A test or two...

 

Today is the first day this week I've woken up and the temperature was significantly above zero.  Yesterday?  -33.  And that isn't the wimpy euro thermometer (I'm thinking of all of those guys at RoadCyclingUK crying when the temps hit -7 C), no, this is -33 Fahrenheit.  It's so cold outside that if I cried about it, it could become a life-threatening situation. 

Since our return from vacation up north, our pattern has been to ski on the weekends and bike on the rollers during the week.  This keeps the cycling fitness at a basic level and works with our teaching and family life as well.  Even the little guys get on the rollers , albeit with the fork stand and a tempting video on the computer (listen closely and you can hear the Dutch narrator of 'Stars and Water Carriers)...

The new year also sees the addition of a new tool to my training quiver, a Power Tap Pro+ wireless hub to measure power.  Exciting stuff.  Basically cost me my track bike that I built last year and rode a few times on the rollers during last winter.  The hub takes up a lot less space and might actually help me train smarter. 

So last week, nursing a head cold and grasping my spoke wrench in one hand, a Velocity tubular rim in another and a bundle of super short 280mm DT Competition spokes in yet another, I built my new wheel, glued on a tire and prepared for my inaugural ride into the land of power training.  Hmm, kind of felt the same, except there was a new number on my computer monitor.  Just a shake down ride to get used to the numbers, and shake out the pesky cold in my chest. 

Tuesday came and I attempted a threshold test, cold and all.  Threshold testing is important, whether training with a heart rate monitor or power meter; it gives you zones around which to plan your workouts.  Most cyclists go way to hard during their recovery rides and not hard enough in their training efforts to force their body to make training adaptations.  A few minutes into the test, I coughed up what appeared to be a sea cucumber and Janet looked up in alarm.  Test aborted.

After two more rides and some sprints to get a baseline for my power in 15 second, 1 minute and 5 minute sprints, it's Friday!  I take the bike off of the fork stand and turn on the computer, select 'threshold test' and away we go.  A twenty minute spin in an easy warm-up zone (less than 165 watts), a few spin-ups to 100 rpm for a minute each and I'm ready to go.

The test starts with a 5 min maximum effort.  This doesn't mean an all-out sprint.  Do that and you'll find you have jelly in your legs after a minute or so (amazing how time slows down during a sprint).  Five minutes feels good and I increase the power right up to the end.  Ten minutes of much easier endurance zone spinning and this is where the power meter is interesting.  My heart rate is at 165 bpm, just nudging into my anaerobic zone, and even though I know I'm spinning easily, my heart takes a few minutes to come down.  The average power for this lap, though, is instantly right there and I adjust my effort to keep it in the lower zone.

Ten minutes passes so quickly, especially when anticipating a twenty minute maximum effort.  Again, the key is start gradually, ramping up to what I think is an effort I can maintain.  It's hard not to look at the numbers blinking back at me on the monitor, but I try to focus on the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco.  I've got stage five on the computer screen and there's a break of four, including eventual winner Alberto Contador, making a hard effort to the finish.  Perfect!  Half way through, less than ten minutes left and I need to gear down one cog.  I can feel the effort in my muscles, my ankles, I move around on the saddle, focus on the sprint for the line on the computer and notice only 28 seconds have passed since I last looked at the numbers.  I begin breaking down the effort into two minute parts.  I notice my average power for the interval has dropped a tad, from 320 w at the beginning to 305 sixteen minutes later.  Shifting into a higher gear, I nudge the number up to 309 and sprint for the line.