My longest ride on a stationary bike is 5 hours. I did back in 2001 and none of the riders from my club have attempted to break that record. I’m a bit proud of it, but take a look at this article. It is about a man who attempts to ride more than 82hours on a stationary bike (5 minutes break per hour)…!
What is your longest indoor ride?
What is your stationary cycling record? Read More »
Paul Skiba performed some really impressing results in Week 1 of the Power Meter Project 2007. He has used his SRM crank system for a couple of years before entering this project. Here are the results of the critical power tests:
Critical Power Tests ”“ Week 1 (Paul Skiba)
| Critical Power Tests | 5sec | 1min | 5min | 20min | Body Weight |
| Week 1 (Watt) | 791W | 467W | 333.1W | 290.5W | 71.2kg/157lbs |
| Week 1 (Watt/kg) | 11.1W/kg | 6.6W/kg | 4.7W/kg | 4.1W/kg | (tests are done indoor) |
So what is the plan?
Paul is an ex-professional and very strong for his age. I want to increase Paul’s fitness across the whole power range. When he gets closer to the end of the project, he will start to work more intensive on anaerobic intervals. A good interval type for training to improve his ability to separate him from the pack is the 40/20sec intervals. These intervals are supposed to be done at his 5min critical power, but it is very likely that he will be able to push a little harder here. These intervals are primarily made for VO2max but they will also add some power to his anaerobic endurance (1min critical power). Sprint training is also a part of the training program, but that is not because of his weak sprint test. The test was performed indoor and I will not get surprised if he performs significantly better outdoor.
Getting better at the final moments Read More »
Marc Moeller is a strong cyclist that has a limited time for training because he has a nice family and two small children to take care off. Nevertheless, he was able to do some very impressive test results last week:
Critical Power Test – Week 1 (Marc Moeller)
| Critical Power Tests | 5sec | 1min | 5min | 20min | Body Weight |
| Week 1 (Watt) | 1110W | 600W | 395W | 337W | 82.6kg/182lbs |
| Week 1 (Watt/kg) | 13.4W/kg | 7.3W/kg | 4.8W/kg | 4.1W/kg |
Comments from Jesper Therkildsen:
Marc is a strong cyclist across the range but maybe a little low in sprinting power. 1110W might sound unreachable for many riders, but I guess that Marc will be able to perform even better with some training.
Training with limited time available
The biggest challenge for me with Marc’s training program is that he has a limited amount of time available. He can train a maximum of 8 hours which of course will limit his possibilities for improvements, but not more than I am ready to challenge him with a program that focus on getting the most out of the time he has. Please remember when looking at Marc’s stats that most riders at his level spend significantly more time on their bikes.
Intensive training required
If you have limited time for training, intensive training is required to maximize the outcome. Thus, Marc will be training five days a week with a great amount of intervals on three of them. Marc’s program has more intervals than the other riders in this project, because I know he is able to perform higher training amounts if he had the time for it. Thus, increasing the number of intervals is a way to compensate for fewer hours on the bike.
Anaerobic endurance and sprints
Marc wants to improve his anaerobic endurance and his ability to recover from anaerobic bursts. When I look at his power profile from first test series I think that sounds reasonable (at least for the sprinting power). Thus, I have implemented some anaerobic sprints with a length of 40-45 seconds that will raise his anaerobic power. From the very beginning of the training program there will also be power sprints (Standing starts in big gears 53×12-15 for about 10 seconds). I hope that this training program will raise his power at 5sec and 1min, and at least maintain the current level 5min and 20min. Hopefully his aerobic engine will also have some benefit of this very intensive program.
Cycling training with limited time available Read More »
Improving a three time ironman’s endurance sounds difficult, but that is exactly what my job is with Dave Simonson. He performed four critical power tests last week and you can see the results below:
Test results
| Critical Power Tests | 5sec | 1min | 5min | 20min | Body Weight |
| Week 1 (Watt) | 850W | 450W | 290W | 219W | 90.6kg/199.8lbs |
| Week 1 (Watt/kg) | 9.4W/kg | 5.0W/kg | 3.2W/kg | 2.4W/kg |
Comments from Jesper Therkildsen:
When I look at Dave’s power profile I can see that his performance at 20min critical power is too low compared to his 5min critical power (CP). When I look at his 5min CP I would expect him to do 20Watts better in the 20min CP. Thus, the primary goal for Dave is to improve his power in long intervals. This goal is achieved by learning to control the pacing strategy and by increasing his physical performance at these challenges.
Dave will train 6 to 7 hours per week and have to work with intervals three times a week. There are three kinds of intervals that he will use: Short 3min intervals to build VO2max, repeated 6min bouts of high aerobic intensity and finally long 15min pacing control intervals.
By doing the intervals very frequently he has a good chance to get familiar with pacing strategy and that is especially important at his competition pace. Triathlon differs from regular cycling in that way that the pace is almost 100% controlled by the athlete. It is not about tactics at all. It’s a question about self control and physical performance. Power meters are very useful for long endurance competitions like ironman triathlons since it is possible to plan a pacing strategy based on your previous rides. I hope that Dave will improve his performance at long distance through better and more efficient pacing.
I expect that these intervals will increase his performance at 5 and 20min critical power (and his 112miles ironman avg. power.)
Pacing Strategy is Essential in Ironman Competitions Read More »
Last week the riders in the Power Meter Project 2007 performed the first series of critical power tests. One of them is Gonzalo Vilaseca who proved that he is a strong and light rider. Have a look at the tests results:
Test results – Week 1 (Gonzalo Vilaseca)
| Critical Power Tests | 5sec | 1min | 5min | 20min | Body Weight |
| Week 1 (Watt) | 1105W | 557W | 357W | 321W | 73kg/160.9lbs |
| Week 1 (Watt/kg) | 15.1W/kg | 7.6W/kg | 4.9W/kg | 4.4W/kg |
Comments from Jesper Therkildsen:
I have dedicated the first 6 weeks for building a large aerobic engine since that is the single most important factor in most cycling competitions. In old days this time was e period with long slow distance training, but Gonzalo is going to test one of the newer training strategies with more intensive training. It’s a quite intensive training program with intervals every second day. These intervals are made to increase his VO2max and his endurance. There is also some work with power sprints, but these sprints don’t have high priority.
By doing the intervals very frequently he will have a good chance to get familiar with the pacing strategy in these intervals and get a lot of small interval doses with a high O2 uptake. Thus, I expect that these intervals will increase his performance at 5 and 20min critical power. Well, but he asked for more anaerobic endurance and sprinting power? Yes, but in cycling races of 2 hours it is essential to have a high VO2 max and endurance. If he has that, he has a chance to get home with the peloton or make a breakaway. But if is limited in these two factors, vo2max and endurance, he will be dropped before they get to the final sprint. Thus, the primary goals for the first period are improvements in 5min and 20min critical power. His training amount will be in the range from 9 to 15 hours per week for the first 6 weeks.
I will adjust the program after 6 weeks of training, and then focus a lot more on race preparation with anaerobic intervals and sprints. This training will be done to optimize his performance at short, intensive races.
Building aerobic capacity before race preparation Read More »