For once it actually does feel like a decent amount of time has passed since my last FTP test. That was one to forget, and today’s could surely only be an improvement.
The long and short of it today is: I am about where I already knew myself to be. No surprises.
That’s not to say there weren’t things to be learned. And honestly, just getting through the 20 minute test is an achievement for me, as I’m sure it is for many.
OK, on with the show.
The thing with FTP Tests is that they don’t begin on the day of the test. At least, they don’t for me. Instead they live in my mind for weeks. There’s a build up, both physically and mentally.
Which is entirely relevant as it’s very easy to talk myself out of it on the day. Especially when there isn’t a true, set day. This isn’t like an interview or whatever, it’s a rough guideline. I set myself the goal of doing an FTP Test at the end of each Quarter, so it ‘had’ to happen some time this week.
Well, the sooner the better really, as I knew my bike upgrade was coming. But I wasn’t sure when.
I wanted this done and dusted early in the week. That way if the bike upgrade did happen, I wouldn’t be left without a bike and unable to get the job done potentially before the weekend.
Also I just wanted it out of the way.
My usual Tuesday session is Sweet Spot Training, which is usually one of the harder workouts of the week. So swapping that for the FTP Test felt most sensible. Also, I had a rest day yesterday, and Sunday was only a long, but light walk.
So in terms of preparedness, this was the best day.
Physically though, I know I am not in the best shape right now. I’ve been on a long and gradual decline for the past six months. I don’t know why that is exactly, but I can see it on the graphs.
Therefore I wasn’t expecting amazing results.
However, I was expecting to beat Quarter 2’s shocking 216w. That shouldn’t be too hard as that was an epic fail. I say that because in Quarter 1 I managed 249w, so that was a huge drop.
Lately the Garmin has been telling me that my FTP is, on average, in the mid 230’s. It chops and changes depending on the ride I’ve just done, but typically it has me somewhere between 234w and 237w.
This is important as truthfully that’s where I feel myself to be also.
Which is to say that if I did have to ride at my ‘limit’ for the full hour mark, I don’t think I could do much more than 235w average and not die.
So I’m aware that I’m nowhere near the 249w figure.
But the last three months have been fairly positive and reassuring.
And here in was, I feel, today’s first mistake.
I’ve found it helps me to set a target figure ahead of doing the FTP Test. This is to say the figure I need to hit to come out, after the 95% adjustment, to hit the number I’d like to hit.
The first mistake today was to set my target number based on that 249w figure.
See, I really want to get back there.
It’s ego.
100%.
And I can’t get my head around being in the 3.5w/kg range when I have been so close to my year goal of 3.72w/kg.
I plugged my numbers into Google, asking for 105% of 250, giving me 262.5.
That meant I had in my head that I needed to hold ~262w for 20 minutes. Which is about 112% of my current, realistic FTP figure.
Whoops.
OK, but you have to realise that I didn’t know this at the time. Blissful ignorance.
Let’s counter the first mistake with something I feel I did do correctly this time around. I was both well fed (toast, then porridge with seeds and berries), and hydrated before the ride.
I’d given myself enough time to digest the food before starting the ride also.
Ready for the next mistake?
Good.
So last night I went on a bit of a Google looking around for FTP Test tips. The best article I found by a country mile was this one called ‘FTP Test Strategy’ by the Human Cyclist.
One of the key takeaways from reading this was that I should do the FTP Test like I do my other rides. Which is to say that usually I do between 45 minutes to 1 hour of riding.
Therefore the better test for me to do would be Zwift’s FTP Test (Shorter) at 45 minutes, versus their 1h 15m longer test like I did back in March.
The reason being that I’d be doing a very similar sort of duration, and therefore be about as warmed up as ‘normal’. This is all in with keeping the test as consistent as possible.
And speaking of consistency, I usually stop between the first two efforts and then the big 20 minute test to have a toilet break. I did that again today.
Any form of irritation during an FTP Test is amplified many times over.
So I do everything I can to get rid of all distractions.
Chris, where’s the second mistake then, I hear you ask.
Good question.
The second mistake is that I changed one thing. One quite big thing just before the ride.
I wanted to hit the 95rpm marker to sit where I feel most comfortable on the bike. If I could dial it in on Zwift such that i was riding at 95rpm and hitting ~260w then I’d be golden.
Only I didn’t want to burn a bunch of energy testing this to find the exact spot. Not least because Zwift’s trainer difficulty slider doesn’t give a number. So it’s all a guess anyway.
But actually, writing this I am now wondering if this has any impact at all. Does trainer difficulty come in to play at all during a free ride?
I think I may have got this wrong.
Anyway, regardless I changed it and then was unable to hit my numbers at 95rpm, having to ride at 99rpm instead. This thrashed me after 10 minutes.
But again, I can balance this by saying that this was the only thing that changed between my usual test setup. I even picked out the usual course I use – New York’s Six Train. Anything to keep it consistent.
So in some ways it’s a good thing that I didn’t have the bike upgrades just yet. Maybe.
Anyway, enough analysis.
The real mystery, to me, lies in why my form has slowly declined this year. I can’t think what I’ve done, or more accurately am doing differently.
That’s frustrating.
My performance today really struggled from the 10 minute marker onwards. This seems to be because I set off at an unsustainable pace.
If the free ride aspect of Zwift is affected by trainer resistance then I really need to dial in the exact number to be using to ‘comfortably’ sit at 95rpm. Then I feel I will be on to a winner, or at the very least, have removed yet another variable.
Gear changes also did not help me today. But they were essential for controlling the ridiculous ~190bpm average heart rate. Every time I changed a gear I wanted to give up. It took so much effort to cling on and try to get back into the routine.
And each gear change cost me rhythm and that all important momentum.
Still, I saw it through and finished it. Because believe me from the 10 minute mark on I was really keen to quit. It was only through thoughts of shame that I’d face when sat here writing this that kept me going.
Like I say, ego.
So yeah.
Overall pretty much exactly where the Garmin has been telling me I am.
A marked improvement on last time, thank God.
Not quite where I want to be. And it leaves me with questions about how to structure my training. I guess I’m in the “pull from above” strategy that is mentioned on the FTP test strategy I posted earlier.
236w it is then.
Hmm.
Bike Repair Update
Oh, I should also say that just as I was setting off on my FTP Test today I got a call from the bike mechanic to say he would be picking the bike up today. It will be back on Friday, all being well.
So it couldn’t have come at a better time. Therefore the next two riding days will be walks instead.
