The Wattage Thread

[upsidedownmark]

Fair enough.. I'm doing it by the book, so not fresh. Reasonably convinced I'm a sprinter profile, which is unfortunate given my predilection for endurance events, but I really should do the testing.

[anonymous-user]

okgo said:

Agree to an extent, 20 mins if fresh is still quite anerobic...But in the book it does say do a 5 min blowout first before the 20 mins to obtain a realistic FTP figure. Lots of people don't do this, then assume than 95% of their 20 min is what they can do for an hour, when in realty if you're fresh its nearer 92/3%.

I want to narrow the gap between TT and road bike, if I can manage to do road figures on TT bike there is little reason I won't be right up there.

I've done the power profiling and I am quite rare in that I'm almost flat across the board. Ranging from dom pro to middle of 1st cat band.

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 28th November 16:45

If I had that sort of pace and liked TT (you do) then D2Z would be my first call. I'd prolly invest in a proven skin suit as well rather than the club one.

[okgo]

There goes another grand LOL

[anonymous-user]

okgo said:

There goes another grand LOL

You can't put a price on time mate

[Dizeee]

How good is 6 mins at 350 watts on a turbo / VO2 max setup?

[okgo]

Not bad at all.

Do you mean you did 350 for 6 mins?

[superkartracer]

okgo said:

superkartracer said:

Regards your weight dude, my coach is 6.2 and 78 kg, knocks out 300 watts for an hour and hits sub 19 and 50, it seems the power is only a part of the puzzle.

I know another rider thats about same size as you and 370 FTP, only runs 21 for a 10.

Odd eh.

Who is he? I would imagine he is exceptionally aero and has had a good run on good courses.

I'm not un-aero but I'm sure it could be better. Went back on the TT bike on the turbo last night and it would seem I've lost all adaption that I had as was hard work!

I am tempted to go to D2Z next year to see what they think.

One of the best

Theres a lot more to TT's than just power/weight, it's all down to where you put the power down and how you control this, i guess winning over 100 open's is testament to that. He's also a demon in nasty wet/wind so skill plays a good part too, he's certainly not super aero at 6.2.

Checking your numbers is very interesting dude, what are you basing your FTP on?. Reading this thread it sounds like you do 380-400 for a ten?, so 90% of that would be an FTP of 340-360 watts. Have you tried doing a full hour at these powers? ( most ) find 90% of 10 power very tricky to put down over the hour.

Coach reckons weight means nothing +/- 5kg in a TT

I was gunning for 340/350 FTP before the back failure...

Edited by superkartracer on Friday 29th November 08:38

[okgo]

I've since come to realize there is a fair gap between TT bike and road bike, I've done an hour at 350AP in a chain-gang a few times now (no efforts over 600w, so not an NP buster really) with an NP of over 380. I did 410w for 18 mins in a race near the end of the season on the roadbike. The best I got to for a ten on the TT bike was 385ap/389NP (coasted down a hill a bit). So I know I have the capacity, just need to narrow the gap between road and tt bike, which will just be down to more training on it.

No, in TT's weight not an issue, but it does help to be carrying a bit less in the longer road races, which is why I am conscious.

[superkartracer]

Brill numbers those

Agreed with the weight as think any extra lard will retain heat and just add to the overall pain/horror that are TT's

I've gone from a lean 76kg to lard 84kg over this past year, got over back issue now and been rebuilding fitness over past few months, as you know can't rush the process but it's coming back week by week. Fingers crossed for a solid winter. Like you tho i'm heavy set but in an odd sort of way, i have small bones but lots a meat , if i even look at weights i turn into a tank.

I've considered running again on the sly and not telling coach so i lose this fat/muscle i've gained.

[okgo]

haha

Stick with it. Still want you to tell me your coaches name though

[Dizeee]

okgo said:

Not bad at all.

Do you mean you did 350 for 6 mins?

Not me, someone I know though who is coaching our local group. He is 55 but probably the strongest rider I know, does many races abroad and always ends up top 5 sometimes better.

[okgo]

Yeh its not bad, certainly at that age.

But many top racers here in late 40's and even early 50's could do that for an hour without too much problem I would imagine.

[superkartracer]

It's what i intend to do this weekend ( sat ) oddly enough, 350 watts will mean i'm heading in right direction, as for good... no it's awesome

[Dixie]

I had a rather disappointing test on the Watt bike this week. I've only been riding a road bike for a year and only managed about 2k miles in that time but I was expecting my FTP to increase when in reality it's pretty much the same as it was when I started. Maybe plus 10w at best.

I did a 20 min test. Managed only 251 average. So take off the 10% and it's a fairly rubbish 225 and a bit. Slightly happier that I managed 290average for 8 mins as a warm up. But looking back that was probably a little over the top and may have harmed my actual average for the 20 min test.

So now my far faster (340 FTP) friend is going to cobble together a bit of a training plan for me. Hopefully I can improve it somewhat. I was so hoping it was going to be somewhere near 275 too!! :S

Any tips for increasing output. Other than ride my bike more?

[superkartracer]

Some even more bad news for you bud, that WB is prob 30-50 watts out or worse sorry

[Dixie]

Cool! So I was at 275 after all.

[zebedee]

Dixie said:

I had a rather disappointing test on the Watt bike this week. I've only been riding a road bike for a year and only managed about 2k miles in that time but I was expecting my FTP to increase when in reality it's pretty much the same as it was when I started. Maybe plus 10w at best.

I did a 20 min test. Managed only 251 average. So take off the 10% and it's a fairly rubbish 225 and a bit. Slightly happier that I managed 290average for 8 mins as a warm up. But looking back that was probably a little over the top and may have harmed my actual average for the 20 min test.

So now my far faster (340 FTP) friend is going to cobble together a bit of a training plan for me. Hopefully I can improve it somewhat. I was so hoping it was going to be somewhere near 275 too!! :S

Any tips for increasing output. Other than ride my bike more?

Proper interval training, high effort short time workouts and longer sustained near threshold efforts will build strength, buy a few cycle mags and before long you will see a 6 week programme or something to follow. Just being out riding all day will improve stamina etc but could be counter-productive to building power

[Dixie]

zebedee said:

Just being out riding all day will improve stamina etc but could be counter-productive to building power

I have noticed that since I began actually. My ability to sprint has dropped off slightly but my endurance is far better.

Interval training is what we've been looking at. Fortunately I have a Gym next to where I work with a couple of watt bikes. And on the decent days i live literally on the edge on the peak district so hill reps and such shouldn't be a problem. I guess i just need to get more structure to it.

although the output figure doesn't show any significant change my times up the local big hills have fallen considerably. so i am getting faster.

[superkartracer]

Couple of charts for you, mix a few sweetspot and tempo rides with some base work and rest weeks and you'll gain FTP. Gives you a steer anyway

Edited by superkartracer on Friday 29th November 11:48

[okgo]

zebedee said:

Proper interval training, high effort short time workouts and longer sustained near threshold efforts will build strength, buy a few cycle mags and before long you will see a 6 week programme or something to follow. Just being out riding all day will improve stamina etc but could be counter-productive to building power

How will being out riding all day be counter productive to building power?