Performance measurement

[mattc]

I can do scatter plots in training peaks. Bcm 600 is a good choice. More likely to have longish steady power sections on that.

It would be great to compare the long "signature" climbs. Maybe Pen-y-Pass, the HenryDroidDeath (sp?) one before Dolgellau, Cross Foxes, Newtown, Tintern. Is that a lot of work? (Did you get much sleep on that one?)

GB:
Got it thanks. (opens in Notepad, anyway!)

[simonp]

I can do scatter plots in training peaks. Bcm 600 is a good choice. More likely to have longish steady power sections on that.

It would be great to compare the long "signature" climbs. Maybe Pen-y-Pass, the HenryDroidDeath (sp?) one before Dolgellau, Cross Foxes, Newtown, Tintern. Is that a lot of work? (Did you get much sleep on that one?)

I think finding the climbs in all the data would be the time consuming part.  It's something like 24h riding time at one sample every 2s => 43,000 samples or so.

I'm unlikely to find the energy to do anything this evening anyway.

[simonp]

BCM stages

power	np	hr
193	223	154
164	193	147
157	185	148
145	177	136
131	163	128
---
171	197	125
131	163	129
141	170	133

The first stage of day 2 is interesting - power almost as good as the start of day 1, but HR is much lower.
 
Edit: deleted duplicate row

[amaferanga]

Power vs HR is affected by cadence as well.  Higher cadence for a given power output will result in a higher HR.

How you cycle makes a bigger difference though.  My average HR in races is usually 10-20 bpm higher for a given normalised power due to the constant surges followed by recovery needed, compared to a normal training run that would be at a more controlled pace.

[mattc]

Yup -that's why I thought GB's mountain stage would be less 'efficient' than the preceding flatter bit.

And it's why I think comparing long climbs would be most productive. [must get that download and get into GB's data ... ]

[simonp]

Shirenewton	235	250	166
Machynlleth to Cader Idris	195	198	159
Cader Idris	191	192	151
Pen-y-Pass	190	195	145
Trawsfynydd	151	161	132
Newtown	181	187	142
Tintern	185	190	138

I've not included Cross Foxes as the pt's calibration was incorrect during that section (nonzero readings when freewheeling).

As before, numbers are power, np, hr.

It seems to suggest HR is dropping relative to power - though I'm a bit suspicious because of the calibration issues (it died completely by the time I was due to ride the K&SW 600).

[simonp]

Booked another test. Should be fun.

[simonp]

Well, I did my first ride using the Edge 705 - about 2h30, 70km.

Seems to work nicely.  It's nice having elevation data alongside the power data, and of course it should now be possible to log for any length of ride, given sufficient external power sources.

[inc]

I have just read this article by Joe Friel about estimating FTP www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/08/estimating-your-ftp.html  and it seems far enough out for me to be deemed inaccurate. For those with power meters how does it match up. I don't want figures just is it anywhere near accurate . It just needs a calculator, no riding to destruction required.

[nmcgann]

I have just read this article by Joe Friel about estimating FTP www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/08/estimating-your-ftp.html  and it seems far enough out for me to be deemed inaccurate. For those with power meters how does it match up. I don't want figures just is it anywhere near accurate . It just needs a calculator, no riding to destruction required.

I was surprised how accurate the estimate was for my parameters - it was 3W under my best race effort last season. Not doing quite so well this year though 

[mattc]

Am I missing something here - is he saying everyone under age 36 should be able to put out the same W-per-kg, no more no less?

Sounds exactly twice as useless as age-based HR-max formulae!

[inc]

Am I missing something here - is he saying everyone under age 36 should be able to put out the same W-per-kg, no more no less?

Sounds exactly twice as useless as age-based HR-max formulae!

There has been quite a bit of traffic on the powerage forum about this. His formula is around 4 w/kg with an allowance for aging. Anyone who uses a powermeter knows that is very good and probably unrealistic for most club riders. The problem is compounded by how an individual obtains their FTP. This formula was how to estimate FTP. The whole thing is a bit pointless as to be able to compare you have to test which gives you the figure anyway.

[simonp]

I reckon I probably got to around 3.5w/kg at best this season.  I'm 38.

Maybe I should aim for 4w/kg.

[mike]

I just scraped over 3 w/kg last year, this year is slightly worse (but my running & swimming are much better!).   I might see 4 if I can lose about 15kgs over the winter!

[simonp]

I got down to 66kg at one point.  This had a greater effect on w/kg than training, I think.

[amaferanga]

I don't think 4W/kg is really that unusual even in the lowest level (Cat 3/Cat 4) racing in the UK.  If it is then I should be blitzing my races, but I'm not 

[scottlington]

According to that calculation my FTP should be itro 396W.....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Bump...

sorry, just me falling off my chair...

[simonp]

There are a whole bunch of variables. Body fat % for one.

[Greenbank]

Best 10, 20, 30 and 60min weekly power outputs.

There's no best 60 min power since early June since I haven't out for a bike ride longer than an hour since then. The 2nd last 60 min power would have been a 3 lap ride of Richmond Park. The most recent 60 min power would have been the Snowdon & Coast 400 where I was taking it easy. You're not going to be looking for a new FTP record on a 400km ride

More interested in the general trend of the last 6 weeks than the actual numbers as I'm just getting back into commuting. Happy with it given what I can see, especially since it's all due to just over 100km commuting a week as my only riding.

[simonp]

I set my PB 1h and 2h power on the BCM this year... 

[Greenbank]

20min peak power jumped to 228W this morning (from previous best of 206W). The commute felt a bit harder but I put that down to a slight headwind more than anything. Graph continues lovely upward trends.

[DrMekon]

That must be fun to see the numbers going up. I hope power measurement comes down in price - I'd dearly love to have access to that data. I think I'd find it really motivating.

[Greenbank]

It's good and bad. I love the numbers but because I've only got a geared version at the moment I'm not commuting on fixed as I want to be.

Sadly I don't have a spare £1000 to throw at the PowerTap fixed hub just yet. I'll hopefully have it in time for the Dean (or the Elenith) whichever one I end up doing.