FTP Test

Mary had me do my very first FTP test the other day. It's a test to measure how much power I can put out while riding for a set amount of time. Basically, you warm up and then go as hard as you can for 20 minutes and record your average power over those 20 minutes. Your FTP is roughly 95% of that average. Technical explanations are here for those so inclined.

The test was the hardest riding I've ever done on a bike. I felt like I was going to fall over at the end, which I probably would have done if the bike wasn't on a trainer. I'm not sure how people do the same test outside. After looking at all my data, Mary gave me two important pieces of information. One is my FTP, 193 watts, which I guess is not bad for a beginner cyclist. The other, more crucial bit is that the test showed that my hear rate zones for the bike were not set properly. They'd all been too low. Now I know why some rides felt easier than I expected them to for a workout in a given zone. Those days are over. To quote Mary, "alas, now we know, so things are going to get markedly harder for you on the bike from this day forward. This is good news for your future performance, good news in terms of my assigning specific workouts for you that target what they should, and bad news in that you are going to have to work much harder going forward."

Lucky me