Lucky Luke mejlar om spännande saker!

Luke är på hugget! Han mejlade detta för en tid sedan och jag har i samförstånd med Luke ansett att det ska upp på bloggen.

Hey Dan,

I have had some time to work on a small document to explain the testing and how it could work for OS people.

If you could take a look and see it you understand it and then maybe give me some feedback on whether you reckon people will find it interesting. Especially since there may not be so many people who even wanna train over the winter. I guess another interesting statistic to add to the testing is days training in the previous month. For example, it would be cool to see if someone holds their power figures by only training 2 times in December for example!

I think it's important that all know this is just to add another dimension to what people do over winter training and that power to wieght ratios are not everything.

Anyway, take a look and then let's see if anyone is interested in picking up the unit and having a go!

Cheers

Luke

GRINDAL’S PowerTap

I love this thing and hopefully after trying it out, so will you.
This thing is a PowerTap power meter built into a Mavic carbon tubular rim. The power meter connects via the ANT+ protocol to whatever device can receive power based information. Most typically these units are GARMIN branded.
I used this unit around four times a week during 2011 in training, testing and racing.
What I would like you to do is borrow this unit and use it to test your cycling over a range of intensities. Basically, the watts you can hold over 60 seconds is commonly referred to as CP1 (meaning critical power 1 minute) and so on for CP2, CP5, CP20, CP30 and lastly CP60. Functional threshold power, FTP, is like CP60. CP60 is not often tested but approximated from performance in CP20 or CP30.
So the test I would like you to do is one CP1 and one CP5. CP1 is typically all out from the start and hanging on for the last 30 seconds. CP5 is tough, real tough. Choose a wattage in the first minute that you can build on. For example, in the first minute ride 280 watts, knowing that you can move up to 300 watts for the subsequent minutes. Five minutes is too long for you to blow up after 90 seconds.
So in the end you will have on avg wattage for CP1 and one avg wattage for CP5. Divide each one of these values by your body weight to give you watts per kg. That’s the testing done. From here you should develop a training program, complete that program and come back next time more powerful.
Some things you will need;
 Tools to remove & replace cassette
 Stationary trainer and experience of serious exertion on that trainer
 Head unit to receive data from the wheel (contact me about compatibility)
 You will need to take care of the unit (replacement value is around 20k)
 You need to make sure there is not too much friction on the tire, if the friction causes a flat, the wheel is a tubular and the tires are a buggar to replace
 Courage
It will be cool to keep track of the results and to compare them among some of the strong teams, Urban Cycles, Solde & Pullers. Perhaps some rivalry may develop between these teams.
Also, please use the power meter to ‘calibrate’ the resistance levels on your turbo trainer. For example, I typically keep track on tire pressure, and what each resistance level means across each of the 3 gears I use whilst on the trainer. Know this information will help you to do some targeted training to improve test results and your power in next year’s season. One important point here, I train as a triathlete and thus power is a key element of my riding, other very important aspects such as group riding dynamics, descending, and cornering at speed have not been considered here. But they are equally important in making you the best rider you want to be.
Process
Drop me a mail on lukegrindal@yahoo.com and we can book in a date and time and place for pick up and then drop off once you’re done. I don’t have all the time in the world, but am happy to help if you either don’t have tools, or need some more information than I have put down here.


Sessions from the stars… (I always think it’s interesting to see what some people get up to in preparation for particular races. This session below was Brad’s preparation for the Crocodile Trophy in Australia. It’s a race that attracts many riders from Europe and it’s darn tough.)
Brad Davies http://cyclingbrad.com
Two hour ergo session – 10 x 2 mins (first min at 360Watts and second min at 380W), 8x 2 mins (340Watts), 5×4mins at 60rpm (300W) and a 10 minute escalating effort up to 400Watts for last minute

Many other sessions can be found on ‘training peaks’ where many athletes of all levels record their training sessions.