plantrob

That's a given. This series has two options: cat 5, and everybody else. I'm a cat 4. I think somebody will beat me. The question is whether everybody will beat me.

jsutkeepspining

has anyone pointed it out to him yet? Or is this guy really slow like rkwaki? (and i dont mean slow as in bike racing abilities)

Fat Boy

Must have been a recovery day.

jsutkeepspining

^hahahahhahahahaha. that is something i could see someone saying if they were dumb enough to post that

Virten

So I've increased my FTP in my Garmin500 because my TSS has been higher than it should be. I did a ride yesterday: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/277206540

About 4 hours 7mins, TSS is 295

Do I need to adjust FTP again or is this realistic?

shovelhd

Test

jsutkeepspining

really just do the test, all this I'll adjust it think is silly (especially for someone who is brand new to using power).

Walrus

For those of you who can't afford to train with power like myself:

Anyone looked into getting testing done at an exercise lab at a local university?
They're always looking for guinea pigs, so I sent a few emails today. hopefully I get some responses.

revchuck 

Shovel has the right answer, but you sound kinda-sorta close. I did 3:43 Saturday and ended up with a 274 TSS, but that was at an average of low tempo level for me. Still, testing will always yield better results than a SWAG.

A relatively quick way to test is the way Carmichael Training Systems does it. Pick about a three mile course you can ride without disruption. Do your favorite thorough warmup, and then go as hard as you can for eight minutes and record your power. Ride back to the start point at a recovery pace and then do it again. Record the power for the second interval. Take the higher of the two and multiply that by 0.9, and that's your FTP.

Virten

I'm getting my first bike fit early next month (lol) and a lactate test as well. Is LT pretty much = FTP?

I shall do the test soon

Virten

Hmm not a bad idea...will try that.

shovelhd

The lactate test is a good test. The trick with testing is to test consistently and regularly,and that can get expensive if they are all LT tests. I would use the LT test as a baseline, train for a bit, then do a field test. Use the field test numbers going forward.

jsutkeepspining

i rode today

also lt test is nice and all, but its expensive. Field testing is great, free, and you can do it any time you want. The other thing is, that aside from doing a stright hour all out, you can't "truly" know your ftp, everything is just an educated guess. Therefore you want to do the same test to track changes. This can be an lt test, or a 20 min times .95, ot the 8 min times .9, all that matters is that it is consistent, because you are making your training zones from the result. For example, the 8 min times .9 test might favor me because of my high annerobic engine, where as the 20 min times .95 leads to a lower number, so if i went out did the 20 min test one day and got an ftp of x, then a month later did an ftp test using the 8 minute average power times .9 and i got x+20, i dont know if i truly gained 20 watts on my ftp, it could just be that the 8 min test suits my power profile better. Just something to keep in mind

Andy STi

2 hrs on the trainer on Friday night - I'm such a partier. TSS 98
3 hrs on the MTB on Saturday - First race is this weekend!!
4:20 group ride Sunday - pretty mellow other than a good 10 min climb in the middle. TSS 263
1 hr easy on the trainer tonight.

Can't wait until Daylight Savings

Fat Boy

To all you...and I'm just repeating others...if you're curious about your FTP, you have to go do a test. It's no big deal. Just take the time to go do it.

----------------------------------------

I had an easy hour ride to start off an easy week. Legs were sore all yesterday (I got back from my ride at ~8am) and all today. During the ride at points they felt as if they were pretty good, then 5 minutes later, they'd hurt like hell. All part of the process. I've spent 3 weeks tearing them up, they should feel like crap. I feel like I _had_ to have made some progress, though.

kensuf

How many TSS points for the flu?

shovelhd

I don't know, but it set me back about three weeks with my training. It seems like you have been doing some great base work lately, so get your rest and you'll bounce back.

shovelhd

But it hurts....waaah waaah.
But I hate doing them...waaah waaah.
i don't need to test, I can just adjust last year's number...waaah waaah.

Yes, they hurt. Yes, I hate doing them. The only time adjusting numbers without a test makes any sense is after you have recently tested and are showing clear gains, and then, only until you test again.

Embrace the test. Treat it like a short race, a 20 minute race. I target a number, ramp up to it, fight to stay there, and give it everything in the last two minutes. If after five minutes it seems too easy I ramp it up again. If you chose your number correctly you won't need to do this. I'm beat and sore afterwards, but all that goes away within hours. It's nothing like a race effort, except maybe a time trial.

Embrace the test.

johnybutts

2 hrs last night.

Last week was only 7:00 hrs. So This week is goign to compensate. Last week of build before peaking for Fayetteville stage race. I need more time on my TT bike.

valygrl

You might be able to rent a powertap wheel, that is possible here.

I'm on a taper, my first race is this saturday, 11.5 mile TT. In the context of this FTP conversation, I'm going to call that a test. Make sense?

shovelhd

Yep. Sure does. Just be sure and scale the time to an hour.

mike868y

what would the point of this be unless you're getting tested monthly or so to track your progress? if you're not using the numbers in day to day workouts then why bother knowing them? other than for dick measuring, which I guess is probably a good enough reason for most people.

Edit: you can say dick?!

waterrockets 

FWIW, I sold a bike to get a power meter. I think it would be worth going to a $600 cheaper bike just to pick up a used PowerTap.

/for clarification, I have the money, just not the budget to buy what I want... three kids' college gonna cost as much as our house, so I can deal with a used PT

achoo

A lot.

I tried riding through a bout with the flu once.

I won't be doing that again.

rkwaki

Hear ya...