20 minute Time Trial with Power Meter (Page 3)

No...you will not go slower.

Shane mentioned the obvious takeaways.  But the key takeaway for flat time trials is that you should not sacrifice raw power in order to achieve a better W/Kg ratio.

If you're currently at 225 pounds and 250 watts...that's a W/Kg of 2.44.  If you decided that W/Kg was the most important measure of bike fitness (for a flat TT) then you could simply lose 75 pounds by running and letting your bike fitness and FTP to drop to 175.  That would result in a new W/Kg of 2.56.  That's higher than 2.44...but I would bet anything you'll be much slower than when you were pushing 250 watts @ 225 pounds in a flat TT.  You would likely become a more efficient climber though.

So should I stick to hilly courses? I know when we do group rides I'm usually one of the first to the top, but on the flats I'm average. My first test was Dec. 15 and gave me a FTP of 176. But I weigh 138 so the w/kg is 2.82. Not good but hey I just started and I'm diligently training. Testing again this weekend. I've been playing with this calculator and it does take into account height and weight.

What's also interesting is I've looked at power data after long rides outdoors and the numbers are always higher than indoors.

you are confusing cda and w/kg...

Watts/ kg and watts /cda are just numbers. Neither one is better than the other.

The only difference is watts/cda is better at predicting TT capabilities.

As Shane said....push on the pedals hard, be as light as you can be and be as aero as possible.

so does it still make sense to do this exactly how my coach has it planned? (i.e. no 5 minute TT effort prior to the 20 min effort??)

I mean, it's him that i'm paying.

Speak for yourself

I mean that if you had a 150lb rider with an ftp of 250watts and a 250lb rider of 250watts and aero positions are both the same, the 150lb rider will likely have a lower cd and will go faster simply because he is smaller and won't catch as much wind.

Yes, but by that example, the reason you are going faster is that your cda is lower....not because of the lower weight and higher w/kg.

beebs - 2012-01-24 7:32 PM Then I'm going on a diet to lose cda.

Send your food my way, apparently I need to get larger

Yes. With your profile you should seek out the tris with the hilliest, nastiest technical bike legs that you can find. The flatter courses give the big guys an advantage.

How about the Alpe d'Huez Triathlon, for example?