Originally Posted by carpediemracing

TRust me, I tried to up my FTP. I figured my first tests had to be flukes, problems, because the numbers were so low.

I'm about 78 kg right now, FTP unknown but realistically around 205-210w. I raced this year at about this weight (77-81 kg), last year more like 78-80 kg, and in 2015 (a good year, relatively speaking, with my last win and three strong third places including two field sprint wins) at 74-75 kg.

When I tested in Feb 2015 (or March?) I was a solid 205w, and relatively fit. I was 218w in April, felt unstoppable. In 2010, at 72kg/220w, I felt unstoppable also, and earned enough upgrade points to move to Cat 2 by June or so.

Most of my races I avg around 160-180w, typically about 1 hour. At 200w avg for an hour I struggle to sprint.

When I first got my SRM I decided that I'd explore limits, sort of like me using huge gears on hills and such, just a sort of "think outside the box", try and see how I could leverage knowing my power. I decided that my limitations were from self doubt etc.

However I found myself unable to sustain power outputs I thought sustainable for more than a few minutes. 250w, 260w, and this when I was pretty strong. I did discover my sprint is a one-trick pony, where I have a super high peak and power just drops off a cliff. I tried to adjust that by shifting at optimal rpms so I'd hit two or three similar peaks, and that worked to increase average wattage for a sprint substantially.

However, from an aerobic/FTP point of view, nothing I tried stuck. I struggled mightily to hold 240w for 8 minutes (at my best in 2015).