Normalized power, average power & climbs
neeb
Posts: 4,473
Ok, so I have "Training & Racing with a Power Meter" on order from Amazon, but until it arrives... 
I know that normalized power is something like the power you would have been able to sustain had you managed to keep your power output constant.
I also know it's a lot easier to keep power more constant when climbing.
If my average power (including zeros of course) is X over an hour on a "rolling" ride (flat overall profile but with quite a lot of bumps) and my normalized power is (X * 1.118), how close might I expect my average power to approach my normalized power on a long climb of around an hour, e.g. Alpe d'Huez?
I know that normalized power is something like the power you would have been able to sustain had you managed to keep your power output constant.
I also know it's a lot easier to keep power more constant when climbing.
If my average power (including zeros of course) is X over an hour on a "rolling" ride (flat overall profile but with quite a lot of bumps) and my normalized power is (X * 1.118), how close might I expect my average power to approach my normalized power on a long climb of around an hour, e.g. Alpe d'Huez?
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Comments
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Functional threshold power from a *hard* hour will be closer to normalised power than to average power.
Of course as the effort becomes more steady state, then AP and NP converge.
However the best way to know what power you can sustainably climb at is to climb, as there are other factors to consider (e.g. bike set up, gearing, altitude).0 -
Thanks Alex, that confirms what I suspected.0
