is done on my commutes.

asgelle

Have you done any specific testing to determine your maximum 1 minute power? Cherry picking ride data does not accurately reflect it as it is very rare that you do an all-out one minute effort in the course of a longer ride.

In all likelihood, your problem is either lack of aerobic power or wasting energy riding in a pack. Even though you are being dropped in hard 1-2 minute surges, the underlying reason is that you are going above threshold when others are not. While increasing anaerobic capacity might seem to be a solution, no matter how long you can ride at a speed above threshold, those who are below it will always be able to ride there longer.