Rolling terrain and Power

[82zman]

Shortly before doing my first TT I did a 20 minute indoor test and averaged 296 watts. I was pleased with that result as I am 59 kg.

What I was not pleased with was the TT result. It was a 10 mile course with 7 rolling miles and a 3 mile nasty climb to end it. I averaged only 257 watts but NP was 271.

I am wondering why the big power drop. I knew I was in trouble because I had a crappy warm up on the trainer (combination of nerves and being worn down from a cold). This I am sure accounts for some the power drop as well as the ride time for me which was 34 minutes (14 minutes longer than my 20 minute threshold test). What I am unsure of and this is where you experienced racers come in is the effect of the rolling course.

Is it reasonable to think that I can produce the same power on a rolling course as I would on a flat course, steady climb, or a trainer?. It was tough to maintain power going down and I did not want to over do it going up.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

...Is it reasonable to think that I can produce the same power on a rolling course as I would on a flat course, steady climb, or a trainer?. It was tough to maintain power going down and I did not want to over do it going up.

Yeah, it's reasonable to have an AP and NP near your MMP for the duration, but it takes the right day (read recovery and motivation) and good pacing.

What did your power graph look like? Did you stay steady (your VI implies you might have faded, but that could be the rollers) did you go out too hard? Was the problem entirely the descents or did you have trouble transitioning or pacing the climbing sections?

It's easy to miss your power targets even on a dead flat course if you go out too hot or hold back too much or simply lose focus in the latter half of a TT. Add the hills and it can be even tougher. Your results are actually pretty good for a first time trial, pacing is a learned skill and a lot of folks struggle to get it right. I've probably only hit my personal best power numbers in one or two time trials and generally come in a bit low versus what I know I should be able to do for the duration. It's usually from going out too hard, but sometimes it's just the wrong day or I can't sustain the focus to carry the power all the way to the finish. But I've definitely come closer and closer with practice.

Stick with it. They'll get better...'course you won't feel better, you'll just go faster,
-Dave

 

[pinkpanther]

zman

You might see the drop off in power because on the downhills since was a rolling terrain you don't produce so much power actually it's hard to maintain high power output so that's why the low avg.

 

[82zman]

Thanks for all he insight. In general I think it was well paced with maybe a slight decline in the middle. My 20 minute test had an AVG HR of 173 and this event came in at 171. The last few minutes of the climb I managed about 320 watts, so I had a little left in the tank. I think Dave hit it on the head with the focus thing, I did catch myself in a few mental lapses where I was going too easy.

When I did the warm up on the trainer I noticed I was putting out much lower power compared to both HR and RPE. I used to run and it was not uncommon that if I had an off day sickness usually followed the next day and this is exactly what happened here.

Something I have discovered is sickness can be detected in a trained athlete before any real symptoms occur when you are doing an event that will push you to the limit like a TT. Kind of like a "stress test" detects heart disease

 

[daveryanwyoming]

...The last few minutes of the climb I managed about 320 watts, so I had a little left in the tank....

That's a big clue that your pacing wasn't ideal. It's not unusual to be able to hammer the closing meters pretty hard but if you ramp up that far above your target pace for the last few minutes then you were backing off somewhere out on the course. I always hope to ramp the final miles but if I pace the early parts well it takes all the effort I have to keep my power from fading in the final miles.

But it sounds like you weren't on top form with your cold so it's hard to know what you might have managed with better pacing. Keep working on it and see if you can't find an outdoor training venue for 20 to 30 minute sustained efforts from time to time. Basically these solid L4 training days are mini time trials where you can really work on pacing steadily from start to finish.

Good luck,
-Dave

 

[beison]

It's also only one event.

I've got a 4.25 w/kg FTP (340 watts), and a training partner has a 5.1 w/kg FTP (360 watts). We both road a similar TT course to the one you described--7 miles, rolling, 2 or 3 big climbs--and I beat him by almost 40 seconds.

Our respective ftp's say I should have lost to him, but that day it was not the case. Sometimes you just have an off day. If it keeps happening, then there might be something to fix, but I wouldn't get too worried if it's only this one time, ya know?