Jim's method works. I think it probably works fine to zero torque while standing still (feet out of the pedals), but the factory recommended method is to zero torque while coasting. It's a good idea to zero torque once a week and before performance tests, although some people zero torque on every ride.Lucy_Aspenwind said:
That's good. I rarely get over 500 lb-in and most of my sprints are in the 300s.Lucy_Aspenwind said:
In RRs and crits, your 5sec power will come into play once per race (assuming you are with the lead group), in a field sprint finish. I have never looked at the PM files of women's crits and RRs, so I don't know what they typically do in the 60secs or so before the finish, but in a typical men's race there is a gradual buildup beginning somewhere between 30-60secs from the finish, then someone will launch a full power attack at about the -20sec mark, then the last 5-10secs is all out for everybody. So, it might go 300-400-500-full power in the last 30secs or so. If the finish is uphill, someone with a high AWC might launch an attack from several minutes out (I would) to try and destroy the sprinters, but they won't do that on a flat finish because you can't drop them. So, clearly you have to be able to survive everything else to be in the game for the last 30secs, and you have to learn how to position yourself (e.g., not get boxed in), but if you can do a ramp up to ~500W and then launch a 1300-1400W sprint in the last 5 secs, I think that would be a formidable finish in women's crits and RRs (in any category).Lucy_Aspenwind said:
) repeated attacks. AWC simply can't be too high, and it is highly trainable. I think Andy Coggan said in another thread that he had raised his AWC by some huge percentage (40%?) with targeted training. That's huge! That's in part why he can race with a "scorched earth" approach. He's just draining everybody's AWC with every attack until they can't respond. Of course, if he had your 5sec power, he might just wheel-suck for 50 miles and wait for the sprint.
Hi - thanks for the tip Jim - I did this today during my road on some downhill/coasting sections and the torque value was 0.otb4evr said:
Oh my 28 degrees - wow - that's plenty cold! I really enjoyed the culture, arts, and diversity of Toronto & Chicago but....lo! I'm from the tropics and the winters were brutalotb4evr said:
I will keep this in mind about zeroing the torque. I did check it today while coasting and saw it was zero, so at least for now it seems ok.RapDaddyo said:
Wow! That's a lot of information - I'm still absorbing it to be fair but a few things really stood out.RapDaddyo said:In RRs and crits, your 5sec power will come into play once per race (assuming you are with the lead group), in a field sprint finish. I have never looked at the PM files of women's crits and RRs, so I don't know what they typically do in the 60secs or so before the finish, but in a typical men's race there is a gradual buildup beginning somewhere between 30-60secs from the finish, then someone will launch a full power attack at about the -20sec mark, then the last 5-10secs is all out for everybody. So, it might go 300-400-500-full power in the last 30secs or so. If the finish is uphill, someone with a high AWC might launch an attack from several minutes out (I would) to try and destroy the sprinters, but they won't do that on a flat finish because you can't drop them. So, clearly you have to be able to survive everything else to be in the game for the last 30secs, and you have to learn how to position yourself (e.g., not get boxed in), but if you can do a ramp up to ~500W and then launch a 1300-1400W sprint in the last 5 secs, I think that would be a formidable finish in women's crits and RRs (in any category).
As to AWC, I just think its importance in RRs and crits is often underappreciated. For one thing, it's a non-trivial task to merely figure out how much of one's AWC was used in a race and where. When people get dropped in a RR or crit, the first place they seem to look is FTP. They are perplexed because often their NP was well within their FTP at the point at which they got dropped. But, if you study the ride file from an AWC perspective, you see that they burned a bunch of matches and when they got dropped they had just basically run out of matches. I think one cannot have too much AWC. I want the biggest AWC I can have, to be able to withstand (or launch
Uh, thank you, I think!RapDaddyo said:You got it.
You need to be sure you know what your objective is (applies to all high-intensity efforts). If your objective is training, then you don't have to hit your peak numbers. If your objective is to do a performance test (to measure your progress), then you want to be fresh and do the effort being tested early in the ride. I commonly do L7 intervals at the end of my ride and I know they aren't going to be anywhere near my maximum. But, I don't care because my objective is adaptation and a near-maximum effort will suffice.Lucy_Aspenwind said:
Fair enough. And in what you are saying, the benefit is there, to doing these, even if the numbers aren't your max then.RapDaddyo said:
hey you forgot to warm down.acoggan said:You do realize, don't you, that unless you're exceptionally fast, even your 1 km efforts are predominantly aerobic in nature, and thus like probably 95+% of training that people usually do, serves to raise your functional threshold power? (That's especially true if you do more than just a few efforts, and/or allow only a few min of recovery in between them.)
If you want to do some true level 6/level 7 training, here's a workout you might try:
1) using an 86"-88" gear, warm up in a paceline, gradually building the intensity up to race pace (~20 min);
2) get off your bike, drink some water, stretch a little, and put on a 92"-94" gear (~15 min);
3) do an all-put 500 m effort from a standing start (~40 s);
4) roll around the track a few times, then get off, drink some more, stretch a little, then get back on the track and do a few more easy laps (~20 min);
5) repeat steps #3 and #4 three more times;
6) go home.
Congratulations...now you really know what anaerobic training is like!
Paul,RapDaddyo said:
Jim - you described it to a tee!otb4evr said:
), then from almost a stop, stood and went all out. So yes, I was in a small gear going very, very slowly. 
Agree with everything except this point. Check this crit file out..... I was in the lead (& winning) break of six riders at State Champs. 5 sec power was critical to success in this race.RapDaddyo said:
I'm sure you would be, but then I am going < 15 mph when I start these sprints! I would think you don't need anywhere near 600 lb-ins for a RR or crit finish right?RapDaddyo said:
Wow - very impressive numbers!Alex Simmons said:
