new power user -please help

25-12.-2007, 12:27 AM	#1
footsie Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 12	new power user -please help Hi I have recently acquired a polar cs600 which after a few days of trouble is now working great however a few questions for the wise out there 1) according to a hard 1 hour session my FTP is approx 200 but on Friday I went out on a 2 hour (60 km) ride and averaged 200 w what would you guestimate my FTP to be 2) I was climbing a small hill today (11 km long average gradient 6.1% but with several 15% thrown in ) and like previous hill climbs I found that my power output is considerably less than when on the flats why ? 3) at the moment I am doing 2or 3 x 20 mins of push as hard as I can for my z4 workouts as I found it nearly impossible to maintain equal power outdoors is this right or should I be training in another fashion FYI I am 39 yo weigh 67 kg and have been cycling for 9 months and love it TIA

25-12.-2007, 12:46 AM

Andre.T

Registered User

Join Date: Nov 2007

Location: Germany

Posts: 14

Re: new power user -please help

You can test with this software if your average power is ok..
http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm
(Best results on steep hills)

You can also maka a test by riding the same speed on the small and big chain ring.
Power values should be the same on both rings. Otherwise you have an installation problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by footsie

Hi I have recently acquired a polar cs600 which after a few days of trouble is now working great however a few questions for the wise out there

1) according to a hard 1 hour session my FTP is approx 200 but on Friday I went out on a 2 hour (60 km) ride and averaged 200 w what would you guestimate my FTP to be

2) I was climbing a small hill today (11 km long average gradient 6.1% but with several 15% thrown in ) and like previous hill climbs I found that my power output is considerably less than when on the flats why ?

3) at the moment I am doing 2or 3 x 20 mins of push as hard as I can for my z4 workouts as I found it nearly impossible to maintain equal power outdoors is this right or should I be training in another fashion

FYI I am 39 yo weigh 67 kg and have been cycling for 9 months and love it

TIA

25-12.-2007, 12:56 AM

footsie

Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2007

Posts: 12

Re: new power user -please help

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre.T

I do not believe the problem was with the sensor rather the engine. with a 15% gradient there is no way I can get the bike up the hill in the larger chain ring not ifI wish to continue to climb the next 11km

25-12.-2007, 03:04 AM

Andre.T

Registered User

Join Date: Nov 2007

Location: Germany

Posts: 14

Re: new power user -please help

In question 2, you posted the power output on hills seems to be lower than on flats.
Therefore I suggested to calculate the power values with "kreuzotter" to see if the hill values are ok.
If the values are ok, lets say <5% deviation to the calculated values, your flat maesurements could be faulty. (Maybe the distance between power sensor ans chain to high.)

Regarding question 1 & 3, do you compare indoor to outdoor sessions?
Polar power meter doesn´t work very well on trainers because of vibration problems.
Or do you mean in #3 that it´s hard to produce a steady power output?

Quote:

Originally Posted by footsie

25-12.-2007, 03:35 AM

footsie

Registered User

Join Date: Feb 2007

Posts: 12

Re: new power user -please help

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre.T

Yup my power output is lower on the hills I believe that my PM is working correctly according to a similar program as kreuzotter

I am originally from the UK but now live in the middle east as such winters here are very mild I almost never use the drainer (the d was not a typo )

In question 3 I meant as you said that I cant produce a steady output

I appreciate your time and effort

25-12.-2007, 04:41 AM

daveryanwyoming

Registered User

Join Date: Oct 2006

Posts: 1,356

Re: new power user -please help

Quote:

Originally Posted by footsie

Yup my power output is lower on the hills...

Some folks struggle to put out the same power on hills as they do on the flats. Sometimes it's a matter of gearing. I switched to a compact crank midway through last season and found my hill climbing power improved quite a bit on the long steep mountain passes we have here. It took some time to get used to spinning a smaller gear up long climbs but if I stay focused my overall power is higher compared to grinding a higher gear.

Personally I now get my best power numbers on climbs and into headwinds. Tailwinds and easy descents require constant attention to keep my power from dropping. When climbing or beating a headwind I just have to ride steady and power tends to take care of itself. But everyone is different and it may take some time for you to figure out how to put out steady power in different conditions.

Quote:

...at the moment I am doing 2or 3 x 20 mins of push as hard as I can for my z4 workouts

Be careful with this approach. You don't need to push as hard as you can to see improvement and pushing too hard for each workout or even each interval within a workout can easily lead to burnout. If you come to dread your workouts because they're so hard it'll be easy to stop doing them. SST work in the range of 80-95% of FTP or a more focused range of 85-95% if you prefer is really good aerobic work and will do a lot to improve sustainable power. You don't need to push all the way to the top end of the range every time you train. Do some right up against your limits to challenge yourself, but try some longer efforts at the easier end of the range. You'll still gain a lot of fitness and you'll also prepare yourself mentally for longer sustained efforts like long time trials.

Quote:

...on Friday I went out on a 2 hour (60 km) ride and averaged 200 w what would you guestimate my FTP to be

At least 240 watts and probably higher.

-Dave

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