Winter Cycling Plan Official Thread (Page 6)

StMaas - 2009-11-06 8:09 AM W1Q2 done last night...I seem to be challenged to get past that 100%+ HR mark

JorgeM - 2009-11-06 8:32 AM

This is a bit trickier indeed however you can get a guestimate baseline once we do the testing. You can use your trainer and speedometer as a way to set a benchmark for improvements though this will require for you to test under almost identical circumstances to reduce any variable that may throw off the result. By that I mean to set up your trainer indentical or as close to it every time you ride.

IOW, everytime you ride set the resistance on your trainer the very same based on what's recommended by the manufacturer, pump your tires to the same PSI recommended by the tire manufacturer, test around the same time everytime, fuel as similar as possible, do it in a ventilated area for cooling effects or use a big fan, etc. By doing all this it will be a nice attemtp at replicating similar testing circumstances all the time and that will help you as on the 1st test you can record what avg speed you can hold at your LTHR or LTRPE (going all out for 30 min). That way on next tests and when doing intervals your'll have an idea of what avg speed (gearing combo) you should have to achieved x or y intensity.
That way next time you test if for instance the 1st test your LTHR was around 175bpm and you avg 20mph and on the next round of testing you still have the same LTHR @ 175bpm but this time you avg 20.5mph while keeping all variables the same then you'll know you are going faster at the same effort which means greater fitness/power.

Another alternative is to guesstimate power by checking if your trainer manufacturer offers power conversions based on resistance and gearing combo. Some brands like Kurt trainer does, don't know if others do but check on their website, maybe yours do as well.

I hope that answers your questions and gives you an idea as to how to make sure your testing variables are as controlled as possible so you can replicate those for future testing and track fitness improvements

louiskie - 2009-11-06 9:15 AM

Makes sense. My only problem is I don't have a speedometer on my rear tire though so I will just do the tests and try to do an outside time-trial every month or so (not ideal because conditions change so much). Or I suppose I could get a cyclometer for the rear tire. Looking forward to #3 tonight!

louiskie - 2009-11-06 10:15 AM



Makes sense. My only problem is I don't have a speedometer on my rear tire though so I will just do the tests and try to do an outside time-trial every month or so (not ideal because conditions change so much). Or I suppose I could get a cyclometer for the rear tire. Looking forward to #3 tonight!

brownnugen - 2009-11-07 8:54 PM

Has anybody else had problems trying to print out the workouts for the week?  I tried to print it out, but I can not seem to get it to fit on one page. 

brownnugen - 2009-11-07 7:54 PM

Has anybody else had problems trying to print out the workouts for the week?  I tried to print it out, but I can not seem to get it to fit on one page. 

GoFaster - 2009-11-08 6:47 PM Missed out on Q3 this week, but got in a 2 hour outdoor ride today, so that kind of makes up for it.  I'll need to wait till tomorrow or Tuesday evening for the first test. It'll be interesting to see how this year compares to last year.