Tell us about your new improved government regulations compliant cycle part II

magicbastarder

yep, the estimate (and it's a rough estimate strava produces) will also depend on the length of your cycle, i.e. how quickly you can empty the tank; if you went out for a half hour blast, you'd expect to be able to put out a higher wattage for that spin, than if you go out for three or four hours, and have to cycle more conservatively to maintain your fatigue levels.
that's why the 1 hour test is the most common middle ground.

but as said, don't worry about your watts, i barely pay heed to it; it's a rough estimate but your average speed is more precise and easy to understand, if you want to track your fitness levels.

Omega28

I have a Garmin Fenix 5 Plus and I was wondering if anyone might know to use this as bike computer and if I need to buy any additional parts to use it?

retalivity

The strava watts are only really indicative if you're on the flat or going uphill,, the zeroes when going downhill add into the average and bring it down. Watts is useful for shorter segments to see what you can actually output over shorter periods of time. For general fitness, keep track of your avg speed, allowing for lights, stops etc.

Was dying all day after beers last night, went out for a quick up and down to the viewpoint via cruagh. Should really have done it in the morning instead and the day may not have been a writeoff. Was weirdly quiet, nobody up there at that time of the day, only passed 2 other cyclists past scholarstown road. Weather wasn't too bad, managed to avoid the worst of the rain, and hangover finally cured.

https://www.strava.com/activities/3680078196/

Forgot to switch from run to walk when I was out with the dog the other day and it told me I averaged 80w and burned 400 cal in 6 km with 70m elevation gain ..... the dog is 12 and is not long after acl surgery :pac:

Omega28

Omega28 wrote: »

85km today and my Watts are improving

Can anyone explain the whole Watts and FTP to me in layman's terms?

Is 129 Watts decent? Does it show anything about my fitness?

I think you said you're very new to cycling so I wouldn't worry about either now to be honest. I'd say just get out and enjoy your bike for now, but be careful of getting carried away and doing too much too soon or you'll end up burnt out or worse again, injured.

Wishbone Ash

new2tri19 wrote: »

.. Watts are meaningless without rider weight as heavier rides can push higher watts....

Presumably they are also meaningless in an headwind or tailwind as the device can't take wind into account?

Seth Brundle

How Strava Calculates Power
Can't say that I've paid much notice to it though.

new2tri19

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Presumably they are also meaningless in an headwind or tailwind as the device can't take wind into account?

No i assume if I ride 200watts into a headwind its the same effort as 200w with a tailwind even though average speed will be vastly different. Average speed is meaningless.

Watts are meaningless in comparison to other riders , asking is 120 watts good will be totally different if your 50kg or 100kg.

who_ru

i use Strava and the elemnt bolt to track my ride. for the same ride i will always have differing average speeds, with strava being consistently slower. The root cause for the different average speed for the same ride is the auto pause function.

The bolt's auto pause function is flawless while Strava is pretty poor, i often see the clock still running on the strava app even though i'm stopped and sometimes not even physically on the bike.

so i prefer the avg speed from the bolt which is accurate but the strava is always a slower avg speed because it doesn't account for being paused as good as the bolt (giving me a considerably longer moving time). If i'm stopped at a red light for 1min, the bolt will pause but strava won't. and yes the auto pause function is on in strava (i went premium this year but won't next year i think).

Wishbone Ash

new2tri19 wrote: »

No i assume if I ride 200watts into a headwind its the same effort as 200w with a tailwind ....

Doh! Of course it is.

I feel stupid now!

magicbastarder

fair question though, as strava (certainly until recently, they only recently started adding weather data by default) didn't know if you were doing 50km/h on a flat because you were hauling ass, or whether it was due to a stiff tailwind).

ednwireland

60km in a howling gale and torrential rain, still better than the turbo

onlineweb

This is a great thread.

Is it possible to set up a Board.ie Cycling Club on Strava where we can all share cycling routes, posts, and compete against each other?

secman

Yesterday: a handy spin from the house to Kilmuckridge, Blackwater, Curracloe out to main road 27 km 1hr: 07 min, back main road Castlebridge, Ballyedmund and home 27km 53 min.

Today: headed to Gorey to meet up with touring group, Hollyfort, Carnew, Bunclody, towards Enniscorthy turning for Ferns and to Gorey. 90km avg 30.9 kph.
15km home as a cool down spin avg 27kph
Lovely weekend cycling:)

nilhg

new2tri19 wrote: »

2 hours at 3.5watts per kilo and absolutely dead . Trying to gauge what I can hold for a half Ironman power wise.
Ftp is 4w/kilo
I've done 1 hour rides holding 4
2 hour ride today was first try and managed 3.5
Is there any way to guesstimate w/kg you can hold for a 3 hour ride based off FTP?
I've never ridden 3 hours TT and I don't fancy it .
I'm guessing around 3w/kilo for 3 hours based off 1 to 2 hour drop off . Anyone any experience of that ? Thanks

https://www.xertonline.com/calculator

Wishbone Ash

onlineweb wrote: »

This is a great thread.

Is it possible to set up a Board.ie Cycling Club on Strava where we can all share cycling routes, posts, and compete against each other?

There is one.

https://www.strava.com/clubs/boards-ie

godtabh

1200m on Zwift today. Wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be

dahat

Over 4hrs done with a mate today in a howling westerly wind that became troublesome in spots up high. It probably wasn't the best day to head off climbing but with a 200km plus spin planned on two weeks it was needed.

125km @ 28.4avg and 1700m of elevation.

saccades

Upping the distance and effort is the plan 😆 need to get up in time to follow it through.

38km up Croghan mountain with 800m of climbing. Really windy and it looked like Dublin was getting a right downpour.

Omega28

Question for you experienced riders out there

How long did it take you to see improvements in your riding?

Also, if you could rewind the clock, is there you would tell yourself?

magicbastarder

go one gear easier. spin to win, then build up strength.

grouchyman

new2tri19 wrote: »

FTP is the max watts you can push for an hour. Watts are power your pushing through the pedals. Watts are meaningless without rider weight as heavier rides can push higher watts.
Watts per kilo are more relevant , divide your watts by your wright in kilo's.

129 watts , some people will be happy with that some not so , its only relevant to yourself. Just try improve against your previous best. Everyones opinion on whether its decent will vary. There are scales somewhere which show how you compare to pro riders and recreational riders based on watts per kilo.

Was feeling happy with 140 until I read the calc above. Watt per kg is 1.48. Need to do more work

dahat

Omega28 wrote: »

Question for you experienced riders out there

How long did it take you to see improvements in your riding?

Also, if you could rewind the clock, is there you would tell yourself?

Time on the bike plus elements of structure equals improivements.

Also leave your ego behind on club spins, it isn't nice to spend hours in the red nor nice to do that to someone.

smacl

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Presumably they are also meaningless in an headwind or tailwind as the device can't take wind into account?

If you don't have a power meter the numbers are a very rough indication at best. As with wind, I'm showing consistently 20w-25w lower on gravel for instance. Same for the calorie count.

Omega28

Omega28 wrote: »

Question for you experienced riders out there

How long did it take you to see improvements in your riding?

Also, if you could rewind the clock, is there you would tell yourself?

Enjoy riding your bike is the most important thing. Everything else comes second to me. Fitness and exorcise is a happy consequence of cycling to me

EDIT: I should actually put in some advice that helped me in general and that was exorcise off the bike, I'm not one for the gym, hate them but I took to yoga with my partner when she was pregnant and that helped in terms of my over all flexibility and and strength (the spiritual stuff i didn't buy into) after that I did pilates classes which I found helped immensely in my over all fitness and comfort on the bike. These days I do that twice a week along to a youtube video while trying to avoid the kids trying to sit on my for extra resistance

new2tri19

grouchyman wrote: »

Was feeling happy with 140 until I read the calc above. Watt per kg is 1.48. Need to do more work

Well it depends on how hard you were cycling , If i'm cycling to work or something and ignoring power my reading could be 140 also because I probably spend half the time freewheeling down the hills or in and around traffic. So again its kinda meaningless.

If I go out and do a 1 or 2 hour TT I try pick a route that will have very few stops and I aim to pedal 100% of the time or as close to as possible , when I'm going down a hill I am aiming to hit a number when instinct used to be to freewheel every so often.

I have average lap power and 3 and 10's power on bike computer in front of me and I know even if I have to stop at lights i'll lose 2-3 watts of average power caused by the delay in the headunit pausing .

I'm not sure if your even using a power meter but yeah there is loads of variables that 140 average doesn't tell you the full story.

Tony04

Omega28 wrote: »

Question for you experienced riders out there

How long did it take you to see improvements in your riding?

Also, if you could rewind the clock, is there you would tell yourself?

2/3 months or a summer it took me to get from if you like civilian level of fitness to a reasonably competitive level of fitness, I usally ride short but intensive hill reps.

Granted you rest properly you should be improving week on week.

The biggest fitness mistake I made was at the start of lockdown to run at least 8k every day, without rest, and eventually 3 and half weeks in my legs gave in and I couldn't run for most of april and may luckily I could cycle but dont make the mistake of over doing it

smacl

Omega28 wrote: »

Also, if you could rewind the clock, is there you would tell yourself?

Don't stay in just because the weather is crap, cycling in the worst of weather can be great craic once you're dressed for it.

Hairy Japanese BASTARDS!

smacl wrote: »

Don't stay in just because the weather is crap, cycling in the worst of weather can be great craic once you're dressed for it.

As long as some clown doesn't use the inclement weather as an excuse for "not seeing you".

wheelo01

onlineweb wrote: »

This is a great thread.

Is it possible to set up a Board.ie Cycling Club on Strava where we can all share cycling routes, posts, and compete against each other?

Theres already a Boards cycling club - Want to join my Strava cycling club? https://www.strava.com/clubs/boards-ie?utm_source=com.google.android.apps.docs&utm_medium=referral