I was so excited to do my Ramp Test today. Two small increases after my last two tests and constantly manually increasing the difficulty for most of my workouts for the past month. Then I test with a 3 watt drop… I know better than to feel like I am a “garbage rider” but there needs to be a place here where riders can go after a “lower than expected” Ramp Test result…lol
Should I re-test in a day or so? I have handled most of the workouts with relative ease over the past month with the feeling like they aren’t hard enough?
Depending on your FTP, that could be a tiny 1-3% difference. It is likely within the tolerance of your power measuring device.
Do the typical analysis on food, sleep, recovery, prep and such to decide if you were as ready for this one as the last.
Other than that, just keep training and make the typical consideration of FTP adjustment in light of your subsequent workouts. One test does not define us, and it sure isn’t set in stone. You can (and should) adjust as needed moving forward.
Unless you had a reasonable expectation for a much bigger difference, keep on keeping on.
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I don’t know of a support group. Though if it is of comfort, I did a ramp test today and it came up with a 70 watt loss. 
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Forget to clip in on one side 
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I’m 28 Watts down on my best ever FTP and I hit a load of PRs with this recent low one on a ADZ climb last week. Don’t worry about a FTP numbers, it’s just a number to set you training zones at and that’s such a little difference I wouldn’t even consider it as going down. You’ll be much better in so many other areas the more you train, regardless of that number going up or down… There’s so much more to your power curve than that one number.
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Technical issues derailed my VO2 session. Figured I would do a ramp test instead. Pissed plus time crunched. Terrific combination. 
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Red mist sometimes works… sometimes not
Better luck next time. 
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I know not to get down because of one result (as I sit here tearing up.lol) I refuse to drop my FTP numbers because the workouts are not that draining and I have been manually increasing the workouts. I will keep keeping on…
Thanks
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Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I just finished SSB1 and I gained 1 watt 
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Hi, Just got another 9 watts , and previous i got 9 watts, Thats me Back at my highest value ever and that was June Last year, so 5 months ahead of last year.
There is a but, my power profile is near identical as the example in Training with power meter Allen & Coggan, which then recommends a 16 week plan to move me from a Punchier to a higher place.
Just contemplating to start the 16 week plan and see if the science of Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan will work. I will us the TR workouts to do what the plans requests.
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Just keep going - I got 5W and 6W gain for my 2 blocks of base for a lot of hard work…the days of getting 20+W are gone now I have used TR for a few years…just keep plugging away - sometimes you get a plateau and bust out of it next time with consistent training 
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Haha I had the exact same thing yesterday. Ramp test ended up with -20W from previous. I was so angry at myself that I deleted the result. I recon the reason was that I did my first jog in a couple of years the previous day, so I felt my legs were still bit sore after it. But couldn’t guess that it impacts so much.
So, I did the ramp test again today. And as expected ended up +2% from the last set ftp. Im not sure if this helps but ramp test can be done two days in a row and get expected results after the first letdown.
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What have you been doing since your last test? What training plan?
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We all have good and bad days, it is just pot luck which one you are on the day of a ramp/FTP test.
Keep up the hard work and you will 100% become a stronger fitter and faster rider.
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I wouldn’t do this. More is not better. There is a reason that structured training is anchored by FTP. If you frequently increase the intensity then you are no longer training in the right zone. If you increase then endurance becomes tempo, tempo (SS) becomes threshold, threshold becomes VO2, etc.
The vast majority of training time should be below threshold and relatively easy. That is just the way endurance training is and TR has designed it that way for the most part.
Moral of the story. More is not always better. Train in the right zone.
Unless you truly think this was a one off bad performance, I’d take a day or two off, do an easy week of Z1/Z2 endurance riding and then retest and start again.
You also don’t get faster until you rest and your body has a chance to super compensate. You could get a big bump with rest.
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Sweet Spot Base. Just started week 13 or the Build Phase. I swim usually 3 times a week to augment the 3 TR workouts. Sometimes I will add an extra Sunday Group TR Ride.
That’s within trainer margin of error. A drop of 15w would be a bit more worrisome, but 3 watts is margin of error on most power meters and trainers… So chill.
I would leave the power as it was
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Think I’ll add myself to this support group.
Ramp test at the weekend had me 83W down 
Then I did a workout and had to turn down another 5%. But actually I’m pretty happy. I’m recovering from Covid so just being back on the bike is a big plus. I’ve just got a tonne of work to do to get back to form.
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Cheers, no worries though, I am. I thought such a drop would make the sessions feel easy. I was wrong!
I’m looking forward to newb gains now. Haven’t seen those for the best part of a decade! A low FTP test score just means you’ve got more potential for the next one
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I hope Coach Chad doesn’t read that, you may be in big trouble!
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