Average heart rate

[postal_bag]

I know that average heart rate is not a good indicator of intensity for short durations, and that heart rate is highly variable due to many factors. But over the course of a 3-4 hr ride or a 1-2 hr race, does your average heart rate tend to correlate with your average power?

I do a weekly group ride of 115 km, and always come back with about the same average heart rate, and time spent at each level. Unfortunately I don't have a PM for use on the road.

Average heart rate ~75%

L1 ~30 min
L2 ~90 min
L3 ~90 min
L4 ~40 min

If I determine on the ergo what power I am putting out at 75% max heart rate, is this a rough estimate of the average power for the group ride?

 

[mattv2099]

I know that average heart rate is not a good indicator of intensity for short durations, and that heart rate is highly variable due to many factors. But over the course of a 3-4 hr ride or a 1-2 hr race, does your average heart rate tend to correlate with your average power?

I do a weekly group ride of 115 km, and always come back with about the same average heart rate, and time spent at each level. Unfortunately I don't have a PM for use on the road.

Average heart rate ~75%

L1 ~30 min
L2 ~90 min
L3 ~90 min
L4 ~40 min

If I determine on the ergo what power I am putting out at 75% max heart rate, is this a rough estimate of the average power for the group ride?

I have found for me that HR does not correlate well to my power zones.

I did a 3 hour ride the other day in which my average power was ~200 (l2 = ~175-240), normalized power ~220, but my average HR was 116 and my HR zones would indicate that's way below zone 2. However, my 20 tt to determine 20m power had an average power of 335 and average HR of 168. ~170 is always what I thought my LT HR was. So in the end I find HR data confusing and worthless. Better off with power and no HR. I don't bother to wear my HR strap very often.