I've got a powertap wheel coming sometime in the next week, as I'd like to start training with power. I'm not really interested in racing at this point, just want to be able to quantitatively increase my performance with the aid of power numbers (I find that at times I'll overexert myself and tire myself out long before the end of a ride, I'd like to be able to know when I'm doing that).

I don't really know the first thing about it though. From what I gather, I'll need to perform an FTP test to calculate my power zones. Is it really just as easy as "ride for 20 minutes as fast as you can"? I'm trying to find an ideal piece of land to perform the test, I figure I'll need a long country road with no stop signs or traffic lights, and probably a slight incline so that I'm forced to continuously pedal the entire time. Any other suggestions? As an admittedly undisciplined rider I'm also worried that I won't be putting out my max effort; I've noticed that when I bike solo my rides are always much slower than when I ride with the club (more than drafting would account for); I'm pretty sure being with stronger riders forces me to ride faster than I otherwise would on my own; does anyone have any tips for forcing yourself to exert a maximum effort for a continuous 20 minute timeframe?

Thanks!

You'll want a stationary trainer for this. It's impossible to do a clean, max effort on the road.

^Wrong. And indoor numbers do not translate so easily to the out of doors.

This can absolutely be done on the road. You have the right idea. Just go out and do it. In two months or so, go out and do it again. In between, follow a structured plan which will be very effective in bumping up FTP, see Friel or the Racing Forum. To be sure, a 20 min test will only give you feedback about a narrow power bandwidth. If you really want to learn about your riding, do shorter tests too and longer as well. 60 min, 10 min, 5 min, 1 min, 30 s, 15 s, 5 s.

Have fun.

One can certainly estimate FTP any number of ways, but unless you live somewhere where no one uses the road, the wind doesn't blow, and the road surface is perfect, using a stationary bike is much easier and gives cleaner, more accurate numbers that one can really build a precise training plan on.

Sure, riding the road with a power meter will give you power numbers, but I'd bet that virtually any rider will post higher average watts on a stationary (studio power) than actually riding over the road. One can focus so much better on a stationary, and that makes a difference; isn't that what you're getting at when you talk about 'translating indoor to outdoors', the fact that indoor numbers are almost higher for a given period (the exception being climbs, perhaps)?

And isn't that what you really want to know: how hard can I go when I really dig in and get all the power out?

I do both, studio power and road power, but anymore, it's really only studio power that determines the training regimen, because it's so much easier to see what, exactly, is going on when you look at the numbers.