Trying to understand how my power curve from Saturday (outside ride) has some larger bumps in it where the power on the chart increases with time instead of decreases. I hadn’t seen this before. Can someone explain what causes this?
Seen the same thing occasionally and guessing it’s just a quirk of the way you were putting out power. E.g. let’s say you had a 10 minute period where you started with doing 1 minute at 500W, then settled into 250W for 8 minutes, then did another 1 minute at 500W.
Your 10 minute average would be: (8x250)+(2x500)/10 = 300W
Your best 9 minute average within that timeframe would be: (8x250)+(1x500)/9 = 278W
Obviously unlikely to be as clearcut as that, but shows how it’s possible for average power to be higher over a longer timeframe than a shorter one.
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That’s pretty much spot on. If you did a 7 min effort with a sprint at the end and a sprint at the start your 5 min average power will be less than your seven min average power.
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