fergie said:
Who said I didn't train or coach with Power. I don't have a powermeter on my bike. This is not to say I don't work with athletes who either have power meters, ergs that measure power or work out power output based on times done at the track.
I would have expected that. What coach (in a country with modern things like, say, electricity) doesn't have athletes who ride with PMs? But, I think the distinction is significant. So as to not make this personal, I'll generalize my comments. In areas of keen interest to me (all areas of interest), one of the most important decisions I make is how much credibility to attach to those who put forward ideas, points of view, opinions, analysis or research. Before I invest much time studying someone's thesis, I look at the credentials of the source. Coming back to this topic, I know from my personal experience in the last 7 months that there is no substitute for training and racing with power. Take NP as an example. I take that as an example because its significance is huge. NP is intended to reduce a variable power ride (which is basically every ride for a roadie) to its constant power equivalent. Now, if a competitive cyclist knows how to exploit that information (and many don't), that is huge. To appreciate NP, I don't think there is any substitute for riding many different courses with many different power profiles ranging from virtually constant power to highly variable power and at or near one's maximum sustainable power. I have done that. I have tested NP under all sorts of conditions, short rides and long rides, fresh and tired. I have raced a few races with power and have studied my power data post-race. The same thing goes for IF and TSS, which are derived directly from NP. I believe I can state without hesitation that I would not understand riding with power and the significance of NP, IF and TSS if I had not personally trained and raced with power. Now, don't misread my point. I am not proclaiming myself as an expert at riding with power. Compared to many on this forum alone, my experience is miniscule. I am a novice. But, I read extensively about power meters and riding with power (including everything on this forum -- that's right, I read every single post about riding with power) before plunking down $1200 for my PT SL. Yet, training and racing with power has enhanced my understanding of this incredible device and companion tools such as the CP software by at least an order of magnitude. One of the reasons I attach so much significance to Andy and Ric on this forum is that they train and race with power themselves and have done so for many years. Andy told a story on this forum about a TT he rode some years back the day after a multi-hour, hard RR the day before. IIRC, he said that the RR had left him completely drained, but that he was able to put out nis normal power in the TT. I paid a lot of attention to that post because he was saying that his body gave him misleading signals. Others on this forum (too many to name) have tons of experience training and racing with power. I read their posts very carefully. I don't always agree with their points of view, especially when my own experience contradicts theirs, but I read their posts very carefully. And, frankly, I expect people to apply the same standards to my posts. I usually try to provide the basis for whatever I put forward on this forum, but I am never, ever offended when someone asks, "What's your basis for saying that?"
. Good luck at your Natz. Thanks BP Did I justify my $1200 yet???
