Well… today’s results are both expected… and unexpected.
My NM went UP 28w. Woohoo! This was unexpected. I put this down mostly to technique. Usually I feel like I’m in the wrong gear or I peak too early. This time I started my spin up a second or two early and felt like I peaked at the right time. I think with some work I can hit over 1,200w.
My MAP went down 20w. I expected this and was not surprised. Last time I was around 98rpms almost the entire time. This time I could not hold the high cadence and had to battle between gears.
My AC went down 25w. I started out feeling good, but then time slowed down. And then slowed down some more. I pooped out with 2 or 3 seconds left. Last time I fought hard all the way til the end. I didn’t have as much fight in me this time.
My FTP… well… It went up 2w based on my previous FF results, which is probably the best comparison, tho it’s down almost 20w compared to my last HM. But I’m sure if I do an HM next week it would be back up 20w as per my usual. My MAP probably would be, too. I had a hard time finding a good gear, and bounced back and forth a few times, but I didn’t poop out in the middle like I did last time. Tho my son did come in and distract me for a few minutes with questions around the 11 minute mark. Then I realized I was dropping my power and peaked for the last 3-4 minutes. So maybe without distractions I could’ve hit 232. Lol.
Funnily enough, my profile changed from Pursuiter to Sprinter. This is humorous to me based on how I prefer to ride (my favorite workout is ISLTA), but makes sense based on my numbers. Essentially, everything dropped except for my NM, because I took 2 months off. If I work on my endurance, again, all my numbers should come back up, in theory and I should be back to a Pursuiter.
But, overall, I think my biggest takeaway is that I found the biggest difference between FF and HM is Level mode v ERG mode. I have a hard time finding the right level and gearing in FF. Today I eventually decided that 85rpms would have felt the best during the 20 min effort, but my gearing only allowed me 80 or 90+. 85 was in the middle and required too much power. Same with my 5 minute effort. I couldn’t hold 98rpms this time, but could’ve held 90-95. But I couldn’t match that at the right power. However, in ERG mode in HM, gearing isn’t important. I can just ride at a cadence that feels right on the ramp portion until I pop. And then in the constrained section it’s easier to pick a gear that I can hold when it’s not an all out effort. FF in level mode doesn’t allow for that. It’s hard to hold cadence at the right power when I’m right on the edge of failure the whole time. If I did FF in erg mode at a chosen power I could likely push another 10w or more. I’m not sure how to reconcile that other than to say I think my true Numbers are likely closer to what I get in HM even if they may be a little too high. I know that even tho my FF numbers are pretty accurate, I could likely do a little more if I didn’t have to worry about bouncing around on the edge in between gears. I did a TT on Z*** on Monday and I averaged 263w for 15 minutes in erg mode. Anyway…