ldesfor1@ithaca

I love those dang numbers on the little screen... they make me feel so good.

Round numbers are particularly nice. 300 watts is just so much better than 299.

I love the feeling of good legs and big numbers.

Power numbers are like a warm blanket on a cold night.

I'd be lost without them. Numbers, that is.

-Ldesf, Confessions of a Power Numbers Addict

wanders

It's easy to become addicted to something you possess.

I'm too afraid to find out how little I have.

"It is better to remain ignorant and be thought a weakling, than to buy a powermeter and remove all doubt ."

Matt2.8NJ

I'm waiting for the day that during a race, I crash head on while I'm looking down at my Powertap.

Just you wait.

JoesInBoston

My powertap should be coming soon......I fear I may end up like you, Leo.

ZeCanon

See, the only time I see 300w is when I'm right near 5.0w/kg. That's not fair. You seeing 300 is like me seeing 220, which is a way lamer number. 300 is a fun number.

ldesfor1@ithaca

no pity.

the numbers rule all.

they do not lie.

i love them.

ridethecliche

Hell. Even I see 220!

Hocam

I dunno, I've been thinking about selling the PT and going 'euro'. I think last season I was too obsessed over CTL ramp rates, TSS, and unrealistic wattage expectations that I burned out early on. Granted, I could just not make the same mistakes this season but the powermeter at this point just makes me feel anxious.

ridethecliche

I just like seeing the sprint numbers

Hocam

But if like me, you had no sprint, what would there be to like?

Hida Yanra

I was for a while - but then my PT broke and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.
That was over a year ago now, and I'm mostly over it. I'm training by feel this year and enjoying the lack of numerical evidence to my suckitude.

I think a year or two from now I'll go back to being power obsessed - possibly with a Quarq?

bostongarden

There's power in numbers

ridethecliche

Average power? Leo seems to do fine with that.

Heck dude, I just liked being able to go at 280W for 20 mins and know that I was spent. I'm pretty motivated by numbers.

Or finish position in a race, you could just go by that too.

And now back to studying so I can get get numbers.

waterrockets 

I was much more obsessed in my first year with the PM when every month I was making huge gains. Obviously, it couldn't continue. Now that my power is cyclical, I feel much less attached to the power numbers. They're a tool in the toolbox. Probably my favorite tool (like a nice table saw), but not something I obsess over any more.

Come to think of it, I'm probably due for some power testing now that I've started a new season. It's been a while since I tested (another sign that I'm less obsessed). I know pretty much where I am though. It's easy to feel it and see the evidence in the ride data.

ridethecliche

Power overwhelming!

ldesfor1@ithaca

Same here, WR.

The numbers give me a great sense of where my body/CNS is in the "cyclical" world of "good form".

I rarely test, as I'm getting familiar with what type of numbers I should be putting out for a given day/week/month in the scheme of my macrocycles.

It becomes easier to decide when to back off a bit and when to push just a bit harder.

It's also taught me how to ride without coasting for 3 hours. which is pretty weird.

grolby

There's something to it. I'm not getting a PT this year because I want to be damn sure that I'll stick to a training plan before I lay out the money.

Greg180

I record just about every ride. But unless I am doing some very specific intervals I stick a piece of tape over the control head and look at the numbers after the ride. I get a much better sense of how my body is feeling. Doing tempo based on perceived effort is more telling than hitting the number. IMO

spinwax

I find tempo by numbers is much more of a workout for me than if I just went off of PE.

Greg180

It is, but I have watched the numbers over a couple of years and now I just want to "feel" it. When I want to dial in on a workout I jump on the CT. That is a strict workout. No give.

mollusk

This is why I wish that I could rent a P-tap for a week every now and then. It would be solely for a calibration of the personal perceived effort meter. The truth is that I can get that by matching weather conditions and speeds on a route that I ride a lot, but then I can't post numbers on BF to lament/brag about.

saratoga

It was cool at first, but became a lot like stepping on a scale every day once I knew where I stood. Still use it for training where I want and need the feedback, but don't race or go on group rides with it (and haven't for a long time).

Grumpy McTrumpy

I don't know about you, but for me, the RPE meter varies dramatically depending on my state of physical and mental freshness. The PM never does.

teetopkram

This is one of the things holding me back from getting a powertap...I ride a traffic free paved 7 mile loop (in a state park) regularly, and my current fitness test is a TT around the loop. Sure, the atmospherics play a role as the winds in FL sometimes do kick up, but when I'm able to consistent winds this gives me a pretty good test. I really think the power test would be most helpful for sprints and the sub 5-min intervals. I do find that, when on the rowing ergometer at the YMCA, I get fixated on besting my last average wattage output.

ldesfor1@ithaca

+1 especially true during challenging blocks of training. Carry-over fatigue throws my RPE meter in the garbage.