I started riding at 44 y/o and saw heart rates as high as 195. I kind of cooled on riding several years ago and didn't ride too much. Really got back into it these past two years. Got to where I never rode with a heart rate monitor last year and only recently started wearing it again. I haven't seen it go over 175 and that's while really hitting it while attacking or bridging up. I imagine it may still go as high as 180 now that I'm two months away from turning 55. Seems I've heard that you drop one beat every year so I guess that would be pretty close for me. I can still ride on any given day about as well as I ever could but cannot recover from one day to the next like I used to. I guess it still holds that a percentage of max that you can ride at dictates how fast one can ride eh?

Recovery rate is definately related to age. That you will learn to guage as you listen to what your body tells you. As for maximum heart rate, that is a very subjective and individual thing. I'm 57 and can hit 190 on certain hills in certain temps.....but since I'm still above ground, it isnt my max.

I used to think too much about heart rate and why mine was never low when resting. Eventually I learned to compare to myself and not to others, which is sort of the same as riding for me. Plus, I figure as long as the heart rate is > zero, I'm doing alright.

Actually max isn't subjective. If the test is done properly, it's a precise number you hit. No matter what you do, it won't go higher. Assuming you are in good health, you safely survive.

Subjective to the individual is what I meant, as opposed to the old one-size-fits-all "220 minus your age".

Ah, got you. Yes, max is very much sn individual thing.

I'm 29 and never seen above 173

I just run low I think... ~300 watts gives me a heart rate of 140 and that's about a 2-3 houf sustainable pace with occasional short breaks

"The cycling blogger Alex Simmons has a great article on the current Masters Men (35-39) Hour Record holder Jayson Austin and his power output over his attempt at the Master's record in 2009. Jayson's average power output was 302 Watts over the hour he rode. The year before Jayson tried to go for the record but was only able to produce an average of 241 Watts (he wasnt feeling too well, so you can see his power output decline the longer he rode). The graph of the two attempts can be seen at the right. As you can see, the best human efforts at producing power over the course of an hour on a bicycle are around 300-400 Watts."

"Dr. Jeukendrup has power data on a world class cyclist riding in the peleton during a stage of the Tour de France for six hours at an average speed of 40 km/hour. Because of the effect of drafting in the large group his average power output was 98 watts. If riding by himself on level roads, no wind and in an aerodynamic position he would have had to average 275 watts to maintain this speed. There are several reports of cyclists using power meters in races of over 200 km and their power outputs varied between 150 to 300 watts for the race."

I don't know where you got that but 300 watt FTP isn't even that impressive. I've only been cycling seriously since 2014


A friend of mine sent me his numbers to compare... he has a 350w 20min, 430w 5min, 600w 1min, 1300w 10sec

But just to shut you up, power meter/heart rate date from this weekend:

These three points of data are meaningless out of context.

300w is still not impressive, I'm trying to get to 400 by the end of the year, that's why I bought a power meter and training materials. That ride/test was my first ride with a power meter. I went out and hammered for 2 hours at a pace I normally do. As far as I'm concerned those are "untrained" numbers from which I hope to massively improve upon.

Putting the hour record into perspective: How does an amateur compare? | CyclingTips

You should go pro. You already have the shilling down.

My HR increased over the seasons as my fitness improved from 162 to > 180. Illness will also spike HR greatly. I have seen over 230 while feeling no ill effects when trying to return to training too soon after a virus. I have also noticed that it will settle to a specific number during various hard efforts however. I no longer wear the strap as power is all I'm interested in a the moment and aerobic decoupling as indicated by HR is something I track rarely.

I'm a bigger guy, 6'6" 240 with a powerlifting background (dropped a lot of weight when I started cycling). I'm fast on flats, top 1-2% or better of pretty much every local strava segment that's flat (out of 5,000-7,000 people attempting them), but hills crush me

Serious question- If you have that much power output, why aren't you racing? Or are you? If you trained for positioning and sprinting form, you could have a killer finish in flat races.

Back on topic- I'm 29 and even during the toughest intervals on the hottest days I rarely get my HR above ~178-180. I think the highest I ever saw was 190 4-5 years ago when I was new and trying to kill myself. The highest I've ever averaged in a 40 minute crit is 160. My resting HR is pretty low, around 46 bpm most days. Point is- it's such a moving target, and so individual that it's useless as a cross-athlete comparison.

400W steady for one hour? That's FTP.

A couple reasons... I always ride solo so I don't really have a comparison (besides strava) of how fast other people are. Secondly, I only found out my power output 2 days ago. Thirdly, it would crush my soul if I entered a race and placed poorly, so I want to get to where I will freakin podium whatever class I'd start out in my first time out. I have a few 3rd-5th place out of 6,000 on Strava... they're really short sprint segments but I'm hitting over 35mph on totally flat (pic below)


Not interested in crit racing... too crowded/claustro, too high of a chance of someone else making a mistake and crashing and taking you out. But I'd be interested in XC mountain biking, but I need to get my power up to be competitive on the climbs.

I thought FTP referred to 20 min effort? Anyway, bought a power meter and training materials to get my power up

It's not the watts that matter,; it's the w/kg.

At my best my FTP is well over 300 watts. My watts/kg not so impressive. Hence I'm a mediocre Cat3

At 6'6" I'll never have an impressive w/kg, but that doesn't mean I won't crush someone with a 50% higher w/kg on the flats

FTP is one hour power. Typically about 95% of you 20 minute max

No doubt. That's why I can occasionally win a Tt or crit but
Am OTB on any sustained climb against little guys in my
Category

Yeah, that thing says I'm borderline untrained... obviously not the case if I'm landing in the top 1-2% or better on Strava with 7k other people attempting.

In a hilly course though, yeah I'd get crushed