My First FTP Test

Right then. So today was the day. The big day.

FTP Test day.

Let’s get the excuses out of the way up front, shall we?

If anything I was too well rested for this. Due to bike troubles, I’ve had 8 days off the bike out of the last 12. Not great.

That said, I have found an excellent local bike mechanic who has resolved all my mechanical problems – MB Cycle Repair – highly recommended. Came to my house, fixed everything in his van, answered all my beginner questions… cannot recommend highly enough. Thank you!

My other “excuse”, such that it is, is that I decided that the entire ride would be in-the-saddle. No standing up to boost my performance. This had an impact, for sure.

But also, to the very best of my knowledge / research, this is how you’re supposed to do the FTP test.

Things started off easily enough. I knew this ride was going to be tough, but the 5 minute warm up was a gentle affair.

The warm up was followed by a block of 20 second increasing increments:

I did fine in this. And I was happy to drop back down for a 3 minute section at 115w 🙂

But then things got real.

The next block consisted of 3 minutes at 215w, then immediately bumped up to 2 minutes at 235w.

This was the first sign that I was in for a really hard time. I couldn’t make it all the way through the 235w block. Towards the end – maybe the last 45 seconds or so – the resistance just felt like it was getting harder, and harder. And my cadence dropped, and dropped.

And all I could think was: it’s cleat position.

So after this block, I paused the workout, jumped off the bike, and adjusted the right foot cleat to be further back.

I felt like I was pushing down with the toes, rather than around the ball of my right foot. I figured I would be able to put out more power, and generally feel better if I made that adjustment. And I did notice a difference getting back on the bike.

And truthfully, I needed the break. After that 5 minute burst I was feeling rough. Zwift gave me a 6 minute breather, but with the cleat adjustment I probably got more like 8 or 9 minutes off the bike. And I needed them, too.

With the adjustment made, I settled back into the easy 110w, and before I knew it, the 20 minute FTP test start gate loomed.

Passing through the arch, I made the decision to keep as close as I could to 220w.

I think I would have truly struggled to understand my potential had I taken an FTP test much earlier in my time on Zwift.

At least having had Zwift guess at my FTP – 196w prior to this ride – gave me some indication as to what to aim for.

I knew an average of 211w would get me to my target of 200w as an FTP. That’s because FTP is calculated at 95% of your average watts during the 20 minute test.

The first minute went by fairly quickly. There were new things to see on screen, messages to read as part of the workout, and generally I was feeling good about my ability to hold around this power.

The second minute also felt decent.

But minutes 3 to 5 were starting to feel hard.

And minutes 6 to 10… sweet baby Jesus and the orphans.

Most of the time I was not looking at the screen. Mostly I was staring either down, watching my sweat pour off me and onto the matt, or simply having my eyes closed, trying to push through the pain.

I remember looking at the clock around the 12 minute mark. Closing my eyes. Pushing for what felt like at least 2 minutes. Opening my eyes… and still being inside 12 minutes. That was mentally difficult to process.

Probably the hardest section of all was minutes 10-15.

I barely remember anything around this other than it went on for a very, very long time.

I also remember having to drop a gear as I was really struggling to keep above 210w. I chopped and changed between two gears for the remainder of the ride.

I tried my absolute best to keep to 210w or greater as an average, but I really struggled.

The one thing I will say is the last time I did an FTP test (not a proper one) I know for a fact I did not remain seated throughout. I used a combination of out of the saddle pushing to bump up my average watts, and then allowed myself respite blocks where I’d drop into the 140w ranges.

This time I did not. I kept in the saddle throughout, and therefore my average was much more consistent.

But oh my God, did this hurt.

Frankly I was gutted to see 195w as my FTP. That’s a 1w drop over my guesstimated FTP. But honestly, I think this is fair.

It took me a while to think it through, but if anything, my performance this time was stronger than anything I’ve done previously – in my mind, at least. Like I say, last time I got an FTP change I was in and out of the saddle. If I’d gone out of the saddle on this ride, I would have been able to score higher, I’m fairly sure of it.

After I hit that finish line though, my God. I was unable to keep pedaling. I had to get off the bike. I don’t remember pausing the workout. I don’t remember taking any screenshots. I don’t remember much.

I do remember laying on the carpet with my heart absolutely thumping. I had Oasis whacking out of the speakers, and my heart was pounding louder in my head than the music.

I had to get outside the house. Fresh air. A breeze. I somehow stumbled out of the house, down the back stairs, and sprawled face first on the lawn. I remained there for I honestly do not know how long. I had no idea how high my heart rate was, but it felt scary fast (it was at 199bpm I later found out).

Some time later, I managed to recover enough to return indoors, get back on the bike, and finish the 5 minute cool down.

I was already much more relaxed by this point, so it flew by.

Honestly though, that FTP test was no joke.

I thought climbing Alpe Du Zwift was hard. And it is.

But this was something else.

This was crazy. I worked my absolute nuts off. I have never pushed like that. At least, if I have, I cannot ever remember doing so.

I’m just not sure why my averages and overall totals are comparably low.

There’s no denying it. I’m disappointed I couldn’t break 200w. I’m disappointed I didn’t improve on 196w. And I’m disappointed I lost a watt.

But there are some positives:

The bike performed superbly.

I gave it my very best effort.

I finished with absolutely nothing left.

I completed the FTP test. Something I’ve been nervous about, and putting off for quite some time.

And I did it without getting out of the saddle.

What this says to me is that I can now use my FTP as a reliable measurement of my current fitness level.

I can make better use of the FTP Builder workouts to aim to better my performance next time round.

And there will be a next time. Maybe a ramp test though. Keen to see how that differs.

I think it’s fair to say all of my previous best records have had out of the saddle thrown into the mix. There’s no issue with that, in my opinion, but it skews the comparable performance of this ride.

I gave it my best, that’s all I could have done.