Apologies in advance… but what would be a good rule of thumb for calculating a rough TSS for outdoor rides with no power or HR measured?
Given I am WFH a lot now and the roads are quiet (NZ lockdown) i am heading out a couple of times a week to ride outdoors as well as doing SUF workouts indoors. My bike computer logs speed, distance and metres climbed and am wanting to calculate a TSS to add to a weekly log which i keep to track weekly TSS, judge hard vs easy weeks etc.
I’ve been using 50 TSS for a 2 hour ride of 50km with 1,000m of climbing, but no idea if this is too low/high?
Thoughts?
Great that you are able to get out for some outdoor rides during lockdown. I bet these are good for the body as well as the soul. It is going to depend on how hard you climb as intensity drives TSS combined with the duration. As you are climbing 1000m or 3200ft I would say your estimate is a little under as the climbing is going to increase the workload. A 2 hr Z2/RPE 3-4 ride would equate to 65-75 TSS so with the climb I would estimate around 90-115 TSS. Just remember this in an estimate. If you are riding a 1/4 of the ride at Z3-Z5/ RPE 5-8 your TSS is going to be even higher.
See the link below, but I hope your lockdown ends soon!
Thanks @Coach.Simon.B that’s super helpful. I suspected i may have been under-playing the outdoor rides, given they are quite hilly, they just don’t feel as hard when you can breath fresh air and you have the sun on your back!