where is good stretch of road for 20min FTP test ?

[Jensie]

We have lekker quiet flat roads in Klerksdorp, you are welcome to come and do it here.

[Maniax]

Flattish 10kms. Are you doing a 20min test?

1hour. fullgass with devonvale as the cherry on top

 

edit: although devonvale adds about 10min. its a steep bugger

Edited April 16, 2021 by Maniax

[Chris_]

There are a lot of other factors that come into play other than ftp. Especially when racing and profiling the type of rider and type of race.

 

Think of ftp, Cavendish doesnt have a high (relative) ftp, but will win races with a high max power effort. A triathlete can ride steady all day but not sprint.

 

FTP doesnt tell you any of this.

 

Lactate testing and understanding VLAmax, AT, Carb combustion, VO2max, all just as important. And there are compromises. You may increase 1 and another decreases.

 

Works for some of the top pro world tour teams.

 

Ja no, I understand all these differing factors. 

 

I was just curious if there was something unique about the ramp test, or just why D&D (or anyone) 'preferred' it.

 

I've only ever done one and it crushed me, I came out well below my 20 min number. I'd never heard of it before that.

 

 

Edit: added quotes to preferred, didn't want it to sound too concrete.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Chris_

[gtr1]

The thing with an ftp test is :

 

1. Its only an estimate

2. Depending on how you manage to structure the 20 min ride can have a huge influence on the final number.

3. It only gives you 1 number - ftp.

4. Other forms of testing can give better insights into your physiology, max power hr etc. Which can be more important

5. And I haven't heard of anyone who can ride at their ftp for 1 hour, which is the theory.

 

And I hate ftp tests, so anything that gives me numbers that are meaningful in a different way, I'm all for :-)

[bleedToWin]

...

 

5. And I haven't heard of anyone who can ride at their ftp for 1 hour, which is the theory.

 

...

Pretty sure I could hold 95% of my climbing 20min max power, given a 20 odd kilometer hill of similar (sustained) gradient. 

[Vetplant]

The thing with an ftp test is :

 

1. Its only an estimate

2. Depending on how you manage to structure the 20 min ride can have a huge influence on the final number.

3. It only gives you 1 number - ftp.

4. Other forms of testing can give better insights into your physiology, max power hr etc. Which can be more important

5. And I haven't heard of anyone who can ride at their ftp for 1 hour, which is the theory.

 

And I hate ftp tests, so anything that gives me numbers that are meaningful in a different way, I'm all for :-)

A thorough database of what power values you have done in the past is invaluable.

 

Looking at the Power Curve data on my intervals.icu profile is very useful for a couple of purposes:

 

1. Shows me my best-ever readings for different time intervals

2. Shows me how much I have neglected cycling in the past couple of months

3. In something like 947, I can look at the majority of the hills and see their durations and then see what I can hold for that timeframe from the Power curve. No use in trying to stick with the group if my numbers don't match, I will pay dearly at Kyalami for such efforts(at least on the 2019 route)

 

Best of all, the curve self-populates. Just make sure you do a big enough variety of all-out efforts and it will reflect your abilities accurately.

 

20 minute critical power is but one value on a continuum.

[Jbr]

Pretty sure I could hold 95% of my climbing 20min max power, given a 20 odd kilometer hill of similar (sustained) gradient. 

and what number is that ?

 

I know for a fact that I can't hold my FTP for 1 hour, did a TT couple weeks ago (organised my the Dville cyclery) and I couldn't even hit 300w avg for the 41 mins that it lasted, when my FTP is supposed to be around 320 depending of the tool used (haven't done a proper max 20 mins effort in a while)

[Jbr]

A thorough database of what power values you have done in the past is invaluable.

 

Looking at the Power Curve data on my intervals.icu profile is very useful for a couple of purposes:

 

1. Shows me my best-ever readings for different time intervals

2. Shows me how much I have neglected cycling in the past couple of months

3. In something like 947, I can look at the majority of the hills and see their durations and then see what I can hold for that timeframe from the Power curve. No use in trying to stick with the group if my numbers don't match, I will pay dearly at Kyalami for such efforts(at least on the 2019 route)

 

Best of all, the curve self-populates. Just make sure you do a big enough variety of all-out efforts and it will reflect your abilities accurately.

 

20 minute critical power is but one value on a continuum.

wow that power curve isn't looking good bud, what happened ?

[Vetplant]

wow that power curve isn't looking good bud, what happened ?

Stopped riding the road bike, which had the Power Meter   

 

I ended up selling it last week as I wasn't using it any more.

 

Only values that got populated there recently are the Zwift recovery rides.

[bleedToWin]

and what number is that ?

 

I know for a fact that I can't hold my FTP for 1 hour, did a TT couple weeks ago (organised my the Dville cyclery) and I couldn't even hit 300w avg for the 41 mins that it lasted, when my FTP is supposed to be around 320 depending of the tool used (haven't done a proper max 20 mins effort in a while)

Yeah, for a TT I would probably struggle too.

I recently did 365W up Franschhoek pass, meaning an FTP figure of 350W. I felt myself "recovering" at 350W after bouts of failed attempts to hold 375W. It's a wild guess, but it felt like I would be fine holding 350W for a good long time.

[Jbr]

Yeah, for a TT I would probably struggle too.

I recently did 365W up Franschhoek pass, meaning an FTP figure of 350W. I felt myself "recovering" at 350W after bouts of failed attempts to hold 375W. It's a wild guess, but it felt like I would be fine holding 350W for a good long time.

not sure what's your weight but that's a big amount of watts to be holding for an hour

 

I must go to the tokai mast one day to do a proper all out 20mins into 1 hour see what I do, last time I rode there with friends we went kind of tempo and I was quite impressed with the numbers we did, sounds like an ideal place to get a big ass number, but then that also means it's going to make all the following workouts impossible

Edited April 16, 2021 by Jbr

[bleedToWin]

not sure what's your weight but that's a big amount of watts to be holding for an hour

 

I'm a big boy by cycling standards at 77kg, so those numbers weren't even good enough for the segment top 10 for the year...

[DieselnDust]

How so?

 

it builds a better plot of your power curve and therefore accurate view of where your weaknesses lie.

[FootballingCyclist]

 my FTP is supposed to be around 320

 In my best Liam Neeson voice:

 

I will find you and I will draft you!!

[The Ouzo]

it builds a better plot of your power curve and therefore accurate view of where your weaknesses lie.

I dont need fancy devices and graphs to tell me my weakness is food

[bleedToWin]

Speaking of how to estimate FTP, does anybody have some insight into how Strava estimates FTP on your power curve?
I did 'n bleeding eardrums 10min effort on a climb on Saturday and my FTP estimate jumped up by 30W. New number seems unreasonably high. I'm guessing if I had to implement the estimating algorithm I'd do some kind of least squares matching to smooth functions that represent realistic power curves, but maybe they are doing something simpler?