Oof. I’ll be the first to admit that I do not enjoy max effort fitness tests. No sir.
However, they are something of a necessary evil, if you are to work out efficiently.
My last test was over 6 months ago, which is far from ideal. But that said, shortly after I did the 4DP test I was struck down by the vile lurgy (read: Covid 19) and so it’s not really been a great year, fitness-wise. It took a long while to regain fitness after having to take it easy for so long, and that basically destroyed any chance of hitting peak fitness over the summer.
But let’s be real here.
I’m not an athlete. I’m not training for anything. I cycle for personal fitness, and when I’m outdoors, for enjoyment. These numbers don’t really mean anything. Though it is nice to improve… even if that results in harder workouts in the future.
Before we go any further, I said yesterday that whatever numbers I got out of this session would be taken with a pinch of salt. I don’t truly value the numbers kicked out by a ramp test. Feel free to berate me in the comments if you disagree.
For me, having now done the ramp test, the FTP test, and the 4DP test, I have to say I place most value on the 4DP test, then Zwift’s 20 minute FTP test, and in a far off third place, the ramp test.
Why then, did I not do either the 4DP test or the 20 minute FTP Test?
Well, it’s simple of course. I don’t have Wahoo SYSTM available at the moment, and I just wasn’t in the mood to do the 20 minute test.
The ramp test would be good enough to give me some indications as to fitness.
That’s enough waffle, let’s get into it.
The Ramp Test
When you begin the Ramp Test workout you get 5 minutes as a free ride warm up. That wasn’t really enough for me, mentally or physically. So I paused things, aiming to give myself about 10km or so to get the legs spinning.
Would it have been better to do a little effort first? Maybe 5 minutes at 200w, just to get the legs in the mood? Who knows. I kept it below 140w, aiming to get the legs up to 95rpm rather than hitting any target wattage.
What I found was that my heart rate was up.
Way up.
I could do an hour at 150w and never tip 140bpm. But with the nervous anticipation of what was to come, I struggled to bring my heart rate below 150bpm before I had even started. Talk about psyching myself out.
That alone probably cost me the most during this effort.
And it’s nuts isn’t it? Because as above, I’m only doing this for myself. What difference does it really make? Bonkers.
Anyway, off we went. The ramp starts nice and easy. But I can’t think of many other rides where 60 seconds zips by quite so quickly.
Well, I say that. But I mean only at the start.
Those 100w, 120w, 140w… etc, they pass by before you know it. You steal a glance up and it’s already 30 seconds in.
Not quite the same when you’re later on in the ride, I can assure you.
I’d looked back at my previous ramp. Before checking, I’d had a little mental wager with myself – let’s see if I could make it through the 340w interval. If I could hit 360w, I’d feel super proud. Looking at the previous attempt I could see I made it to 340w, but died off before half way. Interesting that I was still aiming for the same sort of region over a year later.
Up to 200w I was fine. After that my heart rate began an unstoppable climb.
At 220w I was at 170bpm.
By 240w I was in the high 170s, and at 260w I was in the mid 180s.
Concerned?
I was. It’s a while since I’ve pushed beyond the 180s, but by 300w I was at 195bpm.
At 320w I’d hit 200.
Frankly I’m amazed I managed to see out so much of the 340w block, with a max heart rate of 202bpm I was as much having to ease off due to that as I was because my legs dropped off a cliff.
Did I have anything left in the tank?
I’m not sure. I was sooo close to hitting the 360w arch, but had I done so I know for a fact I would have been unable to push for anything more than a few seconds. My cadence had gone, and I was desperate to stand up.
Mentally I feel like that arch was significant. So close, yet not enough. But further than last time. 30 seconds or so further.
So I feel I lost the mental battle today, not the physical one. Interesting.
Anyway, the results from this one show an FTP bump from 234w to 255w.
That’s way more than I’d expected. That would mean I’d need to hold ~270w for 20 minutes in the true FTP test. And that’s why I doubt the ramp test, really.
Also, I’ve injured my right knee, again. Actually, probably worse than last time.
The one unanswered question I have, and one that I won’t actually be able ever answer, is how much of a difference did that new chain make? I definitely could feel the worn teeth around the 200w range, but once I got in to the bleak depths of 300w+ I wasn’t really aware of anything except the pain.
I think I’ll bump my FTP to 245w and take an SST session as my next workout. However, I think I will stick to a much lighter recovery ride tomorrow just to see how the knee feels. So frustrating. But at least the hard work is done, and I can relax knowing I’ve no longer got to do another fitness test for a good few months.
