Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
Well, power is more closely tied to effort and has no delay, but HR is gives a read on how you're responding, so they're both useful. I guess which one you use to pace steady state workouts depends on whether you'd rather know what you're doing or how you're responding to it. I tend to rely more on HR when I'm not feeling great. I don't have power on my commuting bike anyway.
I was appalled by my HR during exploratory trainer efforts as I've ridding the cold, flu, and strep rollercoaster over the last month. The first couple of of rides, when I thought I was getting better, my HR just shot up to, and parked in, the low-170s, which never happens in real life. The RPE wasn't horrible, though my output was significantly lower than RPE would have lead me to believe. Yesterday, my two short rides were back to the realm of normal, though not terribly fit. I'll take that as a win, though.