The official TrainerRoad thread

jotko

Simmotino wrote:

Hey, no ridicule here!

Ha ha, lets see how much I use the bucket first.

Anyway, a low number will obviously be due to the inherent inaccuracies of virtual power, a high number will definitely be due to my raw athleticism.

AndrewGilbert

Bought a secondhand road bike in April this year and recently bought Kurt Kinetic Road Machine and signed up to TR and have just completed Base1 using an FTP of 192 based upon my intial 8 minute test.

I think that I might have taken this first test too easy as my latest test has my FTP at 235. I would love to claim that I have improved my FTP by 22% but reckon that at least half of this must be down to an improvement in my ability to assess what I can maintain. I have a sneaking suspicion that the next 6 weeks sessions are going to be a lot harder and that the fan is going to have to be cranked up a speed or two.

Simmotino

Some of it *will* be improvement but yes, certainly there will be an element of mental 'tuning' and regain of form taken place. I had the same thing myself very recently (23% increase from first test) and it's not all improvement.

Still take heart from the increase though as the 6 weeks of work previously will undoubtedly have contributed to the rise.

Oh, and the next 6 weeks will be harder!

ETA: Welcome to the forum!

kleinstroker

Did Carson today and really liked it, as it was a nice change of pace from the usual 95+ cadence. I think i'll be doing this one again, as I need all the help I can with climbing practice.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/149237

Bokoshoko

Need some opinions if possible...

I completed the Novice Century Low Volume plan prior to Christmas, took a week off, then did a FTP test. Since then I've been doing 2 threshold sessions, 1 sweet spot and 1 endurance session per week. That's around 5 and a bit hours and around 360TSS.

I like the structure imposed by following a specific plan but would appreciate some thoughts on which plan to go to now or whether I should just stick to what I'm currently doing.

Goals are simple; lose weight, cope with 100 mile event(s), ride up some big mountain in France later in the year.

TIA

markp80

Did anyone receive the email from Sufferfest about the Tour of Sufferlandria later this month, and is anyone planning to give it a go? Sounds like an interesting TrainerRoad challenge! (although I can't personally join in, thankfully).

From the emial -

Full Schedule:
Saturday, Jan 26th: Hell Hath No Fury
Sunday, Jan 27th: The Hunted
Monday, Jan 28th: Extra Shot + Fight Club
Tuesday, Jan 29th: A Very Dark Place
Wednesday, Jan 30th: Angels
Thursday, Jan 31st: The Wretched + The Long Scream
Friday, Feb 1st: The Downward Spiral
Saturday, Feb 2nd: There is No Try + Revolver
Sunday, Feb 3rd: Local Hero
As we said, we'll send you more details in the near future and also post them on our Facebook page. But, in short, to join the ToS, you must simply commit to following the schedule above and ride yourself into the ground each day. Join the community on our Facebook page for inspiration in those dark moments between stages to hear and share stories of HONOR GLORY AND VICTORY.

Although you can do it on your own, those who complete and register their 9 days with our partner, TrainerRoad.com, will be be eligible for daily prizes and thrown into a pool of prizes from the 'fest, TrainerRoad and others at the end of the event.

Cheers,
MarkP

manxshred

I saw that, no chance I will do it. Way too much hard work!

jotko

Got my ANT+ USB yesterday and now have my setup all working, was very easy actually, was expecting more fiddling around.

I am 'working from home' today so will try and do the 20 minute FTP this afternoon - I am actually quite scared.

Simmotino

jotko wrote:

Got my ANT+ USB yesterday and now have my setup all working, was very easy actually, was expecting more fiddling around.

I am 'working from home' today so will try and do the 20 minute FTP this afternoon - I am actually quite scared.

Good luck! As they'll tell you during the ride, the most important thing to remember is - Don't go out too hard!

GiantMike

MarkP80 wrote:

Did anyone receive the email from Sufferfest about the Tour of Sufferlandria later this month, and is anyone planning to give it a go? Sounds like an interesting TrainerRoad challenge! (although I can't personally join in, thankfully).

From the emial -

Full Schedule:
Saturday, Jan 26th: Hell Hath No Fury
Sunday, Jan 27th: The Hunted
Monday, Jan 28th: Extra Shot + Fight Club
Tuesday, Jan 29th: A Very Dark Place
Wednesday, Jan 30th: Angels
Thursday, Jan 31st: The Wretched + The Long Scream
Friday, Feb 1st: The Downward Spiral
Saturday, Feb 2nd: There is No Try + Revolver
Sunday, Feb 3rd: Local Hero

If you do these workouts properly it's unlikely you'd be able to complete all 9 days. I thought the that Sufferfests were supposed to be done when you were rested because they are designed to take a lot out of you. By day 5 most riders would be mediocre at best.

markp80

GiantMike wrote:

MarkP80 wrote:

Did anyone receive the email from Sufferfest about the Tour of Sufferlandria later this month, and is anyone planning to give it a go? Sounds like an interesting TrainerRoad challenge! (although I can't personally join in, thankfully).

If you do these workouts properly it's unlikely you'd be able to complete all 9 days. I thought the that Sufferfests were supposed to be done when you were rested because they are designed to take a lot out of you. By day 5 most riders would be mediocre at best.

- I can't disagree with you there Mike, I struggle to do a single Sufferfest at 100%, let alone attempting nine on consecutive days. I just wondered if anyone on here was giving it a go, seeing as they are linking it with TrainerRoad.

MarkP

markp80

jotko wrote:

I am 'working from home' today so will try and do the 20 minute FTP this afternoon - I am actually quite scared.

- Great! Are you going to try one of the plans?

jotko

MarkP80 wrote:

jotko wrote:

I am 'working from home' today so will try and do the 20 minute FTP this afternoon - I am actually quite scared.

- Great! Are you going to try one of the plans?

Thats the idea - going to do the Base 1 plan I think.

It actually has the 8 min FTP test as the first workout, but trainer road website seems to recommend the 20 min test first.

My miles have dropped to almost zero over last few weeks so whichever one I do is going to be a wake up call!

shazzz

jotko wrote:

MarkP80 wrote:

jotko wrote:

I am 'working from home' today so will try and do the 20 minute FTP this afternoon - I am actually quite scared.

- Great! Are you going to try one of the plans?

Thats the idea - going to do the Base 1 plan I think.

It actually has the 8 min FTP test as the first workout, but trainer road website seems to recommend the 20 min test first.

My miles have dropped to almost zero over last few weeks so whichever one I do is going to be a wake up call!

I always do the 20min test rather than the 8min test. It's what "the book" suggests (with caveats I know), and it seems logical to me that the longer the test is, the more likely you are to get an accurate reflection of FTP.

jotko

Well, I just did the 8 minute test and managed to avoid needing the bucket (just)

Here it is - http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/150262

Despite being told not to go out too hard, I, err, went out too hard lol. The 2nd 8 minutes was better paced but I had nothing left at the end.

FTP comes out at 204, LTHR 165

That is first proper workout for ages so I am sure I can do better, hopefully once I get through the base 1 program I should see a good improvement.

Cheers for encouragement anyway, great thread!

Simmotino

Good work and yes, looks like you went out just a little too hard! More consistent on the second interval though, so adjusted well.

Good luck with the Base I. I'll wager you'll be hooked inside a week!

jotko

Simmotino wrote:

Good work and yes, looks like you went out just a little too hard! More consistent on the second interval though, so adjusted well.

Good luck with the Base I. I'll wager you'll be hooked inside a week!

Yes - first time I have done anything like this so need to get used to pacing myself. My heroic dash for the line on the first 8 min interval ended in utter failure with about 10 seconds left, ha ha.

Gayley up next, will have a crack at that on Thurs. I have 5-saide football tomorrow so that should be ideal preperation.... ouch.

Simmotino

Hey, I've done two of them now (20 minute variants) and I can't pace myself either, so not a big problem!

ChrisSA

I was all set for the 20 minute test tonight, and the power kept fluctuating....then disappeared. Looks like the cadence sensor was on the way out, and now it's toast. I'll have to retry tomorrow with the sensor from the other bike.
Bah!

robklancs

This tour of suffalandria, I'm assuming you need to own all of the videos? Too expensive for me so I'm out, nothing to do with a lack of ability of course.

mikenetic

ChrisSA wrote:

I was all set for the 20 minute test tonight, and the power kept fluctuating....then disappeared. Looks like the cadence sensor was on the way out, and now it's toast. I'll have to retry tomorrow with the sensor from the other bike.
Bah!

We had a similar issue with one of our bikes. It turned out that it was just that the cadence wheel sensor pickup was right on the very edge of the activation range of the magnet (Garmin GSC10). Power fluctuated, and wouldn't go above a certain level. Moving the pickup arm towards the spokes cured it. It was as if above a certain rotational speed the pickup didn't have time to respond to the passing magnet.

Did Tunnabora this evening. Quite a tricksy one with the repeated minor cadence adjustments.

manxshred

That tour of Sufferlandia is crazy. I did The Hunted last night with slightly tired legs.
There is no way you could keep up that level of intensity over the days.
I got to the last pyramid sprints and just had nothing left to give. The final sprint just didn't happen at all.

markp80

ManxShred wrote:

That tour of Sufferlandia is crazy. I did The Hunted last night with slightly tired legs.
There is no way you could keep up that level of intensity over the days.
I got to the last pyramid sprints and just had nothing left to give. The final sprint just didn't happen at all.

I had exactly the same problem last time I did Fight Club, when I wasn't tired - managed to (just) maintain the base level for the final interval but no way would the legs do the overlaid sprints.
Looks like there's still no takers then!

sunburntknees

You could scale the workouts down if you wanted to complete the 'tour'. Personally, I don't own all the vids and I'm not able to get on the turbo every day, so I'm out.

jgsi

I'm back (sort of) http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/151975

jotko

'Working' from home again today.

When I have finished my DIY I will be doing this - http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/workouts/1642

Can still feel the FTP test in my legs and went swimming and played football yesterday so I hope it is not too savage!

meesterbond

I think I'd better subscribe to this thread.

Downloaded the software and signed up on Friday, set up all the kit only to find that my Garmin Ant stick wouldn't pick up anything. Quick visit to Amazon and the Suunto version was winging its way to me (just how tiny is that thing).
Anyway, worked perfectly... I think. I'm using a Minoura V150 which isn't listed as supported but I found a thread which implies you could use the setting for one of the other Minouras so hopefully it's not too far out.

I did the 2x8min test last night, which nearly killed me yet suggested my FTP should be about 185... I've got nothing to compare this against for accuracy, but sounds like its in the right ballpark. The pacing was a bit all over the place, but you've got to start somewhere.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/152217

It's a great app though, the hour flew by, even if I was a mess afterwards. I've used the turbo w/ sufferfest vids etc for a while but never had much structure to the training so this should help immeasurably. I'm thinking Intermediate Base I is probably the best plan to start from?

jotko

meesterbond wrote:

I think I'd better subscribe to this thread.

Downloaded the software and signed up on Friday, set up all the kit only to find that my Garmin Ant stick wouldn't pick up anything. Quick visit to Amazon and the Suunto version was winging its way to me (just how tiny is that thing).
Anyway, worked perfectly... I think. I'm using a Minoura V150 which isn't listed as supported but I found a thread which implies you could use the setting for one of the other Minouras so hopefully it's not too far out.

I did the 2x8min test last night, which nearly killed me yet suggested my FTP should be about 185... I've got nothing to compare this against for accuracy, but sounds like its in the right ballpark. The pacing was a bit all over the place, but you've got to start somewhere.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/152217

It's a great app though, the hour flew by, even if I was a mess afterwards. I've used the turbo w/ sufferfest vids etc for a while but never had much structure to the training so this should help immeasurably. I'm thinking Intermediate Base I is probably the best plan to start from?

Nice - we are at pretty much the same stage. I am dong Base 1, should do 2nd workout today at some point.

Not sure how accurate the absolute virtual FTP number is, I think it is best to just measure yourself against yourself.

Done some bike fettling since I did the FTP test, hopefully that will earn me a (virtual) watt or two

Simmotino

meesterbond wrote:

I did the 2x8min test last night, which nearly killed me yet suggested my FTP should be about 185... I've got nothing to compare this against for accuracy, but sounds like its in the right ballpark. The pacing was a bit all over the place, but you've got to start somewhere.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/152217

It's a great app though, the hour flew by, even if I was a mess afterwards. I've used the turbo w/ sufferfest vids etc for a while but never had much structure to the training so this should help immeasurably. I'm thinking Intermediate Base I is probably the best plan to start from?

To be honest, if it's only within the confines of setting a benchmark for the turbo, it doesn't really matter what FTP comes back as, provided everything else is constant, all improvement/effort/etc. will be relative to that. I think it's only significant to get it as accurate as possible if you are also using power numbers out on the road where the difference of inaccuracy would have an impact.

Base I is the 'foundation' plan, so a good one to start with if you are new to turbos and structured training. Builds as the plan goes on and has some useful drills within the workouts for pedal stroke etc. which help form and efficiency.

Good luck!

(As an aside, you can also drop in Sufferfest videos to some TrainerRoad workouts to get the best of both worlds. There is a video on the TR site that shows you how.)

Wrath Rob

Did Galena last night. After a hill training session on Tuesday where I'd run my legs to exhaustion. NP was 6w lower than last time I did it and it was a real mission to get through the 3rd 20 min interval. Still, what doesn't kill you and all that.

Next FTP test scheduled for Tuesday but I don't think this one will see as good an improvement as the last one.