Hey friends,
Just a quick question about the ramp test. Towards the end, my power gets really, really spiky. It will drop below the target, and then I surge above it, etc. I’m trying to put out smooth power, but at that point I am so exhausted I don’t have good control. Should I just quit when this starts happening, or should I keep going until my legs refuse, even if I’m not staying above the target? Thanks!
Pedal until you can’t pedal at a reasonable cadence (60-70+ rpm?). It’s good to try and hold the power target, but variability is inevitable at the limit.
The app will adjust for extreme variations, if they are a problem according to the programming.
I’m on a dumb trainer and have the same situation. I have the screen showing the average watts per interval during the test and I make sure my average ends up matching the requested power for that interval. The average power usually ends up being above the requested power for a given interval because I’m worried of dropping below. Not ideal but I don’t see any other way. I think the test takes into account your actual power and not the requested power for your ftp. So if you come in above the requested power for an interval it takes that into account.
My buddy took the test for the first time and didn’t understand the numbers and was trying to match his cadence with the power or something like that so for the first 5 or 10 minutes he was putting out way too many watts, like double the amount. His ftp from that test wasn’t much different than when he did it correctly.
That said. Keep pedaling until you can’t any more. Nail the average for the interval until you can’t turn the pedals over.
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