Originally Posted by
Dunbar
I live in West Los Angeles which means 20 minute uninterrupted stretches of road are extremely hard to find. I did get a suggestion for a 20 minute climb that I'm going to start using even though I don't enjoy climbing.
Make sure you have the gearing to do that climb at your normal cadence. If you normally pedal in the 90 rpm range, for example, and you have to do that climb at 65 rpm your results will not reflect your FTP.
You shouldn't be looking down at your power numbers in a 1 hour crit or road race. The whole point is to evaluate the power numbers after the race to see what you can do in a highly motivated race situation. FTP is also self-correcting like you alluded to. If they feel too easy, you raise the target power. If you blow up before the end of the interval you drop target power.
Power numbers are a training tool used to improve race results. I'd say the only point power numbers in a race have is to provide another perspective that can be used to set power levels for training, not to find out what you can do in a race. Because in a highly motivated race situation, you do what you can do, power numbers be damned. (Not totally true - I do look at my numbers during races, but not to figure out if I can go harder. I look at 'em to prevent me from blowing up and getting myself dropped before the final sprint.)