Yep, like I said I’m basking in the glow of my somewhat noob gains still. I know my numbers are off due to an artificially low FTP number. I’m doing a ramp test this week and have another 70+ mile gravel race in 2 weeks so that should give a better snapshot of where I really am.
Opened profile to the public. I want to get this right, that’s why a few months ago I threw the outdoor bike on the indoor trainer. My friend was having a massive issue where his bikes were not lining up, ended up one of his power meters was off 7-10%
I’ll put the outside bike on the trainer and see if indoor and outdoor power meters match
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20lbs is a great weight for a gravel bike esp at 61cm
I will take note on the tires.
Good luck on the next ramp test
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threw the bike from yesterday’s ride trainer today.
Quarq
742kj
197 avg w
202 np
62:50
Trainer
761kj
209np
206avg w
61:31
You need to do an outside 2x8 or 1x20min FTP test.
I have 2 weeks of this block left and next test day I can do a 20min outdoor test.
Would you worry about this variability between the quarq and hammer?
It is difficult to assess the accuracy / variances across such a large sample period. You would be better off comparing specific intervals within a ride against each other vs. the whole ride.
Also, did you calibrate both before you recorded the ride?
FWIW, I am of the opinion that FTP is not the greatest metric for events like Unbound. It is about aerobic endurance vs. threshold. Yes, FTP can be an indicator of “fitness” but I would work to build my aerobic endurance vs. specifically trying to raise FTP. As you build that aerobic fitness, FTP will rise automatically.
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I can look into this tonight.
I did calibrate both prior to pulling todays data. I always calibrate all outdoor power meters since I only ride outside a few times a week and one bike might sit in the garage for a few weeks and not get ridden. Both bike power meters are same model Quarq Dzero.
I wanted to spend more time this year focusing on my aerobic endurance but my ass cyst really prevented me from spending time on the saddle. It left me with this shorted growth phase. I tried in the 2 months that I was unable to ride to add weights, and even did sweet spot workouts all standing
My goal is going to be spending a lot of time working aerobic endurance on the weekend rides. The ride this Saturday was supposed to be a moderate paced ride, but ended up being everything I had to hang on.
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Ouch…in that case, you gotta adapt as best you can, which it sounds like you did.
Good…doing intensity during the week and longer rides on the weekend is the best formula, IMO. Just don’t base your weekend rides on miles, base them on time. I know more than a few people who would do back-to-back centuries / long rides on the weekend but came up short when doing Unbound previously.
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95 days to go
Knocked out McAdie +1 today. Thought I would be flat after last week, but was able to hammer them out, the first 3 minutes always feels easy and the last 3 minutes feels hard.
I am going to try to slam 3 intervals days in during the week and get longer rides on the weekend this week.
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That’s my plan. M T Th doing my structured sessions, Saturday long rides, and I just volunteered myself to be a ride leader for our local group’s C level/beginner ride on Sundays. Keeping the pace slow and 15-25mi or so in length. Kinda forcing myself to get some active recovery while recharging my good cycling karma at the same time.
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Just ramp rested. Up another 19W to 245. I keep getting these increases in sizeable chunks, giving me hope of maybe 275W by June. And my tall ass should be down to around 200-205lbs by then. Might eek out 3W/kg!
(edit cuz I’m a repetitive ass)
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That’s awesome. That’s a great ftp jump
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I am currently at 250W at 170lbs which puts me at 3.24W/kg. I would love to go into Unbound with 260W… mainly because I want to ride at 70% FTP. Is this realistic 70% FTP for endurance?
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I think it really depends on what your strengths are as a rider…Unbound (or any really long race) is a unique challenge.
Off hand, I would say yes, it is possible / realistic. A .7 IF is on the lower end of a targeted IF fir an Ironman bike leg, and you have to run a marathon after. Substitute more saddle time for the run and there you go.
But if endurance is a weakness, or you do’t do well in hear, or with short, punchy climbs, etc. you may need to adjust that goal.
Highly recommend several really long rides (over 5-6 hours) at that IF to gauge how you feel and perform.
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I feel like you need to test what your trying to do on other rides. last year I did a 175 mile ride at .7 IF and plan to do that ride 1 to 2 times this year.
Start in smaller increment’s, I have a 20 mile gravel loop and I will start with a few laps and once I do the full course 70 miles, then I start trying to knock time off that course. I will also supplement other rides with more distance to increase my volume.
On a positive note, I jammed 3 of my 4 work outs in a row mid week. This allows me to do my final workout tomorrow. I was going to do 5-6 hour ride sunday, but with weather looking great early in the week i am moving everything up to try to get 5 hours tuesday and wed and turning sunday into a recovery day.
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I feel like doing Disaster -1 instead of Budawang +5 tomorrow. Wonder if I will get the same time of adaptation.
I’m so dumb I’m really doing disaster -1
It’s only 35 out and I have stuff with family so I figured I would simulate a hard ride
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Well disaster -1 sucked. Def pushed me at the end.
Time to go be dad
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