Beasty's objectives for 2010

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

splitting it between outward (290-300w target), and inward (again 290-300w, but pushing harder towards the end when there'e more of an uphill - I've hit over 360w for 5 minutes (330w towards the end of a hard commute) and will see if I can keep it above 300w for the last couple of km)

FWIW, I've now realised that the CP value under the graph does not mean FTP (CP60) it actually means aerobic threshold. On my graph the CP value is 4W lower than the CP60 value.

Despite our roughly equal CP values (your 267W to my 273W), your AWC value is much higher (33kJ compared to my 16kJ). I am not sure I believe that your CP is lower than mine, but taken at face value...

This means you have quite a lot in reserve to spend in the most efficient places on the TT course. Each kJ is 50W for 20 seconds, so you have a full 11 minutes of 50W "boost" in the tank.

Generally speaking you want to push later rather than earlier, uphill rather than downhill, and with a tailwind rather than a headwind, so this would support the idea of pushing significantly harder for the second half.

edit: didn't see the new course before posting that

Beasty

Race report here

Time 27m 8s, placing me 20th of 39 starters
Speed – 35.4 kph average, 60.4 kph max
Power – 286w average, 290w pedalling, 297w normalised, 576w max
Work – 468kj
HR – 170 average, 179 maximum
Cadence - 86

CP Curve

The pleasing thing about the curve is I created a new maximum between 21m 30s and the race duration of just over 27 minutes, being pretty close to the CP curve throughout that period.

I posted elsewhere earlier today that I only looked at the power readings throughout the ride, with a couple of glances at the speed also. I also checked the time as I was coming up to the finish to try and make sure I finished less than 1 minute behind “aeroman”

In terms of the spread of effort throughout the TT, averages were as follows:

First quarter 302w (normalised 313w)
Second quarter 286w (normalised 292w)
Third quarter 266w (normalised 272w)
Fourth quarter 295w (normalised 305w)

This confirms everything was pretty much to plan – keeping power just around/under 300w for quarters 1, 2 and 4.

What happened in quarter 3? – I had just taken my minute man turned into the wind, and guess my attention turned to the final hill, and conserving a bit for it. It was only when aeroman overtook me that I realised I should still be pushing harder, and picked up the pace again. In fact, having him in my sights on that final hill was a bit of an incentive, and I probably only lost 10s or so to him up the hill.

Basically for that third quarter I was at least 20w less than perhaps I could have been. What difference would that make? – maybe 10s or so, and it may have curtailed me a bit on the final hill. Hence although I think I could have pushed a bit harder, I am not sure it would have made a massive difference. Another 5w throughout the ride gives 10-15s off the total time.

This also confirms I was reasonably constant in terms of effort. Interestingly I only dropped below 60 rpm cadence for about 40s throughout the ride and most of that would have been on corners, again suggesting I was pushing most of the way. The benefit of the power readings was I was able to make sure I did not push too hard at the start (I was sorely tempted), left enough for the end and delivered a reasonably consistent power throughout. I guess in an ideal world the power curve would actually be horizontal, but where you have to negotiate corners and hills there are bound to be peaks and troughs - my actual curve is, I think, reasonably flat.

What can I do to improve my time?

· The overall times were not particularly fast, which may have been down to the hill at the end, but is probably also heavily influenced by the headwind in the second half. Hence maybe I can go a bit faster in more benign conditions
· Up the power will help, but not by that much, as shown above
· Get more aero:
- I need to experiment a bit more – perhaps raising the saddle, and lowering the bars a bit to see if I can stay reasonably comfortable
- More aero gear – a TT bike and specialist wheels will clearly help, but these are expensive options, perhaps worth considering if/when I do a few more TTs. In the meantime, the pointy hat is on order – that alone may save me over a minute on the 25m TT in a couple of weeks time!

Beasty

I've been playing around with the bike calculator to get a feel for what impact the descent, climbing and wind had on my performance in the 10m TT on Wednesday

Clearly all the following is illustrative - I'm not saying it would have made this much difference, but it's probably in the right ballpark

I ran illustrations at 2 power levels - 200w and 300w, and looked at the impact of climbing slopes of up to 5%, and descents of up to -5%. I separately looked at the impact of the wind at 5 kph intervals, from -25 kph to +25 kph

Impact of slope - there was actually a net loss of around 30-35m over the full 10m (16.1 km) on Wednesday. In the first 4.7km there was an average downward slope of 2%, and towards the end there was a climb over 1.9km at 0.9% and then the final climb over 1km at an average of 4%. I have assumed, to keep things simple, the rest of the course was flat

Instinct would suggest that as there was a net fall in elevation, this would work in the riders favour. However this is not necessarily the case as you typically lose more time climbing than you can make up descending. This was the case when I ran these figures - at a constant 300w just under 1 minute is lost, and at 200w its slightly less at 54s. Of course power is not constant, but similarly the rest of the course was not flat! My average power was 287w, and on this basis I think it is reasonable to assume the hilly nature of the course cost me (and the other riders, although their figures would vary with weight) getting on for a minute.

Impact of wind - there was a northerly wind of around 20-25 kph recorded on Wednesday evening. This was pretty much a tailwind for the first 4.5km, and headwind for about 5.5km in total. There was probably more shelter when it was a tailwind unfortunately. Again to keep it simple, and hopefully not exaggerate the impact, I have assumed a tailwind of 15 kph for 4km, and a headwind of 15 kph for 4km, with the remaining 8.1 km being at nil.

The impact using these assumptions is to increase the ride time by 23s at 300w and 38s at 200w. The way it works out is if the wind speed doubles the time lost quadruples. Hence a wind of only 5 kph would lose only 2s and 4s respectively. At 25 kph the loss is 66s and 100s respectively. Again this should affect most riders in a similar way.

The combination of these 2 factors would appear to be perhaps an additional 80s or more in my own case, which suggests I should be able to clock a time of less than 26 minutes on a flat course in benign conditions. If I can up the power a bit, and get the pointy hat I should be able to get to less than 25 mins (hopefully nearer 24 mins).

Lumen

Beasty wrote: »

If I can up the power a bit, and get the pointy hat I should be able to get to less than 25 mins (hopefully nearer 24 mins).

Unfortunately everyone else will be faster too.

Beasty

Total distance this week 252km at 28.1 kph and 205w - Normalised Power 225w

YTD now 4,379km at 29.1 kph, now 269 km ahead of schedule

This week should see the Swords League on Wednesday and a couple of commutes

Now time for another chart:


This is the Training Peaks Performance Manager Chart (Golden Cheetah does something similar) covering the period since I got back onto the road bike at the end of March

The mauve line shows Acute Training Load (ATL). This is a measure of recent training (past 2 weeks). The blue line shows Chronic Training Load (CTL) which takes a longer perspective (just under 3 months) of volume and intensity of training. The chart basically shows fairly consistent short term efforts building up my performance/strength over the longer term

Clearly this is not fully populated yet, as it only reflects the 2 months since the end of March. However I do like the upward trend on this - you can see both lines reflect the fact I eased off a little the week before last

The yellow line shows Training Stress Balance (TSB), and reflects the difference between CTL and ATL.

The encouraging thing is the upward trend in these measures, which suggests progress is being made. You can also see both ATL and CTL took a dip the week before last, reflecting the fact I eased off a little that week. These charts can be used as an indicator of when you do need to take a break, or are peaking

However there is a caveat with this - it does not reflect the work I have done without the Powertap, which was basically on the turbo when I was injured, and a couple of track sessions in early April - this would have pushed the left side of the chart up and levelled the trend off a bit. However I still think, based on similar information I have from prior to my accident, that the general trend is upwards

Beasty

Race report here

The hardest race I have done so far. I think here are a couple of reasons - the course is very hilly, with 2 decent climbs and a drag to the finish line each lap. The roads were also poor in places. Although we did 3 and a half laps the hills were in the second half, so we did each of them 4 times. In addition, as I mentioned in the race thread, our group probably pushed too hard in the early stages. However overall I am pleased with my effort, as I felt I pushed hard, and was still pushing at the end.

I'm not sure if it was due to the intensity of the ride, but I did feel discomfort in my wrist for the first time for a few weeks, and my back was playing up a bit

CP Curve:


I was close to peak power in the up to 5s range, and set new PBs between about 29s and 54s, and also for the full race time of 1hr 14m

I hit the 1m to 10m peak power in the first lap, and as mentioned in the race thread normalised power was abolut 350w for the first half lap (10 minutes) or so

Power average 250w, pedalling 288w, max 828w
Normalised power 295w, splits Lap 1 317w, Lap 2 279w, Lap 3 291w and last half lap 281w
Total work 1,133kj (over 1hr 15m)
Cadence average 75, pedalling 85, max 121
depending on which computer/software I use total climbing was between 500m and 700m

RobFowl

Maybe have a chat with Paddy Callaly our club 10 mile champ. Just a few years younger but tons of experience. Power is possible less important than "feel" in a TT other than analysis afterwards !

Beasty

Total distance this week 203.6km at average speed of 30.4kph
Average power 231w (normalised 254w), 5,200kJ
2,000m of climbing

YTD - 4,582 km at 29.1 kph (281km ahead of schedule). Total climbing 30km+

Next week should see my first 25m TT on Wednesday - I've dropped the bars 10mm, upped the saddle 5mm but have yet to try the new pointy hat. Hopefully my back will survive the ordeal!

Beasty

Race report here

The stats:
Time - 69m 19s
Average speed - 34.6kph
Power - average 261w, pedalling 262w, normalised 269w, maximum 657w
HR – average 162, max 175
Cadence – average 86, max 114
Work 1,087kj

A couple of comments on the stats:

Heart rate was very constant until I picked up pace in the final couple of km. Until then I only briefly touched 171 bpm on a couple of occasions. In fact I only felt I was breathing heavily during the last couple of km. It was my legs and not my lungs that were limiting my performance last night

Cadence was relatively high by my standards – I tend to push in the higher gears normally. I still did this to some extent, and need to try and get more efficient in my gearing. The only times I eased off the pedals was at the 3 roundabout crossings, and briefly on a couple of downhill stretches in the final quarter – total time at less than 60 rpm was only about 20s.

I was also on the aero bars for the duration of the ride, except for my near crash and the roundabout crossings. I did not warm up properly (spent too much time driving the course!) and should have done some stretching – this could have made my legs less painful (or alternatively allowed me to push harder with the same amount of pain, better utilising some of my lung capacity!). However the main point here is I need to practice more on the aero bars to optimise my set-up, and minimise any discomfort

CP Curve:


The pleasing thing about this is I hit a PB between about 1hr 7m and the race duration of just over 1hr 9min. Given I was in aero position throughout and my leg pains I was pretty pleased with my overall power output.

Overall, given the conditions, I was pleased with my time. It was my first 25m TT, and I know there is room for improvement. The IVCA standard for someone of my age is 1hr 5m 55s, and I guess this should be my first target. Better conditions should get me part of the way there. In addition I should be able to improve my pacing, and look to pick up the speed earlier – maybe with 5km to go rather than 2km, and if this works increase that by another couple of km next time. I definitely need to get more aero, but need to do it in a way that does not make the ride itself more painful – a bike fit may be the way forward here. Lastly I do need to warm-up properly. Hopefully I’ll get another chance at some TTs later in teh summer with the vets

If that does not work, I suppose I could just wait until next year when the age standard increases by 25s;) If it does work, then I can start thinking about skinsuits and the like to improve my time further

ballyharpat

Beasty, how does your FTP or LT power at LT hr compare between your TT bike and your road bike?

Beasty

ballyharpat wrote: »

Beasty, how does your FTP or LT power at LT hr compare between your TT bike and your road bike?

The bike is the same, just with clip-ons for the TT, hence it is not directly comparable with a TT bike

I have never done any proper FTP testing, and hence everything I say below is based on (very limited) race data (I have only taken up racing this year, and Wednesday was my first time full out for the hour+ on the aero bars)

In races this season I have been hitting around 300w normalised power for the hour. I suspect I may be able to push this up a bit in better conditions. Hence I think my FTP is around 300-310w or so when in the normal riding position

Normalised power on Wednesday was 269w for 69 minutes. With hindsight I think I could have pushed on earlier, and I also think my lack of proper warm-up and stretching of the hamstrings impaired my performace a little. I would therefore guess I could push out a bit more than this (perhaps 275-280w) in the aero position for the hour. I'll clearly have a better idea when I do a few more TTs (a mentioned above, hopefully later in the summer with the vets)

ballyharpat

Wow, that would be great if you can beat the 40k per hour on a road bike. I know there are differing opinions out there, but I personally do not stretch before a race or training ride, I have read that is stretches muscles that are actually better when left tight.
I do, however, stretch after every ride-back, legs, abs etc. I did yoga for a while and it not only helped with my flexibility, but it also strengthened my core and it helped me have better control over my breathing when pushing to the limit, thus allowing me to conserve energy and remain calm when at full exertion.
I did a sub 1hour 40k last year, but I was on a fully kitted out tt bike with an aero helmet, drom what I have read, the aero helmet is the best investment for time gained. A lot of guys over here actually put duct tape over the vents of their road helmet, if they do not have an aero helmet.

Beasty

ballyharpat wrote: »

Wow, that would be great if you can beat the 40k per hour on a road bike. I know there are differing opinions out there, but I personally do not stretch before a race or training ride, I have read that is stretches muscles that are actually better when left tight.
I do, however, stretch after every ride-back, legs, abs etc. I did yoga for a while and it not only helped with my flexibility, but it also strengthened my core and it helped me have better control over my breathing when pushing to the limit, thus allowing me to conserve energy and remain calm when at full exertion.
I did a sub 1hour 40k last year, but I was on a fully kitted out tt bike with an aero helmet, drom what I have read, the aero helmet is the best investment for time gained. A lot of guys over here actually put duct tape over the vents of their road helmet, if they do not have an aero helmet.

I'm not expecting to get anywhere near an hour on the road bike - about 65-66 minutes is my immediate target, then I may start investing in things to improve my time further. I already have an aero helmet (tried it out for the first time on Wednesday) - the next most effective investment is apparently a skinsuit.

My opening post in this thread refers to getting 40k in the hour on a track bike at Manchester velodrome, and last time I was on the track I was pretty close - around 39k+ with minimal drafting (unfortunatley unless you have the track to yourself you cannot avoid getting some drafting benefit) - I haven't even thought of getting aero on the track bike yet, so if I could get a proper track TT bike I think would get the 40k without too much problem

Beasty

171km at 30.1kph and average power of 223w this week

YTD now 4,753km at an average speed of 29.1kph, 287km ahead of target

My original weight target was 92kg by the time of the WW200

This was subsequently reduced by a further couple of kg and I am pleased to report I have now hit 90kg, just in time

Unfortunately however I will not see the benefit of this on the WW200, as I will be up at 4 o'clock in the morning to catch a flight to Miami, where I will spend most of the week on a beach at a conference. Hence it will be back to the hotel gym bikes for most of this week, with hopefully some real bike work at the weekend

Beasty

Well while the rest of you were sweating it out on the WW200, or racing over the weekend, I was setting up training camp - here's the view:


90 minutes in the gym so far, so another 40km or so towards target

Beasty

18 hours travelling, an average 4 hours sleep over the last 3 nights, an aching back and sore hamstrings from a game of beach volleyball on Tuesday (with a 1m diameter ball!) - not ideal preparation for my vets debut today.

10m TT at Moy Valley starting at 9.15 this morning. I go there early and had 20 mins warm up and then stretched the hamstrings before setting off. My only other 10m was with Swords a few weeks ago, when I clocked 27:08 on a hillier course. Today's course was quite flat (less than 50m climbing/decent) although there was a blustery northerly crosswind that was a bit troublesome on the open stretches of road.

I probably pushed a little too hard for the first couple of km, then settled down into a reasonably steady rhythm. I passed my minute man during the first 5km or so - can't claim too much glory for this, as he is about 30 years older than me! Only one rider passed me with about 3km to go. I could also see my 2 minute man ahead but did not manage to close the gap too much.

Time was 25m 39s, which is just 11s outside my age standard. My target was 26m so I am pleased with this time. I think with calmer conditions I should be able to crack 25m.

Average speed - 37.6kph
Power - 286w average and pedalling, 290w normalised, 649w max - pretty similar to my only other 10m TT
HR - 168 avearge, 177 max
Cadence - 91 average

Pleased to see I am not the only old fogey around here. Nice to meet you Planet X

Planet X

Racing tomorrow then? Curragh circuit, same as Newbridge GP earlier in the year which a few of the lads here cycled. Hilly though!

kennyb3

Great stuff beasty, your improving at a rate of knots, the swords races seem to be doing you the world of good.

Beasty

Planet X wrote: »

Racing tomorrow then? Curragh circuit, same as Newbridge GP earlier in the year which a few of the lads here cycled. Hilly though!

No - family commitments etc - only race will be up the local hill with the kids, as there's a family fun-cycle.

Racing's going to be difficult for a few weeks - I missed last Wednesday's Swords League (Miami), and will miss next week (London). The week after it will be Disneyland Paris and then the week after that Cornwall! I may be able to get to one of the Dublin Wheelers TTs on a Thursday night, and possibly down to Sundrive the day we get back from Paris

From the middle of July, however, I'm home alone (until late August), so aim to do a few more Swords races and try some of the Vets TTs and races

Beasty

Only time was on the gym bike until yesterday's vets 10m TT

Total "distance" for the week 126km at about 26kph, bringing the YTD total to 4,879km at 29.1kph

CP chart for the 10mTT:



This reflects further PBs from about 17m 30s to 27m (the length of the TT plus another minute or so). This means that for all 4 TTs I have now done (1 x hill climb, 2 x 10m and 1 x 25m) I have pushed the curve up at the full distance/position mark. I guess I must be doing something right, as I am pushing beyond my previous bests. The other interesting thing is my power output in the aero position is not far below the equivalent normalised power in the races I have done, suggesting either I am not losing much power in the aero position, or I may have more to give on the drops

Next week it will be a bit more of the same, as I will be away in London for 3 days, so the gym bikes beckon. I hope to get in a couple of commutes also.

Beasty

Hit the 5,000km mark in the gym this morning - now only another 4,986km to go!

Beasty

Plenty of time on the gym bikes again this week - 2hrs 40min in London, and another 40mins tonight in Disneyland Paris. Add to that a couple of commutes and total distance this week was 229km

My back has been playing up quite a lot following the London trip. It seems to be a bit better this evening, and hopefully will now settle down. I am slightly concerned the changes I made in lowering the bars for the recent TTs have contributed to this. However the amount of travelling I have been doing certainly hasn't helped. I'm going to leave the bike as it is for a bit longer - if the back doesn't get better I guess I'll have to raise the bars back again

Total distance YTD now stands at 5,109km at an average speed of 29kph

Next week I'll be in Paris until Wednesday, but then hope to do a couple of commutes at the end of the week. I'm unlikely to get any time on the bike the following week, as I'll be holidaying in Cornwall for the whole week. I'm now 232km ahead of schedule but expect to lose most of this over the next couple of weeks.

ROK ON

Disneyland Paris. Possibly the worst food experience in all of France. Other than that the place aint exactly that bad.

Beasty

ROK ON wrote: »

Disneyland Paris. Possibly the worst food experience in all of France. Other than that the place aint exactly that bad.

Just back from the Wild West Show, where you get the worst food of all - normally the vegetarian option is an improvement on what everyone else gets, but not here

In the park the kids fancy a freshly made pancake - we go up to the counter and the "seller" pulls out a pre-packed one (the type you can get over with a 2-month sell-by date at Tesco) and proceeds to "cook" it on the hob, then dollop some Nutella on it - et voila - une crepe au chocolat

The good news is that although I'm not getting much time in the gym, I'm not putting too much weight on either! All the walking, queueing, carrying the kids around and rides are not doing my back much good though

Beasty

Race report here

I think I can safely say my preparation for last night's event was less than ideal. I was racing within about 3 hours of getting off a plane, and having been up before 5am to give us time to wander around the theme park prior to checking out. Food had included the usual airline cr*p, and I felt very dehydrated towards the end of the race (I can normally get away with drinking 100ml or so during this length of race, but finished off a 750mm bottle last night. In addition I've not been on the bike since Friday, and had done very little road work during the previous 2 weeks. Hence I am not surprised I was dropped quite early in the race, and struggled much more than usual on the hills - enough excuses yet - oh no I forgot the bad back:D.

However I was pleasantly surprised when I reviewed the power stats. I was not far behind my previous performance on this course on virtually all of the metrics, and have managed to push up the power curve between about 1hr 16m to the full race time of 1hr 23m or so. Tactically I clearly got it wrong, and should have tried to stay nearer the front, but at the pace they went off I don't think I would have been contesting anything at the end. Overall it was a good work-out that should help me tick-over for a while (I'm away again all next week (on holiday), and will not get any time to exercise)

Other stats:
Total work - 1,244kj
HR - 162 average, 176 max
Cadence - 81 average, 87 pedalling

CP Curve:

Beasty

A couple of twists which led to reassessments of my goals for this year, although I think I remain on track for some of the original targets. The first “complication” was the crash in February, but the Tacx then came into its own, and I managed to maintain much of the fitness I had gained over the winter. The second “twist” was joining Swords and starting my racing career. It was originally with TTs in mind, but I have actually mainly done races, with a hill climb and a couple of Swords and one vets TT.

Having done those TTs I still think this is where my strengths probably lie, and I will try and do a few more with the vets over the summer. I hope with the right conditions I can get to around 24 mins for the 10m, and 66 mins for the 25m. The main issue is my back, and I do need to get my bike set up properly, certainly before I attempt another 25m. I have found the Powermeter particularly helpful in pacing myself for the TTs, and now I have done some I think I have a much better understanding of my capabilities.

Distance wise, I am slightly ahead of target, and hope to stay ahead for the rest of the year. I have been cutting down the commuting due to the racing, and this should pick up again from September. In addition I have not done any sportives so far this year, but plan to do a couple over the forthcoming months. I am also expecting to get on a few more weekend spins/races once the family head south for the summer.

Total distance to 30 June was 5,184km at an average speed of 29 kph, leaving 4,816km to do. This was split:

Road – 3,667km at 28.3kph (average power 217w, work = 94,000kj, about 700kj per hour)
Track – 170km at 32.6kph
Turbo – 1,062km at 31.9kph
Gym bikes – 285km at 31kph

The track has been a bit neglected because of my accident and the Swords League (which takes place on the same evening as the Sundrive Track League). Hopefully I’ll be able to redress the balance a bit when the Champions League (and corresponding trips to Manchester) kicks off again. It will be interesting to see whether I can improve on previous track performances given I now have some (admittedly limited) racing and TT experience (I might treat myself to a new track bike once the family head off – hopefully it won’t be noticed by the time they get back;))

Weight-wise I have dropped around 5kg to 90kg, which is in line with plan. I would like to drop another 3kg by the end of the year and will hopefully be down to around 85kg this time next year (which would give me a cumulative weight loss of getting on for 40kg over a 3-4 year period:)).

Beasty

I managed a couple of commutes plus Wednesday’s race resulting in a total of 185km this week at an average power of 215w.

Distance to go = 4,706km

I remain just over 250km ahead of schedule, although this will diminish this week, as I will not be on a bike again until next Sunday at th.e earliest

FrankGrimes

Them's some big numbers Beasty! Fair play - sounds like you're well committed, hope it tastes sweet when you hit the magic numbers.

Beasty

No cycling to report - been on my hols and off the bike since last Friday.

I have mentioned a few times that my back has been playing up recently. The good news is it is improving, with the back spasms having settled down. I can now touch my knees when I get up in the morning, and by evening time I can touch them both at the same time.

Unfortunately the related sciatica is playing up, with pain down one calf and very little feeling on one side of my foot. I've suffered from this for a number of years, and it had shown noticeable improvement as I lost weight and improved my all-round fitness. Hopefully it will settle down a bit, although it will be interesting to see what (if any) impact it has on my power output when I get back on the bike (hopefully next week).

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

Unfortunately the related sciatica is playing up, with pain down one calf and very little feeling on one side of my foot. I've suffered from this for a number of years, and it had shown noticeable improvement as I lost weight and improved my all-round fitness. Hopefully it will settle down a bit, although it will be interesting to see what (if any) impact it has on my power output when I get back on the bike (hopefully next week).

It'll reduce power in the affected leg.
I presume you've tried pilates or yoga to work on you core.
If not it's really well worth a try and pilates especially is good for breathing as well.