Bah Humbug

I don't like riding through surface streets at home to get anywhere worth riding, I like being able to get a 60 minute workout done during the work day in 65 minutes (hooray for telecommuting), and I don't like riding in the dark after work. Oh, and Netflix. I'm the guy who wishes I could put my bike on a trainer in transition and put in a certain number of watt-hours before the run. Would make my life so much better.

Yes, I realize I'm nearly alone in this sentiment.

merlinextraligh

For most people testing on a climb will result in higher power than testing on the flats.

For most people testing on the trainer will give lower power than testing on the road.

So if you test on a climb, your zone numbers are going to be high and you'll struggle to complete your intervals.

and if you test indoors, your zones will be below the level you need to be working at.

Unless you do most of your training indoors, and you're trying to set your zone for your indoor workouts, I wouldn't test indoors.

I certaintly wouldn't test indoors to try to figure out pacing for a time trial.

The whole idea of all this after all is make you faster on the road.

robbyville

Sooo. not to hijack Jp's thread but for those that mention the lap power and lap time I'm curious... With Garmin 500 it seems like I can only set laps by miles i.e. 5 mile lap, 10 mile lap, etc. so I assume that you're riding loops of some type when using these results? I would really like to use the function for intervals like when I do 5 min intervals at x%, how do you set yours up?

Gluteus

Exactly.
I do almost all of the interval training indoors (schedule issues), so for my training purposes the testing (and calculation of FTP and zones) is done indoors.

merlinextraligh

Turn auto lap off. Hit the lap/reset button at the beginning and end of each lap to create a lap for that interval.

valygrl

RTFM, page 16
https://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/Edge_500_OM_EN.pdf

You can also set up workouts in Garmin Connect or Training Center as well as on the device itself.

valygrl

bikerjp, you need to buy the Coggan and Allen book and read it.

Do a proper test using the test protocol in that book, or you can use one of the Carmichael books (Time Crunched is popular) and do the 2x8' tests. I do the Coggan test including the 5 minute blowout. Use a moderately uphill section of road without much variation in steepness and no traffic disruptions. If I were you I would use the bottom of Rist. I used to use Lefthand but it's closed now, so I'm going to have to go up to Lyons and use S.St.Vrain now. Testing rides should be done alone, same time of day every time, and don't expect testing to be just a little part of an otherwise normal ride - you need to warm up and prepare for it properly including before-ride nutrition, hydration, rest the day before, etc, just like it was a race. Get psyched for the effort, and plan for it to HURT. You should feel like barfing afterwards, and you should be "done" - like, you don't want to ride anymore, you just limp home.

You need to follow the instructions for whatever test you choose carefully and be consistent, so you can compare across time. If you do some random amount of riding before hand, that disrupts the test. If you want to actually test for improvement over time, you need to hold everything else constant. I actually like testing inside for that reason.

You'll want to repeat your test periodically whenever you think you might have made an improvement and should be training with higher numbers (or the opposite). It's not one-and-done - the whole point is to have accurate training zones, and you can't have those unless you test periodically.

You also need to use better software - Cycleops PowerCenter, GarminConnect, Stava.... are free and you get what you pay for. For real analysis WKO+ and Training Peaks are not free and you get what you pay for. I hear Golden Cheetah is good, but didn't like it myself.

Also, read this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/33-road-bi...ents-here.html

For Calories, I just call KJ = Calories, close enough.

Oh, and you do need to change your FTP setting in your computer and your software and set up your zones for some of the metrics (TSS, IF, TSB, etc) to make any sense at all. Leaving it at 400 is a sure way to confuse yourself with bad numbers.

Good luck and happy training!

robbyville

Gotcha, done. So I assume that when I upload to GC it will keep a history of each "lap" (really more a stopwatch in this case) data? In other words if I'm doing 5 x one minute intervals I hit lap at the start of each interval, reset at the end, have my rest and then do again at each interval? watch my lap power on my own from one to another and then compare later?

sorry for dimness.
@valygrl, thanks for the link, I do have the manual and GC but I guess I'm still so new at intervals I hadn't given thought to how to track easier than simply looking at my timer and saying "go"

valygrl

Yeah, no worries, sorry for the snark. You don't hit reset during the workout, that will split your data file into more than one file. Just hit the lap button. A rest interval is a lap too. You can also set up your screen to show lap time, average lap watts, etc, so you know how long each interval is.

robbyville

Thanks, I just set up a screen similarly, we'll see if it makes sense for me. Now I just need to remember to hit the button mid-grunt

achoo

Just don't hit the start/stop button. That really sucks when you notice you did that in the middle of a multipart workout.

achoo

Not sure exactly how you set up your screen, but make sure lap time is the biggest number so it's easier to see at the end of an interval and the entire world is turning gray and you feel like you're gonna turn inside out.

robbyville

Good call!

And another good call thanks!

bikerjp

Thanks for the info. That 6,000+ post thread should be fun...