Wow, 4W/kg is excellent, especially for an initial test. My 2nd run was 10% higher FTP than my first, and I still might have a little more in the tank for next time I do the test. This time I had HRM, cadence and virtual power showing for a 2x 20 minute test, which is warmup, 20 minutes (AT) FTP, 2 minute break, then 20 minutes (AT) FTP. It is very clinical. Without all the distractions of the road, you really can focus on these readings and see some interesting things. I noticed my power really drops quickly if I stop paying attention for a few seconds. Also while I could maintain the power for the whole 40 minutes, and even ended up faster over the last 5 minutes, my HR kept slowly going up the whole session and was 20BPM higher towards the end. I also found cadence was the easiest thing to focus on to maintain the right watts.Xplora wrote:I've done my FTP test, got some rough and ready figures and a set up to work from. 290W FTP at 72.5kgs was just under 4w/kg. It's no power meter, but it's a starting point. Doing the 30 minute test was very helpful. Basically started in one gear, lifted one gear at 10 minutes, and then pounded it out. There is a very real logarithmic perception of pain when you know you have to reach a certain point, and your body just turns the screws on your mind as you try and push through.
BTW I basically aimed at a particular cadence for the 30 minute test, and took the resulting "distance" and multiplied by 2 to give a speed per hour and then ran Kurt's formulae. This hopefully was a nice steady way to generate the power for the timeframe. I've GOT to learn to back off before the paceline crush down Windsor Road... the body has limits, and I'm using them
It's not 100% accurate, but as long as it's repeatable, it's close enough for your purposes. I just bought a quality floor pump to replace my cheap innacurate 100psi one. I've always wanted one for getting my road tyres to the right pressure, but now it's more important, as I'd hate to think I'd done an hour of training at 10% lower watts because of inconsistant pressure. I'm now setting it up to roughly 100psi, 4 full turns from touching. Once I get the new pump, I'll try 120psi and 5 full turns. Then I'll have a more accurate base FTP, then onto one of the programs to improve TT times.