A gentle spin around west Vidette +1 today. I’ve been off the bike for a weekish with travel around the holidays so wanted something ahead of starting Chad’s unofficial mini vo2 block tomorrow.
2 Likes
50 min hill run
40 mins of casual riding in the freezing wind. Was going to do Spruce Knob but I’m frozen and can’t face the garage.
4 Likes
I have been riding bikes for almost two decades now but I have only been on a trainer for three months or so. Yesterday I realized that for the past three months I have not been properly using my smart trainers ERG mode (mostly I was shifting gears like a mad man and my cadence fluctuated 40-50 rpms just to “hit” the power objectives).
So, yea yesterday I was perusing the forum and I came across something @mcneese.chad said here:
“Ignore the power target. Instead, focus on your cadence and make it as smooth as possible. Let the app and trainer do the work to hit the target.”
I gave it a shot today and holy cow did it make a huge difference. I had no idea that ERG mode would get my power on target and all I had to do was keep my cadence smooth. Did not shift gears once the whole workout either.
HT @mcneese.chad
7 Likes
I think I need to do a video on ERG for beginners. It should include this and some other useful tips.
You are not alone in having some difficulties and misunderstanding how to ride ERG. So much of it is the opposite or just plain different from a standard (dumb) trainer.
So glad the tip helped and got you through the workout. 
2 Likes
Geiger for me. Very slowly making my way through SSBLV as I get back to training after many months of no training.
4 Likes
Swim this am, and then Mansfield this afternoon. Last non-Pettit ride before my FTP test next week.
1 Like
Great idea💡!
I am a visual learner; a video would make an effective learning tool for sure.
2 Likes
Ramp test! Hadn’t done one in about 4 years, figured if I’m going to start following TR workouts i should do one. Just been training off an estimated FTP. Was just as fun as i remembered. Turns out my estimated ftp was only 2w off ramp test results.
6 Likes
Pettit today (middle of recovery week at end of Traditional Base LV II):
Here was the same ride at the same point 4 weeks ago (middle of recovery week at end of TB LV I):
Average/Normalised/Peak power all up (to be expected, FTP increase at start of this phase) but was interested to see that average and peak heart rate were down. Here’s hoping this is flagging some more FTP gains when I test next week.
3 Likes
Icy easy ride to the gym for a 1900m Swim TT .
Coming back from illness seem to be on track with 35:27 
Gibraltar and Brick Run next 
3 Likes
I have done this a couple of times, with Zwift paired to the Flux as a power meter via the ANT dongle, and TR paired to the flux as controllable FEC(?) on my android phone via bluetooth.
zwift is boring though…
2 Likes
Carpathian Peak after an increase of FTP , i was a bit scared but went surprisingly good !!!
5 Likes
So not been feeling so good since Sunday afternoon (head cold) had to shift out a couple of sessions coming towards end of SSBLV2… Lamarck was in the plan today (4x 10min at 100% IF 0.92…TSS 84) … i have to say the thought of doing these 10min blocks made me want to just continue resting… instead i took on board info from the podcasts and looked for some similar in TSS with less time near FTP in smaller blocks… I chose Garrowby-1 which felt too comfortable at the start but ended up about right and slightly longer overall time… so hopefully this slight indiscretion has not upset the form i was feeling prior to a bit of sickness… .gotta to be better than bottling out right ??
6 Likes
I used the new watt bikes as they had Bluetooth instead of my P1S - so there would be some variation from my usual power, and tired after the swim Insuppose but the real killer was the lack of a fan.
My HR was 20bpm higher than usual, I couldn’t sustain it more than an hour, then took several breaks and eventually set intensity to 80%. 
…Followed by a 30min brick run, as 9/1 Ironman race pace.
…Followed by a ten minute icy ride home.
The gym staff stopped me in surprise that I was “finally going home!” 
I’m bushed!
7 Likes
Ebbetts for me. I thought that 1 hour with a TSS of 68 might be quite easy but I was bushed at the end. Dont fancy Ebbetts + 2
3 Likes
So awesome. Thanks for keeping us indoorsy type peeps inspired! #vicariousliving. 
That’s a crazy hike! Word of warning, upping intensity on old FTP will give false TSS readings. I just did a week of +5% workouts, TR set to old FTP, head unit set to new FTP – delivered a 10 TSS discrepancy every workout. I should have done a mid-plan ramp to reset things but just manually upped the TR FTP. Next ramp in 2 weeks.
4 Likes
Galena for me, 2nd time this week! Only 2 tough workouts left (which frankly aren’t that tough for me at the moment) in SSB1 HV. Only workouts I’ve missed are a couple of Pettit Fridays so I’ve done all the work
5 Likes