Geiger counter

Tuesday's are always busy with work, so it's indoor trainer time, something I am far more motivated for having found TrainerRoad. If you have an ANT+ wireless unit for heart rate or power and a laptop then it will transform your turbo trainer sessions.


I try and use my Tuesday and Wednesday indoor session to get in an hour of  quality work just below threshold in the sweet spot. The principle of sweet spot training is a balanced amount of intensity and volume that produces a maximal increase in functional threshold power (FTP). The “sweet spot” is found between the top end of zone 3 and low end of zone 4. It is within these ranges that cyclist will build their base the most and simultaneously increase power at threshold, giving the most bang for your buck, and thus the nickname, “sweet spot”.


Tuesday's serving from the TrainerRoad selection of sweet spot sessions was GEIGER: 60 minutes comprising 3 x 12 minute efforts in the sweet spot (target 237W) with only 3 minutes rest between intervals. Target TSS -67 with IF at 0.82 for the whole session.


Hitting the numbers:

I hit all the numbers prescribed for the session which is very satisfying - getting in over 30 minutes just below threshold power. I am already looking forward to my next FTP test in a couple of weeks time, I'm positive it will be higher after several weeks of quality sweet-spot efforts.


You can access the ride file on TrainerRoad here.

Garmin Vector Power Meter Release Delayed Again

What a pain - I was hoping to pre-order the Garmin Vector from the guy's at Cycle Powermeters so that I could use my nice climbing wheels for the Raid Corsica rather the PowerTap combined with Mavic Open Pro I have been using.

Garmin Vector

However, rather than seeing my glass as being half empty, I decided to upgrade my PowerTap rental from Cycle Powermeters to a gorgeous FSA K-Force Light Pro SRM system. 


This way I can can now use a matching set of climbing wheels, and the K-Force system allows me to change the chain rings from standard 53/42 to a compact 50/34 when I head out to the mountains of Corsica in May. Result.


Mavic R-Sys Wheels

You can read an update on the Garmin Vector delay via the link below. 
Come on Garmin, no more delays please!

Garmin Vector Power Meter Release Delayed Again - BikeRadar:


'via Blog this'

Eclipsed by dragon slayers and my sweet spot

Thank's once again to the guy's at TrainerRoad (@trainerroad) for this great session and 'on screen' motivation when it was -10 outside and snowing. I can't remember the last time I did a turbo session for more than an hour, let alone 90 minutes! 

Eclipsed: here's the gig

3 x long, Sweet Spot efforts (SST) - 20 minutes each - with 5 minute recoveries between each. Added, optional emphasis on cadence with one interval spent over-spinning and another spent under-spinning. (+15/-15 rpm).  

That's 90 minutes to produce TSS 90 at an IF of 0.84. 

For added entertainment, Reign of Fire on Sky Go Desktop - 97 minutes long, so just the right length for this 90 minute sufferfest. Pretty entertaining (while I could see during the first two intervals) with a story line about modern day dragon slayers that didn't take much following, particularly by the time I got round to the 3rd 20 minute SST interval. No Oscar nominations for Christian Bale in this movie!

What actually happened (with the session rather than the film)

The chart below is automatically produced by the TrainerRoad software that sits on your laptop. Ride data is synchronized with the TrainerRoad website at the end of the session, where you can compare yourself with the TrainerRoad community of riders that have completed the same session. Nothing wrong with a bit of competition.

The good news is that I managed to hit my target av. power (236W) in all three intervals, despite the lactic build up in the final effort. Gritty as my friend Simon Jones (@jonessimon2000) would describe it. I just know this kind of session is banking me some credit for those long climbs on the Raid Corsica come May. (Keep talking positive Steve).

The full data file is available on TrainerRoad here.

Not long now until some winter sun in Dubai. I'll need to nail a couple of solid sessions on Monday and Tuesday. I checked out the hotel and they have a good gym with Armstrong spinning bikes so I can sneak a couple of sessions in while away.

Dropped on Alpe d'Huez

If you haven't yet tried it, give The Sufferfest a go - in conjunction with your power meter and Trainer Road it is an awesome training tool.


Today I went for the Angels session - this is what the guy's at The Sufferfest dished up in a tasty hours session*:

• 6:30 warm-up, featuring footage from track racing in San Diego
• 10:00 of over/under intervals, with 1:00 just above your threshold, and 1:00 just below threshold, repeated 5x. Featuring footage from the 2009 Paris-Nice when Alberto Contador got, gasp, dropped by just about everyone!
• 3:00 rest, featuring some beautiful descending footage from cyclefilm.com, effort level 4/10.
• 8:00 climbing, while you try to stay with Andy Schleck in the 2009 Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Effort level starts at about 7/10, attacks take you up near 9/10, until setting down to 7/10 for most of the rest.
• 4:00 rest with more descending, effort level 4/10.
• 8:00 climbing, with a gradually increasing pace up the famous Col d’Eze in the 2010 Paris-Nice, featuring Vockler, Contador, Sanchez…yeah, all the big boys. You do the first two minutes at 6/10, next two at 7/10, next two at 8/10 and the last two at 8.5/10. There are a few accelerations in the group that ask you to increase cadence without increasing effort….which can be a little tricky, as you’ll find out.
• 4:00 rest with more descending, effort 4/10.
• 8:00 climbing, with the freaking mother of all climbs: Alpe d’Huez…can you stay with Contador in the 2010 Dauphine-Libere? You start the climb bridging up to the break with an effort level of 8/10. Then you pretty much do 8/10 the whole way up. Oh, wait, I forgot about the bajillion attacks that push you so far into the red that you’d swear your eyes are bleeding.
• 4:00 warm down featuring a sort of motley arrangement of things to keep you entertained. Including the first Sufferfest xtranormal video. Oh boy.

Here's a little taster:

* Cribbed from their website (hope you don't mind guy's?)

Having been dropped on the final climb of the session - Alpe d'Huez - where there are lots of accelerations at the top end of my VO2max and anaerobic capacity power zones it looks like this might be an area for me to focus on during March and April. 


You can see the training file from today's session online at STRAVA or Trainer Road.

Trainer Road - Angels 01.02.12

New FTP test PB with Trainer Road

This evening I completed a functional threshold power (FTP) test using the 2 x 8 minutes test session on TrainerRoad which links my laptop in real time via ANT+ broadcasting the data from my heart rate monitor and powertap power meter - very scientific and very motivational. I highly recommend it. 
The data file can be seen on TrainerRoad here. 
Below is the data file on STRAVA.