Power Mentor Group with Shane & Marc - Closed. (Page 4)

Other than making sure that it's working, I haven't tried it yet.  I will Tuesday though.  

Couple questions before I do: 1) GC won't automatically start like TrainerRoad, right?  TR will automatically start when it senses you pedaling (based on cadence, I think), but I think with GC, you'll have to click start, right?  2) Can you watch a video (like a Sufferfest video) and have GC still showing you all the target powers and whatnot?  I see how you can find certain SF profiles in there, but not sure if there's a mode that allows you to watch the video and still have the profiles showing.  TrainerRoad does this nicely, but I haven't played with GC enough to know if it also does.

I may try the ride using TR and capturing all the data in GC on Tuesday....heh, old habits die hard, I suppose!

I will be following this group from the outside as well and may pop in with some questions and provide some experiences.

Name:  Ryan

Story:  Married. 2 kids (2.5 & 7months).  Been doing triathlon since 2008.

Current Training:  Bike & Swim focus.  Run is my strong suit.  Just got a Powertap in early November.  I was using TR and virtual power for the last few years.  Looking to get into 70.3WC qualification type fitness this year.

2013 Races:  1 Olympic. 1 Sprint. Few 10Ks.  Had our second child so did not do much.

2014 Races:  Likely 3 Half Irons. Grand Rapids, Steelhead & Tawas with some Olympics sprinkled in.

What would make me a good mentee:  Been in mentor groups with Marc & Shane for the last few years.  Both are extremely knowledgable and look forward to learning alot more on training and racing with power.

I've downloaded GC and was able to link my speed/cadence sensor and HRM (Marc - thanks for the Youtube video, very helpful!).

I use the Fluid2 trainer and, based on a quick test run, it appears that power is roughly 10 watts lower in GC as compared to Traineroad.  GC must be using a flatter power curve.

I know its all relative and so it won't make a difference for our workouts, but just a heads up for those Traineroad users with the Fluid2 - don't be too shocked if your FTP on GC is less than what it was on Traineroad.

I have the Fluid2 model with the tension gauge that flips up as shown in the website below (not the one that you have to dial in tension):

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/cycleops-fluid-2-trainer

And so, I always pump my tires to 100psi and then flip the yellow tension knob on the Fluid2.  I would guess with the additional pressure from the trainer flywheel, I am actually running at > 100 psi.

Marc - one thing you mention in your post above is that you can manipulate power on your KK.  I thought virtual power was a function of speed only - i.e. if you alter then tension or the PSI it shouldn't change the virtual power as it would always be the same reading at a particular speed?

Gotcha, that makes total sense.  Now I need to get a power meter to see what me actual power number is! 

Mark,

What did you use for the # of turns to get it to line up?  I remember way back when you helped out with the KK VP confirmation but can't easily find the thread to see again what tension you used.  I use 2.75 turns with 110 psi in the trainer tire, this results in spin down when the unit is warmed up of ~14 seconds.

I do the same thing.  I have a dedicated trainer tire, so I don't really care if I leave the tension on it all the time.  If I rode that tire outside, I might....hah.

BTW, anyone have any troubleshooting tricks for a Garmin speed sensor?  I managed to drop something while I was riding a couple weeks ago, which must have bumped the speed sensor in some way or another....and it hasn't worked since then.  The magnet is aligned with the antenna on the GSC-10 and is so close it's aaaaaaalmost touching it (in fact, it was bumping it for a while after I dropped the remote on it...).  When I push the little button on the GSC-10, it flashes red, then it flashes green, then it does nothing.  I also changed the battery this weekend and it does the same thing.  I've tried to pair it with my 910, my 800, TrainerRoad, and Golden Cheetah.  Nothing can find it, so there must be something wrong, but I don't know what it is. 

Hmmmm, who would have though dropping a tiny remote for my fan would screw so many things up?  The remote seems fine....wish that were broken instead of my speed sensor (and making my PM seem slightly off!).  I guess it's not a very important metric, given that the computer uses GPS for speed when outside, and speed on the trainer really doesn't mean anything now that I'm not using Virtual Power.