Nov 18, 01:25 PM by Steve | 5 Minute Power Testing
Posted in Cycling & Data
I’ve been using the power meter for a few months now and figured it was time to do a proper test to determine my FTP and get a better idea of some of my shorter durations. So I spent a few days recovering, got my TSB (training stress balance) and set out to do a 5m test today on OSM, followed by a longer test Wednesday or Thursday, and derive the FTP using the Monod Critical Power Model.
I never was very good at taking tests… I went out and hit the little rise just out of my neighborhood for a warmup on my way to OSM for the test, where the first mile takes me just under 5 minutes all out. I figured I would ride the mile first at a moderate pace to warmup, recover for 5 minutes and then hit it again at full effort. I went out way too hard and backed off to a more sustainable pace. Somewhere along the way I decided to just go for it, but completely misjudged how long I had been going and gave everything for a minute, thinking… I don’t know, that somehow I could hold it for longer the rest of the way to finish the mile. I was wrong and basically exploded after 9/10 mile.
I sitll came away with my best 5m of 322W (5.1 W/kg) and 1m of 473W (7.5W/kg) efforts by a significant margin. I know I can do a lot more if I warm up better and ride it smarter. Note that the 4m of 355W (5.6W/kg) was much higher than the 5m because it cuts out the low effort period riding to the start of the climb.
If I plug in my 17:45 at 268W from OSM a few weeks ago, I get an FTP of 257, or 4.01 W/kg. I’ve skipped the hammerfest today so that I can rest and do a full effort on OSM on Thursday. I think if I put in about a 17m time that would come out 280-290W and give me the FTP of 270-280 I would expect.
My power profile is shaping up now too… I finally have something bordering on not pathetic at the short end. ;)
