Ride modelling / calculator

michaelede

Bit of a nerdy question.

Does anyone know of any software / websites that can analyse a ride (either through Strava or TCX / GPX file) and then let you play with you weight and power (I guess ideally it would need a power curve but maybe just FTP would be adequate?) and see what effect it has on your ride time? I'd like to get a feel for how much more powerful and / or lighter I need to be to achieve specific times on a long ride. I appreciate that it is going to be a guesstimate but I have zero feel for how much more powerful I need to be to know an hour off of an 8 1/2 hour ride across Dartmoor, do I need a 50% hike in FTP or would 25% get me in the ball park?

Cheers,

Mike

imposter2.0

Just use speed as a proxy for power - and then try to ride at those higher speeds. That will tell you how far off (or not) you are in terms of fitness.

Brivelocoach

a Helpful site is www.raceshape.com

meanredspider

I'm not sure it's worth trying to calculate. Losing an hour, even off an 8.5 hour ride, is a massive amount - you're better off just getting out there and training. The other aspect that you'll totally lack in your power modelling is endurance - the ability just to keep going at a pace hour after hour. You could probably increase your FTP but how well you can sustain that is a different question as you're unlikely to be riding at anything close to it on a ride like that.

michaelede

Well I've ball parked it at a 40% increase in power to improve average speed from 20.5km/h to 25km/h, probably not unreasonable for a 40% in power to give a 25% increase in speed. As all things are likely to be fairly equal, course, bike, rider etc. it seems reasonable to figure out the speed required to go around in the time I require and then figure out how much more power was required to go at that speed. I guess the value has no real merit other than to give me an idea and I am not sure 40% in twelve months is really achievable (although I am starting from a low base). Will have a look at raceshape later, thanks for the link.

meanredspider

Power required increases in a cubic relationship to speed. Off the top of my head you'd need to double power to produce a 25% increase in speed.