ftp test take 2

A second try of the FTP test today. Hayakawa san kindly lent me his powertap wheel while he is Okinawa.

With the advice of my coach I decided to do it on the road, on the flat and into the wind.

There is a nice stretch of road on the coast between Izumozaki and Terradomari.

No lights. Few cars. Mostly flat. Always windy.

We did a 20 minute TTT on this stretch a few weeks ago. Solo I should have road to spare.

My condition: A light week on the bike. More sleep would be nice (!). A bit of a dry cough.

Weather condition: Perfect. Slight head wind. Nice and cool. Long finger gloves, autumn jersey, base layer, shorts.

Time of day: Mid-afternoon (asaren cancelled as Mark woke up just as I had one foot out of the door...)

Warm up:

Tempo pace to the base of the power station climb (15 mins total).

Raise it a little on the climb: approx 300 W / 150 HR.

At the traffic light in Takahama (28 mins total)

• 1 min hard x 1 min easy x 3

Easy to Izumozaki (20 mins, 40 mins total)

20 min TT:

Start at the traffic light in Izumozaki.

Careful not to go too hard too soon. Drop the gears gradually. In the 50 × 13 after 2 mins. Feels a little heavy. Up a gear. Drop it back after 5 mins.

Only looking at elapsed time. A perceived effort. A few gear changes for gradient and wind variations.

Feeling good. In the zone. But I'm running out of road! I'm entering Teradomari with time to spare.

38.8 kmph av solo into the wind!

I have to stop the clock at 17:24. I felt good. Better than good, I thought I had more to give in the last 2 minutes.

Still it was a nice steady effort.

According to Strava (lap 12) 360 W / 177 HR av.

What's next?

I hope this data is enough for my coach to estimate my FTP (functional threshold power). A 1 hour time trail determines this. So with a 20 min TT the numbers have to be tweaked and the actual FTP value will be somewhat lower.

This FTP value is the basis to determine power zones (similar in essence to HR zones). These power zones will form an essential part of my training plan.

Feels great to be training with renewed motivation and focus! More testing in a few days time...

Saturday's training: Road FTP power test (78 km, 400 m climbing)