For a while now I’ve been finishing rides and the Garmin has been quick to inform me that my FTP needs updating. And no, I don’t mean upwards.
Now, normally I just dismiss the prompt as my theory goes that if I wasn’t intentionally doing a max effort, what the heck use is an updated FTP figure going to do for me? But then, I’m no scientist.
The figure it tends to throw at me is around the 235w mark. Personally I don’t hold much value in the 20 minute time being a representation of my hour power. My 20 minute power figure is 246w. That’s 95% of a 258w average over 20 minutes.
Could I hold 246w for an hour?
I honestly don’t think I could. The best test for this kind of thing seems to be the Alpe du Zwift, which fortunately I’ve not been forced to do in ages now. The next best thing is hour long efforts where I purposefully place myself with a fast pack, then cling on for dear life for as long as possible.
And that’s how we get from all those words in to today’s ride:
Makuri 40, a new route on Makuri Islands as part of the Tour of Makuri Islands series.
The Route
As far as I am aware, this route takes in most of Makuri Islands – but not all of it. It doesn’t hit any of the named KOMs, but don’t be fooled by that, there’s 300m of climbing in store and two climbs that are made harder by coming in the last half of the route.
Speaking of climbs, Makuri 40 wastes no time in chucking you straight into a climb after leaving the pens. If you’re racing this one, be sure to have taken a warm up.
The see-through green arch (above) marks the start of the route – a tiny lead in from the pens of just 130m and you’re underway. Remember that arch, and the aggressive gradient as this will be your finish line in another 40km’s time.
The climb from the off takes you up towards the Castle. I didn’t get a screenshot of it, but to the best of my recollection there was a weird dragon’s claw sticking out of the ground around there. I quite like it when Zwift throw in obviously computer game elements rather than always trying to emulate the real world. Think dinosaurs on Watopia, that kind of thing.
After that initial climb it’s ideal to keep with a fast pack as from the Castle it’s either long and flat, or a gradual descent through Yumezi’s fishing village and into another village who’s name escapes me. I really must dig the literature back out and double check.
Because it’s flat, it’s fast. I was hovering around tempo and threshold to stay in the pack but we were keeping a solid pace up in the 40+ kph range all the way to Yumezi tunnel heading into the perma darkness of Neoyko.
It’s more of the flat and fast stuff only inside Neokyo. Nothing uphill at all in there.
Before I knew where I was we were heading out towards the new lands. That suspension bridge indicates the start of the crossing towards the caverns.
I remembered – vividly – the brutality of the climb in Stage 3 and the was immediately apprehensive as we started heading out into the second half of the ride and the remaining 170m of climb still to come.
Fortunately today I’d managed to pick up a feather power up coming across the line in the Alley Sprint back in Neokyo and I’d held on to it to help with the joys of the Festival Harbour Climb. That was the one that very nearly ended me on Wednesday.
This time around I was prepared for where it got steepest and I dutifully saved my power up for the worst part.
Being a group ride rather than a race, and being almost double the distance, I didn’t try to hang on with the pack over this climb. I took it at my own pace, but still managed to come out with several other riders around me. Perfect for the drop down to the other side of Urakazi island.
The second and final climb of the route hits with 6.3km left to go.
Going into this one I was with a bunch of 20 or more riders.
Coming out of the top I was left with just three around me. And that’s not to say I’d dropped them.
Quite the opposite.
I’d been left behind very early on, once more climbing my own climb. For the distance and duration – beyond my regular length or intensity of ride – I feel like I put in as good an effort as I could here.
Truthfully I wanted it to be over with, and knew once we hit the top it surely must be.
Well… not quite.
Our little group of 3 managed to catch 2 stragglers further ahead. That gave us a pack of five with a much larger group rapidly gaining on us from behind with only ~1.5km to go.
I know this wasn’t a race but I’d worked this hard and didn’t want to lose any further spots.
Someone came on the chat and informed us that the final 500m is an uphill struggle.
I had no idea we were about to repeat the start line climb… and honestly no idea I even had, up until I started this write up.
Smashing my power up (a draft van, rather useless) I was out of the saddle and giving it whatever I had left not to be caught.
Crossing the line I had only a 1 second gap to the guys behind. They’d made up well over 20 seconds in the final 2km so full credit to them, they must have been flying.
Anyway, I was very, very happy to see this one out.
And at 237w over 58 minutes I think this was a new true hour FTP (err, minus 2 minute) record.
Interestingly it’s pretty much bang on what the Garmin has been suggesting all along.
The final image above shows 234w over the 59 minute but the screenshot of the ride time ends at 57:59.
I can assure you that intervening minute was pretty much me collapsed over the bars, in the granny ring and the easiest gear just struggling to breath. Absolutely dead I was. Yet again.
This tour will be the death of me.
