Group riding with Power Meter - Page 2

Actually, one of the first things I did with my Pm was to take it out to the local group ride. I was surprised by how good the #'s did turn out. It's a sort of "weeknight worlds" ride so I just sat on the front for almost the entire ride...pushing the dowhills especially hard. But, if you sit in at all, forget about it....especially if it's downhill. I typically combine the group ride with a ride beforehand to get to around 3hrs. If I'm fresh, I just do intervals on the way to the ride and it turns into a nice little workout.

Also, most of my weekend group rides are with small groups and we spend a large chunk of the time rotating. During these portions pnorm stays around threshold the whole time. Very good workout. Also, these rides usually have a fair bit of climbing.

3 1/2 hour ride with warm up and cooldown and your IF is .908? It would seem you are underestimating your FTP, at least from my perspective.

Strange that many of you want to go to a group ride to get a steady effort in as opposed to high intensity bursts. I find the intensity I get in during a group ride can not be matched when I'm by myself unless I'm extraordinarily inspired that day. For me, group rides are primarily a way of flogging myself and repeatedly attacking.

I can get 0.91 over 3.5 hours pretty regularly.

I'd say it all depends on where you live. For me, elevation change is 1 foot/mile, though a couple of overpasses in the area may give you a 25 foot climb here and there. It's hard to boost VI much in the flats. E.g.,

Labor Day "group ride" (well, 4 guys)
full ride
3:32:00
IF 0.807
NP 232
AP 191
"when we were serious"
2:30:00
IF 0.876
NP 251
AP 228


Contrast that with a Masters 35+ open race the following weekend
2:35:00
IF 0.806
NP 231
AP 167

Difference was the race was on a course 80 miles from home with constant rollers and the P12s in the field love to come to a crawl at the base and interval up the hill. Boosts the VI beyond belief compared to my flat land rides.

After an attack I presume you'd try to 'stick it' for as long as possible, which puts you back in steady effort mode. From a workout perspective, I don't see much difference in attacking and sticking it (off the front), vs just pulling the group (on the front). If the group has the horses to chase down attacks, then they probably don't wait for people either. I have no problem getting plenty of work on those kinds of rides.

To me, riding is about a whole lot more than just power. Maybe that's why I like group rides and cannot imagine sitting indoors on my trainer in the summer. I had a wonderful 95 miles of "wasted time" this morning. Deerfield-Paris-Deerfield (Paris, WI). - TF

I'm going to jump in and say that you have under estimated your FT. Your TSS and IF over that duration would be quite a ride (you'd have to attack continually, or be hitting many climbs).

I agree completely and this is my experience. Group rides are (usually) just rides and not "training" as I define it. Unless I don't care about the ride structure, I've avoided group rides especially with certain guys -- some of whom are teammates --- long before I ever got my PM. I've always known that the type of ride that would occur would usually not be what I needed. When I don't ride alone, I've got a couple of teammates that I train regularly with -- guys that do intervals together and/or understand when one or more of us sets off to do some structured stuff particular to our own needs. We just regroup at certain points, etc.

We do have a knock down, drag out "Wed. Night Worlds" group ride that I never miss. It's harder than most races I do, mostly because it's a grudge match among close friends/teammates.

You seem to be able to spin pretty well-244rpms.

__________________
-Meek
"Some people train to look pretty. I just train so I can be the strongest man there is. And then again, I'm already pretty." -Magnus Samuelsson

Warm up...I wish...we're usually running late and have to TTT out to the start point then rushing to get home so wifey doesn't yell too much.

I've thought the same thing and in fact did move my FTP up a bit as a result. On the other hand, I'm usually wasted by the end of the ride and back then I could just barely do my 2x20s at the power I had set for threshold.

As to variability, check out the VI on my ride...I was either sitting in or hammering.

Here's another idea to add more intensity to group rides. It combines a solo ride with the group ride.

Spot your group 10 minutes or whatever head start you want to give it and then try to chase it down. I showed up 10 minutes late once to one of our Sunday group rides and debated whether I should attempt to catch it. I figured at the very least it will be a good interval even if I couldn't make the catch. I put my PT in interval mode and tore ass off. About 20 minutes later, I caught it and was a little surprised I did so.

Then I folded into the group but did my usual pulls and contested the sprints. It was an excellence workout and I'm going to do that again soon.

--Dean