For today’s ride, I picked the MyWhoosh Tempo #9 workout, which closely matched what I’ve been aiming for all week. This session was essentially structured as two 20-minute efforts around my Functional Threshold Power (FTP), creating a decent experiment as to the validity of my recent FTP change.
The workout itself is a tempo effort, or at least it’s designed to be. It consists of seven minutes at 83% FTP, followed by three minutes at 95% FTP. This cycle is repeated twice, then you’re rewarded with a five-minute breather before doing the set again.
To up the intensity a bit today, I increased my in-game FTP from 204 watts (the result of my last ramp test) to 214 watts. I wanted to see how I’d cope with the higher intensity… even though that is what I had been riding at for all the rides pre-Ramp test.
I’m definitely glad I increased the intensity because, even with the boost, I didn’t feel hugely taxed by this ride. By the final seven-minute effort, I was starting to tire, but it wasn’t overwhelming—just that my legs were getting a bit fatigued. I could still finish comfortably, without feeling like I was about to hit a wall.
At an hour and seven minutes, this was my longest workout (and ride overall) since my crash, making it a bit of a milestone. Even though this workout didn’t include any specific cadence drills, each three-minute interval recommended a higher cadence. I shifted from 95 rpm during the seven-minute efforts up to 100 rpm for the three-minute intervals, which definitely got the sweat dripping nicely.
I’m now absolutely certain that the FTP figure of 204 watts is practically useless for me. I don’t see much value in using it, so I’m planning to set my FTP back to 215 watts in-game. While that’s not the number I reached at the end of my last ramp test, I don’t feel there’s any real benefit in working at a lower level.
This workout felt comfortable within its structure even at the higher intensity, so I’m confident 215 watts will be a better fit going forward.
Overall, it was a solid workout. While it wasn’t exactly the 2×20 minute FTP efforts I had hoped for to validate (or invalidate) my FTP from the ramp test, it was close enough to give me a pretty good idea—and really just confirmed what I already suspected. So, I’m glad I did it.
I’m also happy to have wrapped up another week on the bike. I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow’s walk, which I’m treating as a kind of rest day—even though it’s still a long walk, so it’s active but easier on the body. Then I’ll have Monday completely off the bike and pick things back up on Tuesday.
