Monod estimates for CP60 (ftp)

More fun with numbers....




This is using the Monod model to estimate Critical Power (CP60 is effectively same as FTP) using best effort numbers for shorter periods. While vastly over estimating it for my first attempt at using this, with some numbers from a short TT, the second effort pulling off numbers from the MMP chart and making sure I had a sample for 20 minutes produced reasonable numbers for last year (331 estimated versus my best measured number at 325, which in itself may be low...)

The above plugs in numbers from 2008 season (i.e. best numbers achieved since Jan 1..) and out pops 305! Which (possibly co-incidentally) corresponds to what I guesstimated and adjusted to a few days ago.

See also PDF file velo-fit.com.

Lennard Zinn - Rolling resistance

As pointed out by samk on the wattage list, here is a summary of tire Crr from Leonard Zinn.

Track Endurance L3

Wednesday night at the track, endurance, L3, kept it down to a dull roar, so to speak...

NP Buster

Heritage Intervals today (just under 2k loop, 700m at 8%, 60m clavation gain, then 500m flatish, then 500k steep descent..)


Each climb started with a short 20-60 second sprint at any where from 500-800 watts depending on length etc..

Average loop time about 5 minutes. Average TSS points about 10... which made this an NP Buster (more than 105 TSS points in 60 minutes...)

This also meant that my FTP was set to low (this is another test for FTP, it shouldn't be that easy to do an NP Buster...) so I'm ratcheting up FTP to 305 as of last weekend.

Barnet 10K TT - SFU Kermesse - Westwood

Started out by doing my Barnet 10K TT route. Not terribly bad time, 17:30, for this time of year with tired legs from yesterday and no aero (PB is 15:00, all aero, neutral TSB etc..).

Then climbed up SFU and did two laps of last years Kermesse course... (short and with some nasty climbining.)

Then over to Westwood for another 300m climb and home. 200+ TSS points making it 400+ for weekend total. Which gives me a current ATL just a shade under my all time high of 113.

Although that was with a higher FTP... so PE (perceived exertion) wise this is the same, but I actually had to do more work for the other (although with higher FTP that meant I *could* do more work...)


Entire workout (176 watts):

Duration: 2:59:01 (4:13:01)
Work: 1887 kJ
TSS: 205.8 (intensity factor 0.83)
Norm Power: 245
VI: 1.39
Pw:HR: 29.87%
Pa:HR: 38.5%
Distance: 64.34 km
Elevation Gain: 1538 m
Elevation Loss: 1470 m
Grade: 0.1 % (68 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 879 176 watts
Heart Rate: 0 169 113 bpm
Cadence: 26 137 60 rpm
Speed: 1.9 54.3 21.6 kph
Pace 1:06 31:35 2:47 min/km
Altitude: 0 425 236 m
Crank Torque: 0 98 28.8 N-m
Temperature: 11 20 14.3 Celsius

Spring series starts next Sunday with River Road course. Hopefully the weather will hold. Normally Spring Series is cold and wet.

The weather this last week has been fantastic. Typical late March or April temps. Certainly arrived at just the right time for me to get some really nice base riding in.

Neaves Road TT

Cervelo out for minor repairs, so was out on the P2C today. Rode out to Pitt Meadows (Ford Road route) and then did a 12k TT on Neaves Road.



Verified, once again, that as soon as I hit the aero-bars my wattage goes up by about 20 watts (assuming I'm in VO2Max range...).

Neaves Road 14kTT:

Duration: 20:30
Work: 381 kJ
TSS: 39.1 (intensity factor 1.069)
Norm Power: 315
VI: 1.02
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 13.975 km
Elevation Gain: 16 m
Elevation Loss: 19 m
Grade: -0.0 % (-3 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 493 310 watts
Cadence: 34 98 81 rpm
Speed: 10.1 50.4 40.9 kph
Pace 1:11 5:56 1:28 min/km
Altitude: 78 83 80 m
Crank Torque: 0 58.1 36.4 N-m
Temperature: 13 15 13.5 Celsius

Not a great time or NPavg, but good for this time of year. And other than TT bike no aero gear (helmet, wheels, clothing etc.)

It does confirm, that at least for TT bike, 295FTP is reasonable estimate (.90-.95*315)..

Barnet Highway - L3

Couldn't resist the continued nice weather. Quick L3 effort out Barnet Highway to Hastings and back. This is my Barnet 10K TT route, but not, today, done as TT..

Back at the track - SST and L3

Forgot the Ergomo... so had to count laps...

First session 100 laps in 30 minutes. Or pretty much bang on 40kph average. That will (from past experience) be SST and should be about 40TSS points.

Second session 100 laps in 35 minutes. Little slower, about 38kph. Call it L3 and 35 TSS points.

Shoulder felt fine. I purposely did these late tonight so that the track would be mostly empty. Only two or three other riders. Didn't want to have to deal with the rush around 6:00. There can be 20+ people on the track then, all doing different workouts..

Anmore Tour - SST

Anmore Tour - SST, ran out of daylight, had to cut out the final climb.

CTL continues to move up...

Spring Series - pre-rides

Lovely weather today, went out and did a pre-ride on four of the Escape Velocity Spring Series races courses...

I've done three of them before, but they have added a new one, the "Snake", which I hadn't. It's very similar to to the Armstrong Road course, and in fact uses half of it. But where the Armstrong courses 7 reps on the hill, and the hill climb is broken into three one minute segments (total about 90m of climbing...) The Snake does the hill as one single two and a half minute climb of the same height. And as the overall length is more (10km vs 6km) we only do it 5 times.

Even though the snake climb is one single climb it actually still has three sections. The bottom part is short but almost hits 12%, then a short section a little less, maybe about 8%, then the final long steep climb at 13-15%...

I dragged the Garmin Edge 305 along, so I'll try and do some Google Earth KML files this week for all of these courses.

My ATL is now close to my traditional high point (90..) Most likely now is the time to start switching to more intensity and wait for CTL to "catch up". So that by the start of Spring Series (two weeks) ATL and CTL can be about the same (mid to high 70..) and TSB close to zero or slightly positive.




Even though ATL/CTL are moving up, this is with a lower FTP... at some point I'll have to look at moving FTP up. Currently the indications are that 295 is still a good (probably slightly high) estimate. E.g. the power distribution curve for the last 28 days shows that the biggest drop is 240-260 watts if 20 watt interval is used.




If a 5 five watt interval is used it is less persuasive, but still pretty similiar.









My shoulder feels comfortable on the bike. So I probably can look at doing one day a week training at the track. Just no racing. Don't want to risk falling on it until it has at least (so I'm told) 3 months... That may mean I can do the May 3-day race.

Heritage Intervals

Started out to do Anmore Tour, flatted about 30 minutes in... Couldn't get tire pumped up properly, so soft pedaled home.

Pumped it up and given limited time did some VO2Max and Anerobic (L6) intervals in Heritage Mountain.

Computrainer - Senior Warmup, 10k TT,

Senior Warmup (v2, 4x350), 10k TT - SST, and misc for antother 40 minutes of L3. Only limited time, so only managed 80 TSS points.

With luck, weather may be good enough to get outside for the next two days.

PMC Chart fixed

A quick note, the PMC chart (upper left... clickable for large view) was incorrect. I had forgotten to update the time scale.... Now fixed

Sunny and warm - outside

Managed to get about six inches and fell over!! Still in big ring and little cog from doing the Ergomo offset adjustment. Clipped in, stood on it, fell over. What a klutz! Luckily went down on my left side so nothing bruised or battered other than my ego...

Still, even though not hot, and not entirely dry, it was a pleasant enough day at about 6-8 C. Did a quick tour around the local neighborhood. I.e. hill climbs..

With a few VO2Max intervals. The numbers, as always for outside, where a bit higher. It really is easier to keep up the power outside.

On a year-2-year comparison, I'm now about 15-20 TSS points higher on ATL and CTL. Or about 5-6 weeks earlier in building up (i.e. I'm pretty much where I got to in early April last year.)

So things look on target, form/fitness wise, for Spring Series in 3 weeks. Hopefully FTP will increase and overall power curve be back to something suitable by then.

Computrainer - various

Popped for the CyclingPeaks Computrainer programs... they allow you to construct ERG or 3DC files for the Computrainer. Either from scratch (erg) or from an existing power file (erg or 3dc) or from a GPS track (3dc).

Fun, but I think it will need some training (of me..) to learn how to best use them.

I tried creating two ERG (coaching software, power is set against time...) one from the Ryder 8kTT and another from a 8x10 points race.. I managed to get through the points race, although couldn't sustain the power required for a couple of spots (jumped to >600...) but did manage to finish it. Only lasted about a minute into the Ryder8k...

I suspect two things.. First I'm out of shape compared to the when these power meter files where recorded... (especially for the Ryder 8ktt, it was a PB...). There is an option to scale the entire workout up or down, so that may appropriate to do for current level of fitness. Also there are various options on how to present the changes. Hat's and lines, wedges and lines or lines. I used Hat's (looked nice...) but I think that the wedges option may be better. It ramps the changes in wattage so that you have time to compensate instead of getting hit with a huge jump in wattage...


Second, the ERG mode on the computrainer is not quite the same as the original.. Especially after being processed and spit out.. Going from 200 watts to 650 wats isn't what happens in real life... I suspect that this can be better setup and modelled in the program (CyclingPeaks ERG+) that does this. But one of the problems is that there are a fair number of different options available for scaling, smoothing and modelling... Will take some time to figure it all out.

I also used the CyclingPeaks Real3d program to create a velodrome 200m track... Not exactly the same. First impression is that it is a little harder than the real one. But I used that for a 20 minute warmup and quite enjoyed it. The computrainer 3d software knows about laps and shows you your lap time (most recent lap completed.)

I think it will be useful for doing the same track workouts that I do at the track... E.g. 1 or 2 lap sprints. etc. Not exactly the same but close enough until I can get back to training there.

This can happen to you too... :-(

X-Rays today..... see my ortho-surgeon on Thursday.

Computrainer - Armstrong Race Course

The infamous EV Spring Series Armstrong Road race course. About 100m climbing per loop. But I notice that there seems to be something wrong as WKO is showing it as 235.... I'll have to sort out what the problem is. The TSS numbers and loop times seem consistent with reality...

Did one loop as warmup, then eight laps. L3 pace for the first hour. Then L2 for about a half hour.

Computrainer - Senior Warmup v2, KTownLong Paced

Started with senior warmup, but I modified that to be 4x350 watts instead of 3x340.

Finished with KTownLong using the pacer. I'm not sure if using the pacer is more "fun", but it does increase the variability of the workout and NPavg goes up. I managed 253 watts NP for 90 minutes. Which gets it classified as SST.

Entire workout (235 watts):

Duration: 1:32:44
Work: 1310 kJ
TSS: 113.3 (intensity factor 0.856)
Norm Power: 253
VI: 1.07
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 55.81 km
Elevation Gain: 597 m
Elevation Loss: 593 m
Grade: 0.0 % (5 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 87 713 235 watts
Cadence: 26 134 82 rpm
Speed: 13.7 54 36.1 kph
Pace 1:07 4:23 1:40 min/km
Altitude: -1 101 49 m
Crank Torque: 10.6 76.1 27.5 N-m

Again, because you can "rest" a bit, I managed to do more L6 and L7 bursts (10-30 seconds, anywhere from 500-700 watts, about seven.)

Computrainer - 10kTT

Warmup, then Computrainer 10k TT, then Dachau course.

The 10k TT was against previous performance from last October... about 40 seconds slower (15:56 versus about 16:36..)

Entire workout (270 watts):

Duration: 16:36
Work: 269 kJ
TSS: 23.6 (intensity factor 0.924)
Norm Power: 273
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 9.975 km
Elevation Gain: 192 m
Elevation Loss: 125 m
Grade: 0.7 % (68 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 110 408 270 watts
Cadence: 50 99 81 rpm
Speed: 19.5 43.9 36.0 kph
Pace 1:22 3:05 1:40 min/km
Altitude: -8 68 23 m
Crank Torque: 16.8 54.1 32.3 N-m

Still NPavg moving up.

I tried a suggestion from wattage posting on Friday (Rich Wharton I think). User pacer at fairly high wattage then sit in draft. Going in and out of draft periodically gets you some small VO2Max workouts. Overall the workout also tends to be a little less boring. I set the pacer at 310 watts. Which over 40 minutes gave me an NPavg of about 240 watts.

Update: It was William Black's suggestion.

Computrainer - Senior Warmup, Dachour

Started with Senior Warmup, V02Max, 3x1 minute at 350... after about 10 minutes L3 warmup.

Then Dachou 48k, L3. With a few V02Max bumps.

Computrainer - 25 mile loop - L3

Short L3 workout today. Had to rush as I had other time commitments.

Sheldon Brown RIP

Sheldon Brown, the best and most popular pundit in rec.bicycles.tech, expert on all matters pertaining to bicycles and a bicycle humorist has passed away.

There will be no new products from ShelBroCo (announced annually in early April.)

There are few people who have offered their expertise on the internet over such an extended time. Indeed stretching back to USENET days almost before there was in Internet (in the modern popular sense.) He was always helpful with insightful advice which is an extreme rarity.

Computrainer - L5 and L3

Wildflower course again (flatter, easier to be consistent..) L3 with a few L5 sprints towards the end.

Overall NP avg down from yesterday. But best 20 minutes finally qualifies as SST (sweet spot).

Peak 20min (253 watts):

Duration: 20:00
Work: 304 kJ
TSS: 24.8 (intensity factor 0.862)
Norm Power: 254
VI: 1
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 9.929 km
Elevation Gain: 527 m
Elevation Loss: 116 m
Grade: 4.1 % (411 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 180 351 253 watts
Cadence: 35 104 81 rpm
Speed: 15.2 44.7 29.8 kph
Pace 1:21 3:57 2:01 min/km
Altitude: 2 520 326 m
Crank Torque: 21.1 55.6 30.2 N-m

Computrainer - L5 and L3

Started with an L5 level, Senior Warmup, which is 3 sets of 350 watts, after a short 10 minute warmup ramping to 280 watts.

Then did KtownLong 56k as L3. Beat last weeks pace by about 3km (about 6 minutes.) .

Entire workout (235 watts):

Duration: 1:35:48
Work: 1353 kJ
TSS: 105.6 (intensity factor 0.813)
Norm Power: 240
VI: 1.02
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 55.816 km
Elevation Gain: 597 m
Elevation Loss: 593 m
Grade: 0.0 % (5 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 547 235 watts
Cadence: 7 108 83 rpm
Speed: 11.4 55.1 35.0 kph
Pace 1:05 5:16 1:43 min/km
Altitude: -1 101 50 m
Crank Torque: 0 51.3 27.3 N-m

Legs are starting to feel better for this type of workout (endurance...) Most of the last few months was high intensity short duration (aka track...) which was working well for me competitition wise.... but between that and loosing a week in December due to a cold and almost two weeks in January my comfort level for endurance paced workouts was (is) not where I want it.

By way of comparison, a ballpark figure for C group races in the Spring series (which start in four weeks!!!) would be 65k in 1:30 with normalized power of about 290-300. So assuming I can race in four weeks (hopefully, if I stay out of the potential trouble spots and minimize chances of crashing...) I have to move from doing 240 to 300 NPavg, at a minimum.

I actually want to be able to do a bit more than that by then.

Computrainer - Wildflower L3

Short on time today so just
1 hour of L3...

Entire workout (237 watts):

Duration: 1:10:30
Work: 1003 kJ
TSS: 80.3 (intensity factor 0.827)
Norm Power: 244
VI: 1.03
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 38.683 km
Elevation Gain: 956 m
Elevation Loss: 479 m
Grade: 1.2 % (477 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 67 402 237 watts
Cadence: 24 93 75 rpm
Speed: 14.9 45.6 32.9 kph
Pace 1:19 4:02 1:49 min/km
Altitude: 0 520 364 m
Crank Torque: 14.9 69 30.1 N-m

Getting numbers up a bit.. best 30 minutes norm AP 251 watts.

Peak 30min (247 watts):

Duration: 30:01
Work: 445 kJ
TSS: 36.2 (intensity factor 0.85)
Norm Power: 251
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 15.615 km
Elevation Gain: 661 m
Elevation Loss: 221 m
Grade: 2.8 % (441 m)
Min Max Avg
Power: 83 345 247 watts
Cadence: 24 89 75 rpm
Speed: 14.9 45.6 31.2 kph
Pace 1:19 4:02 1:55 min/km
Altitude: 17 520 357 m
Crank Torque: 15.5 61.4 31.9 N-m

Need to translate that into full hour and push it up.