Home› General Training Discussions

FTP based on group rides

UnknownUnknown
in General Training Discussions

 If this has already been discussed/answered, I apologize in advance.

 

Yesterday, I did a century ride with a group of the local roadies.  It was more race pace than "enjoy the century ride" pace.  Lots of climbing.  My tested FTP is right around 300W.  Yesterday, my norm power was 285 watts after 3 hours of riding.  I was pushing it on the flats and the climbs.  This is where my ignorance kicks in.  Since my NP was 285 after three hours of riding, should I assume my FTP is probably higher than 300???  When I test for FTP, I'm by myself and I do not believe I ride like I've "got a gun to my head".  When I'm with this group, they push me and I push them.  Thanks for any guidance.

 

Allan 

Comments

  • Keith WickKeith Wick
    Given that you were in a group ride, what does your max 60 minute NP say? Given that it's a roadie ride it is harder to interpret those numbers. If you were to look at your last 28 days power bin, where is your biggest drop?
  • William JenksWilliam Jenks
    Allen-

    I am a HUGE fan of Golden Cheetah (www.goldencheetah.org). You can feed it a representative amount data (say a month) and let it estimate your "critical power" based on the MMP curve. This works especially well if you have been doing a variety of "intervals" from short to long. My experience is that the "critical power" it spits out correlates extremely well with my tested FTP using the standard EN method. The latter is usually higher by a handful of watts. This method (my opinion) is a lot better than the "look for the big dropoff" method. :-)
  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    Allan, it's hard to say given the VI will be so different...regardless it's a great ride. I'd say you should test soon. image
  • William JenksWilliam Jenks
    Again, as long as you've done "as hard as you can" efforts at least as long as about 10 min, the GC estimate will not be far off. It's not a substitute for a good solid test, but it will give you a really good ballpark estimate!
  • UnknownUnknown

     Thanks guys.  I need to check out Golden Cheetah.

  • Tom GlynnTom Glynn
    NP of 285 for a three hour ride is a huge number, especially for a roadie ride. Were you hammering from beginning to end? I usually find these types of rides to have huge VI's, so riding really really hard for a while, and then lots of slower paced riding. I would guess your FT is in the 320-330 range.

    Check out Golden Cheetah, but I like the big drop off method image
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Over time you'll also get a feel for what TSS numbers mean. In my experience, if I put up 285 TSS in 3hrs I know I would be CRUSHED! I would definitely mark that day in my calendar as one of my hardest rides, ever. 285 TSS in a 4hr ride is about one of the hardest rides I can do, as much, much very solid, focused climbing. 285 in 3hrs...holy shit.

    So if you're not feeling this same reaction to your 3hr/285 TSS ride, then you likely need to bump your FTP, just don't know by how much. But I would definitely use the Pnorm from that ride as a benchmark for when you do this ride in the future. And...do this ride!! A venue/scheduled ride that has you putting up that kinda of work needs to be repeated, often. Great training.

  • UnknownUnknown
    Posted By Tom Glynn on 28 Sep 2011 08:55 AM

    NP of 285 for a three hour ride is a huge number, especially for a roadie ride. Were you hammering from beginning to end? I usually find these types of rides to have huge VI's, so riding really really hard for a while, and then lots of slower paced riding. I would guess your FT is in the 320-330 range.



    Check out Golden Cheetah, but I like the big drop off method



    There were three solid mountain climbs on this ride.  The first stated about three miles in and the pace actually picked up as we went up the mountain.  I'm a big guy (6'4", 188) so I try to stay toward the front at the start of the climb and then hope I can hang onto the back by the time we get to the top.  On the flatter/rolling areas, it ended up being a group of about 12 guys and I rotated the front with, maybe, two other guys.  The pace stayed up for most of this ride but it is definitely a higher VI ride.  Luckily, it is one I can repeat every year (if the organizers keep it going).  Any ride through the mountains, in the Fall, is a good ride!

     

Sign In or Register to comment.