Cycling Fitness / Training Advice

Motivation

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7dBpdDlHDKw

Does anyone have any experience of getting TT power closer to Road power? I did BUCS 10 mile yesterday and suffered big time - about 80 watts lower than what I can put out on the road for that time (roughly 330). Has anyone experienced this dramatic drop in power from road to tt before?

Train in position. But that sounds like a lot.

Yeah have been training a few hours a week in it recently but will take time I guess. I have a feeling I am too low/ constricted on the bike and the position needs work. What power loss can be expected "normally"? About 10% or so?

10% is normal

How much time do you spend on TT bike vs. road?

In the 4 weeks almost exclusively TT, before that nothing (TT is a new build). I understand thats not a lot of time to adapt, but didn't think the power difference would be so marked

4 weeks is nothing.

True. I guess more time in the aerobars required then. Just a bit shocked yesterday to see my HR rise for such a low power

Also, you're looking at a single event/day. That also means fuck all.

First time's always a doozy...

Yeah true. No use crying about it - just need to get down to Regents on the TT rig more often

Maybe try your 20 minute test outdoors, on aerobars, and then use that as a basis. Saying that, I tried this and could not get near the 0.95 number yesterday - just one of those days where 30w below hour power was a struggle.

get down to Regents on the TT rig

POC.

POC?

Yeah that's a good idea, hard to get 20 minutes of open road around London but should be able to get a decent idea with some richmond laps. Did you find the same large gap in power when you started tt'ing?

Yes, although I could never put a number on the difference as there was the shifting variables of changing my setup (getting lower after more time stretching) and raising FTP whilst trying to spend more time on the TT bike. It's got a lot closer after the winter training, but it definitely is still pretty unpleasant at threshold.

Richmond is a good shout.

Pukes On Cock

Not many good routes for training near me I'm afraid (Kilburn), but POC sounds about accurate for Regents park on a saturday afternoon

Yeah ok so hard to quantify I guess. I suppose I was a bit naive trying to get close to road power in my first TT. Going to try Richmond in the week & see how it goes (Worried I've caught the TT bug now!)

Trying to get back into doing longer rides again after spending most of the winter doing intervals on the rollers. Kind of inspired by Mike Hall also.

Previously, have not got my pacing and eating and drinking right. For 100mile+ rides, what kind of %FTP does your NP end up being ? How often do you eat on the bike ?

Races or rides? %FTP varies a lot between 100mi TT and cruising around the lanes.

Frequency of fueling for me during a TT is ~30min but could be more frequent if counting drinks between gels/bars. On an audax it could be similar but is often 1hr because the food I'm eating is more substantial.

Thanks @hippy, it's for rides. For a comfortable 60miles my NP is around 80% of FTP, I guess for a comfortable 100+ miles I'm going to need to be lower than that ? 70-75% ?

100mi TT I seem to recall most people on TTF were saying they were around 80-85% so for a 'ride' I would expect to below that unless it's super hilly and you're smashing your NP up with crazy spikes. It's a bit personal but I'd probably start at 70-75% and see how it feels. If you're feeling fine half way, bump it up a bit, if still fine at 80mi then bump it up again. Then you will know next time to hit out higher or lower depending on how you felt first go.

That still should be pretty quick. If you just wanted to 'get around' then 50-60% and a few cafe stops for the LOLs.

It's swaddled up with a few different things but, yeah, the itching already! When the girlfriend isn't watching I've been jamming a ruler in there. You'd think there was a breathable option but I'll resist trying to stick holes in it.

Quoting out of context for the lolz.

Also, I used to use a bbq skewer...

Just had a look and the last few longer rides (60-80 miles) I did were all around 0.85 IF (so 85% of FTP, I'm assuming) and they were all 'pushing on' but not killing myself. For me that seems to be a comfortable intensity that wouldn't drop over 100 miles, but I'll see later in the week! Yesterday I did 63 miles with a lot of pretty quick climbing then rode back into an enormous headwind and it was 0.84 IF. I may be wrong, but I suspect NP for solo rides are lower because there are fewer massive spikes (e.g. village sign sprints) that you get on group rides; I didn't really go over 600w yesterday.

On a slightly related note, and apologies if I'm preaching to the choir, but if you're looking for good on-the-bike food that isn't gels then Aldi bars are excellent. They do really cheap fruit bars which are just fruit mashed together (£1.50 for 6, I think) and also 'Hike' bars (50p each), which are mashed date with protein added and are AMAZING, especially the cacao ones.