::Take note of corrections to the recovery times::
I'm cautiously optimistic about discovering a much higher FT value today. On May 12th it was established to be 250 watts. The test goes like this:
20 minute warm-up
1 minute: go as hard as possible
5 minute recovery
1 minute: repeat going as hard as possible
5 minute recovery
5 minutes: all out effort
10 minutes recovery
20 minute time trial
30 minute cool-down//recovery
The 20 minute TT is supposed to give an indication of what the average watts for a 40k or 1 hour TT would be. All of the above is done while seated, no out-of-the-saddle stomping on the pedals allowed.
It's highly doubtful that I'll be at 300 watts, but 275 seems realistic. I don't intend to be looking down at the average watts during the test. Just going to let the PT serve as a flight data recorder. The max avg watts for each duration are established by the software automatically.
America's #1 Balance Bike Destination
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6 comments:
good luck with your test.
having never owned a powertap, i have a question for you about how it calculates average power. when you brake, i'd think that it could read a negative value.
are there points in your data where the power is negative? are these points used when calculating your average power?
only measures input from the freehub using a load cell...
so no negative numbers.
although if you somehow made it work with a fixed gear, yes, it might in theory give you negative numbers IF the load cell was able to...
but short answer, braking or coasting down hill or just anytime not pedaling... power = zero
that's a good point, i didn't think of it as a freehub, it all makes sense now!
Thanks J and G
Man that sucked so bad.. I especially hate the 5 minute test. I'm either gunning too hard or blowing precious seconds recovering under 200 watts. All numbers are up though. More later.
i like to break up the 5-min and 20-min TT into morning/evening, or a 2-day affair. it's really hard to recover from a max 5-min effort so quickly.
jb, if the test isn't done as specified, the results will be something other that functional threshold.. It goes without saying that if I did the 20 min TT first, that the result would be a much higher average.. same for the 5 min.. So the only benefit of breaking them up AM/PM or a day apart is to establish a new personal best for each duration, which is also important information. But to establish FT, you either do the times in the prescribed sequences and durations, or you can do a 40k TT. The first three efforts are intended to bring you into a state of "wear", such that the final 20 min TT gives a result equivalent to that of your 40k TT. Getting the 1 min and 5 min values and comparing over time has it's benefits too. Sorry if I explain stuff you already know. I'm just learning this stuff myself. A major benefit of a power meter is that once FT is established, you can center your training around that value and perform workouts designed to boost it.
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