Originally Posted by
lsberrios1
As far as my current power output, I am doing those intervals at what I believe is my 100% FTP. My FTP when I was racing was 263 but I thought it had gone down after some life events occurred and I was left riding much less. During an hour long race I would average 255 to 265w when I was racing. For a 2 hour race I'd be somewhere in the 230-245w.
I am still using my old FTP which is 263watts. However, I was never able to do that in the trainer before. It was either because I never thought it possible or because my coach told me to never exceed 20 min threshold intervals. I also thought he meant that because it would be cruel to subject somebody to 1hr of constant pedaling at their threshold level
I typically can't average more than about 205w for a race, and at 205w I can't sprint. My FTP is in the 210-220w range and I don't hit that for an hour. Based on that I highly doubt your FTP is as low as 265w. A better test would be to go harder for 20 min and take 95% of it, or do a test where you increase wattage every so often.
Question - how are you measuring power? Your numbers sound really high unless you're not really drafting anyone. If you're on an stationary bike it may be off, typically on the high side. If you're using Strava definitely off on the high side. Generally accepted powermeters, probably okay, ditto other devices made by them (CycleOps stationary bike thing, etc). 265w means time trialing at 25-26 mph, give or take.
To be able to sprint at the end of a race I typically average 170-190w, and I've won or placed in the top 3 in Cat 3 races with numbers like that. Depending on the year I either weighed a bit less (155-158 in 2010) or a bit more (up to 190 lbs for 2002-2009) or about the same (2011-2014).
If you're really riding around with a 265w FTP you should be an extremely competitive Cat 3 and you should be hanging in there in P123 races. If you're not then you need to look at
how you race. The power number, if it's accurate, is definitely not the problem. It's the application of the power. My sig is relevant here.