Originally Posted by
dhale50
Anyone have any tips on pacing correctly? I just started riding with my PT and seeing the power jumping all over the place. I have it set to 5 second smoothing. Is it just something to get used to? The terrain is flat to slightly rolling that I ride on. I also make sure I zero the unit before each ride.
Do some of you just use the average power?
There is two fields I do to make sure my pacing can be controlled:
1) 3 second average - Smooths that up and down of the power a bit, but does not skew the time so much that it is delayed. This field will show you the current power you are putting out (even if slightly delayed its close enough).
2) 30 second average - You pace yourself on the 3 second average, however, having the 30 second average field up allows you to see how well that pacing is doing consistantly. Sometimes you might be doing 250w on the flats and on the hills and think you are pacing yourself at 250w, but forget about the downhills or coasting and the 30s average will show in the 220s. Usually you can adjust your 3 second average to start controlling the 30s average, and when you control the 30s average, you are controlling your pace on the long run.
Also, you can't just stare at your power all the time, or you will go crazy. Try to only look down every once in a while, your pacing will be smoother in the long run.