Right there is where I need to shoot for a goal as a 150 TSS maximum per ride if I get to do consecutive days during the holidays.
Therein lies the 'magic' of focusing on FTP instead of focusing on the actual short hard efforts that eventually force riders over the limit. Sure if everyone's FTP is the same then race situations often come down to those short anaerobic and neuromuscular bursts. But everyone's FTP is not the same and being able to ride at Tempo while the folks around you are pushing up to and over Threshold pacing makes a huge difference. Often those make or break anaerobic moments come down to who's freshest at the moments they happen, not who has the highest anaerobic power for those short durations when they're completely rested.
Yeah you're probably right, but I'm amazed how often I hear folks dismissing FTP building as only being useful for TTs or steady hill climbs or other situations that are ridden right around Threshold. Your experience is really typical in that higher FTP translates to more freshness and quicker recovery between high end efforts well above FTP and usually that freshness and rapid recovery is more important than higher one off power for those short efforts yet a lot of folks still think of increased FTP as only helping in sustained near Threshold situations.
CheersFelt_Rider said:
tested at 240w, so did 2x20 @ 220 which went fine. Was hard concentrating for that long. Fortunately I was able to set a power on the trainer. It was interesting that higher cadence made life a lot easier for the time period although it seemed to load my cardio a lot. You don't seem to notice so much on the road, supposedly due to the other distractions. I'm a big guy (6'5 and 90kg) so those figures aren't anything to speak of as yet!
