ABP rides - what are you logging?
I don't target a specific wattage but typically just use 80% FT as a lower limit I try ton to drop under aside from taking turns and dealing with stops/traffic. Today I went 2:45 with IF - .86 and .89 for the 2:25 not including WU/CD. Just curious what kind of IF everyone else is logging on steady ABP rides?
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I always considered ABP rides tempo, so anything in the 80-85% range is what I aim for unless it is a short ride, an hour or less, without any interval work.
Today was a typical example for me. I went 2 hours (two weeks before IM CDA), with an IF of 0.767 including a 20 minute warmup and all stops and starts. Looking my power file, in segments where I was going steadily, without interruption, I was doing a touch over 0.8 IF. So I had about 1 hour, 40 minutes of a good "80% ride, with a 30 minute run afterwards, half at LRP and half at MP. My TSS for the 2 hrs, 8 minutes was 126.
I think the answer is highly dependent on your surrounding training. Personally, I never ride with an IF that high. Even L4 or L5 intervals still yield lower IFs. Of course, I take about 30min to warm up too (sometimes longer)...
Thanks, Chris
To be honest, my ABP rides usually yield higher IF's than my long rides where I do stick to the workouts as written (that meaning, warm ups, cool downs and rests between sets, as well as, actually trying to stay in the zones). On my ABP rides I'm usually out chasing the hubby so it's a much less steady ride as I hammer the hills to close the gap. The result is a higher VI + IF. The end result is usually one weekend ride with a .8-.83 IF and then one north of that. Obviously...some weekends are better than others.
Here in VA Beach it's all flat so I'm on the gas 98% of the ride with only very quick breaks for turns and dealing with intersections. I guess if you had more rolling to hilly terrain your VI could be up a bit if you work the climbs but you could still be pushing on the back side provided it's not a bombing downhill. Do folks in hillier areas basically treat these rides like unstructured intervals instead of trying tpo maintain a more or less steady effort for extended periods?
I should note that my ride yesterday was my only long weekend ride so it wasn't following a typical Sat ride format...although I did race an Oly on Sat so i wouldn't necessarily say i was fresh.
Sunday for me was 3 hours, 267 np, 2500 ft of climbing, 52 miles, .79
I considered a bump up for FTP but my mid-week intervals say otherwise. 2X15 is managable but 2X20 is pretty damn tough. The Oly tri on Sat reminded me yet again that I'm much better at moderate efforts for longer periods. I was barely getting into my groove on the bike when I hit T2. I'll take 2hrs @ 90% any day over a 40k TT.
I never managed to get much above .8 for those rides. I always had better overall numbers doing 100 intervals and .85 intervals that just trying to push the whole time.
In my experience, finishing IF for most rides is largely a function of terrain. Any coasting, time off the gas can really impact your IF. I can climb nearly 3.5hr continuously from my house and be at .87 when I flip it and come down. I did .83 for ~5:20 on the IMLP course this weekend and was pretty well shagged afterwards, though I felt strong all day.
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