Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
Very interesting. I'm an older guy with crummy FTP (not that I use power). I can get around that somewhat by being bursty as you say, and hurting folks until they don't want to hurt anymore. Do you use the Performance Management Chart, and thus note your CTL, ATL, and TSB? And note that the chart does not predict performance, at least to some degree? I find that if I've been running a high (for me) CTL for a while, I recover easily from low TSS workouts, even though they may feel fatiguing at the time, while a series of high TSS workouts or one over-400 TSS ride will have me doing recovery rides for a few days, exactly as predicted by the chart.
Cycling Analytics, like WKO and GC, has a performance manager based upon Coggan's formulation and FTP construct. I look at it but it has not been very helpful with my trainer/roller workouts that I have been doing since November. And I have been doing a lot of leg plyometrics 2 to 3 times per week. The leg plyos are very fatiguing on the legs. I find the rollers/trainer much harder than riding on the road or track. Unless I assign a TSS to the plyometric work and fudge the indoor TSS, the performance manager is not going to mean much.
As avid a cyclist as you seem to be, my suggestion is to get a power meter. I have the Vector and it is working great and I plan on using it on the tandem. You can easily more the Vector around from bike to bike.