Pacing using a powermeter.. ?

Jungli

Hi all

So am getting along quite nicely with my PT and I am doing the Southern Sportive in september. What is the best way to pace during a sportive ride and does this change then depending on the type, i.e. very hilly, distance etc.

I am using the Coggan levels as per the Training Peaks software so to known which of these levels to stay within/not to exceed etc would be a great help.

I have to date done one test which was a 20 min test on a turbo trainer (which was quite hard as it was quite warm) and have a recovery week coming up next week where I will do another one. The first test gave me a start point but not sure how accurate it was as I had just spent about 3-4 weeks off the bike due to being on holiday and then ill.

At some point also will do the profiiling test although racking up my usual rides and doing varied hard efforts over various tine periods have given me some of that info anyway.

Cheers for any help


Jay

Alex_Simmons/RST

I think some of this same post has been answered at wattage but it depends a bit on what the objective of pacing is. If we are talking about (a) finishing and (b) doing so in the least time possible, then you need to know how to dose your efforts carefully.

My advice on long hilly sportives is to:
- keep a lid on the power at the start of climbs, building gradually to a solid tempo level. Go too hard too early and you'll be forced to recover and trying to recover while going up a steep incline is neither fun nor easy and takes a long time and you go real slow

- keep a lid on the power overall for the early climb(s) and then let the body dictate the rest of the day. Too often riders stomp up the early climbs only to crack badly on the last climb of the day and end up walking half of it.

One of the best ways to think about the pacing challenge is to know (or at least reasonably estimate) what your mean maximal Normalised Power for the expected duration is likely to be. This is essentially the same as having an IF (Intensity factor) in mind for the duration. IF of course relies on you having a solid estimate of your FTP.

A 20-min test is OK but for long range power, then the best thing to have is a long range power test. If the target is a 6+ hr event, then the longer the test, the better it will be a predictor of performance potential. Depending on the individual and their training, then you might lose ~10% in power for a doubling of duration. So if your best 4 hour NP effort is 250 W, then best NP for 8 hours is likely to be ~ 225 W.

Then you can work out your NP for the expected ride by breaking up the ride into major time segments (especially mountains) and do an NP calculation on that. If the NP exceeds what you are capable of for the duration, then you'll need to readjust your power on the climbs for instance.

Have a search on the threads about La Marmotte, there was a fair discussion of it there.

Other things to consider include:
- fuelling strategy (and learning to regularly injest calories while going hard) and knowing the expected kJ deficit on the day
- impacts of altitude

If you really want to get specific pacing advice, then it can be modelled if the course profile is known. I have done this for Sportive courses (including La Marmotte) as well a TT courses.