FTP Test - Recommended routes in or near East London
wisdom-17
Posts: 10
Hi all,
I've just purchased a power meter and now need to do a 'field test' to establish my FTP. I plan on doing this by riding for 20 minutes.
Can anyone recommend any roads or tracks in or near East London where I'll be able to ride uninterrupted (no lights, roundabouts or junctions) for 20 minutes.
Appreciate any suggestions!
I've just purchased a power meter and now need to do a 'field test' to establish my FTP. I plan on doing this by riding for 20 minutes.
Can anyone recommend any roads or tracks in or near East London where I'll be able to ride uninterrupted (no lights, roundabouts or junctions) for 20 minutes.
Appreciate any suggestions!
0
Comments
-
-
Garage. Turbo.
Prefer to do it on the road to keep things consistent. Inner circle at RP looks like my best option atm.0 -
Garage. Turbo.
Prefer to do it on the road to keep things consistent. Inner circle at RP looks like my best option atm.
?
Turbo is consistent.
Yet again another great roadie myth... one creates more power on the road/turbo ..delete as appropriate according to your political/religious leanings.
Power delivery as down to the rider's abilities... that's it .. end of
of course if you can guarantee 20 minutes of solid head down/ar se up work on urban roads... do as yu wish.
Not that I am saying roadies are blinkered in any way shape or form.0 -
The only guaranteed way of consistent testing in a busy area is on the turbo.Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
ABCC Cycling Coach0 -
Still new to this all so learning as I go along!
My choice to do the FTP test on the road is dictated by the fact that I don't have a turbo trainer...0 -
Still new to this all so learning as I go along!
My choice to do the FTP test on the road is dictated by the fact that I don't have a turbo trainer...
Then unless you're willing to travel out of the area to, say, Richmond park or something you're a bit stuck.Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
ABCC Cycling Coach0 -
Lee valley road circuit0
-
Still new to this all so learning as I go along!
My choice to do the FTP test on the road is dictated by the fact that I don't have a turbo trainer...
So you shelled out what must have been several hundred smackers (or more) on a power meter, but not a turbo at a fraction of the cost? Priorities eh...0 -
Still new to this all so learning as I go along!
My choice to do the FTP test on the road is dictated by the fact that I don't have a turbo trainer...
So you shelled out what must have been several hundred smackers (or more) on a power meter, but not a turbo at a fraction of the cost? Priorities eh...
Good god, this place is patronising sometimes. A turbo certainly makes training more convenient, but is by no means essential.
Anyway, as mentioned above, Lee Valley is probably your best bet. Though a 20 minute test isn't the best indicator of FTP. Just ride as hard as you can for an hour and that is your FTP. Pacing takes a bit of practice though (as it does with a 20 min test too), so regular re testing is good to not only show improvements as training progresses, but also as pacing practice.
Good luck.0 -
-
Still new to this all so learning as I go along!
My choice to do the FTP test on the road is dictated by the fact that I don't have a turbo trainer...
So you shelled out what must have been several hundred smackers (or more) on a power meter, but not a turbo at a fraction of the cost? Priorities eh...
Good god, this place is patronising sometimes. A turbo certainly makes training more convenient, but is by no means essential.
Depends on your priorities...0 -
Thanks for the helpful suggestions guys. Lea Valley road circuit is also on my list, half price entry on Thursdays seems well worth it.0
-
Hi all,
I've just purchased a power meter and now need to do a 'field test' to establish my FTP. I plan on doing this by riding for 20 minutes.
Can anyone recommend any roads or tracks in or near East London where I'll be able to ride uninterrupted (no lights, roundabouts or junctions) for 20 minutes.
Appreciate any suggestions!
I do all my testing on the Inner Circle in Regents, better option than Lee Valley IMO as it's free and you can pedal all the way round it. Make sure you keep your head up, there have been a few cases of people sailing into the back of stationary vehicles.
My best 20 minute effort on a turbo is four per cent lower than the equivalent effort outdoors, inertia issues and heat build-up may explain the differences but some people find the converse is true.0 -
I do all my testing on the Inner Circle in Regents, better option than Lee Valley IMO as it's free and you can pedal all the way round it. Make sure you keep your head up, there have been a few cases of people sailing into the back of stationary vehicles.
My best 20 minute effort on a turbo is four per cent lower than the equivalent effort outdoors, inertia issues and heat build-up may explain the differences but some people find the converse is true.
Thanks for your advice. I must admit it is very easy to lose sight of the road in order to keep an eye on the wattage.
I went to the inner circle yesterday morning. Began my 20 minute test around 8:30 and it was relatively quiet except for some parked vans along certain sections, I think they're part of an art fair currently in the park. It would've been perfect except I had to come to an almost standstill at one point because a dustbin lorry was turning around in the middle of the road.
My FTP worked out to be 3.5w per KG which is a bit higher than I was expecting.
The road surface is a bit rough but a decent line can be found especially when there are no parked cars. I will be returning to do some interval sessions. Though I still want to check out the Lea Valley road track too, £3 on Thursdays doesn't seem too bad.0 -
Nice effort! I'm surprised it wasn't busier at 08:30.
Lea Valley is worth a shot, but I wouldn't personally think it'd be the best place for an FTP test. It's a 1 mile circuit, but there's barely a flat 100m stretch on the whole thing. It's a constantly rolling course and has a few tight corners where it can be difficult to get any power down, particularly the western-most hairpin, which is a >180 degree turnaround. Certainly not the kind of continuous effort that you might want for an FTP test, but that's not to say you won't get any good data out of it.
Here's one of my efforts from earlier in the summer and you can pretty much pick out the laps in the speed/HR traces from the repeating fluctuations due to all the up and downhills.
https://www.strava.com/activities/371302008/analysis0 -
Nice effort! I'm surprised it wasn't busier at 08:30.
Lea Valley is worth a shot, but I wouldn't personally think it'd be the best place for an FTP test. It's a 1 mile circuit, but there's barely a flat 100m stretch on the whole thing. It's a constantly rolling course and has a few tight corners where it can be difficult to get any power down, particularly the western-most hairpin, which is a >180 degree turnaround. Certainly not the kind of continuous effort that you might want for an FTP test, but that's not to say you won't get any good data out of it.
Here's one of my efforts from earlier in the summer and you can pretty much pick out the laps in the speed/HR traces from the repeating fluctuations due to all the up and downhills.
https://www.strava.com/activities/371302008/analysis
Ah thanks for the heads up. Wasn't planning on doing future FTP tests at Lea Valley, more for interval sessions. At the moment though the inner ring serves its purpose well for me.0 -
Cool, it's a good set-up over there so definitely worth a visit, but like I said not the pan-flat parcours you might be expecting!
If you're going anti-clockwise then watch out for the join in the tarmac leading on to the bridge before the hairpin. It can feel like hitting a kerb head-on sometimes, if you have your head down it could easily turn bad if you're not expecting it.0 -
The inner circle isn't bad at all, worth probably taking your NP as I know from sessions I did in there that half of it is slightly downhill.
I think Richmond is pretty tough to get a quiet enough time ,but if you gave it full welly for 20 mins round there and took the NP you'd be ok. Turbo is all well and good but its hard to motivate for and as a first effort it will be a lot lower than the road, that is fine when you've had a bit of time riding with power and you know that the turbo is going to hamper it a bit, but as a first effort I reckon the road is better too.Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com0 -
Plenty of uninterrupted roads in and around epping forest.0
-
Herne hill velodrome. I remember there used to be a weekday evening when you could take whatever on the track. Not sure if this still runs as I left London a year ago. Might be a bit busy too.0
-
Plenty of uninterrupted roads in and around epping forest.
I did think about this, Epping New Road being a potential candidate but don't think its long enough to be uninterrupted for 20 minutes. The road has roundabouts heading north.
Are there any roads in particular in Epping that you know of?0 -
Looks like about 8 miles from Woodford ish to Epping, two rbts - that is perfect, won't get much better than that. Rbt is not an issue if you pick a sensible time of day, not that a dropped watt or two on avg power makes any difference at all.Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com0
