So I did my 20 min FTP test Friday (made decent gains over the last 2 months) and did a short but rather steep hilly ride yesterday - 50 miles 5720 feet of climbing.

I've been on rides with more miles and same ratio of climbing for the past month and have noticed that if I stay around FTP (and don't burn too may matches as they say) then I will be able to finish strong. Yesterday I rode sensibly though and my legs were ok at the start and faded at the last climb. I was wondering if I should attribute the heavy legs to friday's FTP test or to the steep climbs at the start of yesterday (at which case lesson is don't do FTP and expect to ride strong or work more on steep hills).

Thoughts welcome.

A FTP is 1hr long. A single 20 min power test is 20MP, and not a good estimate of your FTP. It shouldn't affect your next day's riding unless you do it 4 days in a row. It sounds like it was more of a mental problem than a physical one.

"A FTP is 1hr long. A single 20 min power test is 20MP, and not a good estimate of your FTP. It shouldn't affect your next day's riding unless you do it 4 days in a row."

20MP - 5% rough estimate of FTP. I wish I had an area where I can ride unobstructed for an hour but oh well.

"It sounds like it was more of a mental problem than a physical one."

Nice.

Anyway the last climb yesterday end of 50 miles was the same final climb of the previous weeks (80 miles). There was roughly the same ratio of climbing but the fact that I could produce higher numbers on the last climb of an 80 miler ride and my legs didn't feel as tight vs yesterday made me wonder about my conditioning vs the steeper hills.

There are good days, and bad days. I wouldn't attribute too much to a bad day.

Also, for the 20 minute test. If you are doing the test prescribed by Hunter Allen, you need to do some hard efforts before it to clear your AWC, so that the 20 minute average power will better reflect your aerobic capacity, and not anaerobic. It's been said that the 20 min test is a bad predictor of FTP, and that a better indication is the power at which you routinely complete 20 minute intervals. I think the latter observation is something Andrew Coggan said on the Wattage list.

Anyways, to reiterate another post, a 20 minute interval (or even two), in and of itself, isn't enough to really effect the next days workout.

IME, that depends on your base, age, and how hard your next ride is. If I want to ride really strong on Sunday, I don't ride at all on Saturday, and don't do more than 10 minutes intensity on Friday, if that. Sometimes I'll only do Z1 on Friday. If I want to put in 1.5-2 hrs in Z4 and above, I need some rest first. LT-and-over riding is cumulative. You only have so much of it in your body per week, and how much that is depends on your base. I only ride about 5000 miles/year, which is the reason my total permissible LT time is so low.

I think what the OP experienced is totally normal and expected. I purchased a Polar 720i just to keep track of my weekly time in zone. Best thing I ever did.

Well didn't want to bore anyone with the details but I did do a 5 min and 1 min effort (with respective recovery periods) before the 20 min TT. My numbers do reflect my 60 min NP from the last hard effort ride I did (which prompted the testing to begin with.

Maybe I'm putting too muhc thought into it, but with planet ultra's KOM less than a week away and me starting late on training for it, who wouldn't be eh?

this is still your base training? it's entirely plausible that you won't have legs the day after an ftp. i just started training last week and i was tuckered out after tuesday's ftp test.

Hey JJ, welcome to the "not ready for Mulholland" club. I did a long and hilly ride today (74 mi, 9700'), and my legs were pretty wasted on the last climb.

No time left to get more big training rides in, it's taper time.

Terry!!!!

Methinks I am overthinking it as I was definitely more prepared last year (damn life keeps getting in the way). I will just look to enjoy this year's ride more and with more conservative stops, I may even shave a few mins here and there hehe.