Long way off. Additional 2.5kg of timber since lockdown and a loss of training focus has probably hacked a few watts off as well. About 5 weeks ago notched a decent 3.85 and thought I was on the way…
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I’ve been riding nearly every day. Per my trainerroad plan, this was meant to be the final week of my base phase, and actually a recovery week.
I’ve seen some good signs this week though. 45mins at roughly prior FTP as part of a zwift ride, which was after an hour 15 on the bike beforehand.
And my trainerroad session last night was 3x(5x1min at 120%). A few weeks ago that was a tough session. It felt pretty easy last night.
I’m meant to be retesting next Tuesday, but intend to do the zwift haute route this weekend. So not exactly an optimal “rest week”. I do need to factor in some proper recovery at some point.
I’d like to think a decent test would have me over 250 now. I’m holding roughly steady at 71kg (daytime snacking and eating way more than I normally would is not helping) so should be over 3.5. And therefore over half way to the goal.
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Yeah, I think 270 will be relatively low hanging fruit, but the next 30w, not so much…
@TROSaracen While I was pretty strict with a vegan diet to start off the year, I’ve become a lot more flexible, particularly because of self-isolation, but I’ve really tried to keep to some hard and fast rules, like no milk in my tea, no cheese, no chocolate, which I think has really helped keep my weight in check. Some surprisingly small changes can make a big difference.
I have come off marathon training, with only maybe one ride per week just so I could see my mate. Now that is out of the window, I am back on Zwift and finding the power is slowly coming back.
Weight has stabilised at 69kg, which is about 2kg above my IM race weight, and maybe 3kg above what I would have aimed for with the (cancelled) marathon.
I am working long hours from home at the moment, but I am managing to add some structure to my day to get exercise in. 2 pre work morning rides and 1 hour easy while on listen mode on conference calls so far. I have blocked out my lunch break today to try and squeeze in another 45 minutes.
Aim is to get my FTP to 280 by the end of lockdown. That would obviously be a shade above 4wkg.
Training is unstructured - has to be flexible given the stress of work and the hours, but a few Zwift races a week alongside easier spins should do it. Then at the weekends I can crank out another couple of sessions while everyone else sleeps. Working so far!
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Finally hit 4w/kg for 2020 after TTs and crit racing on Zwift. I’m still 69kg so any weight loss will be a bonus.
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Boom!!!
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Good work Sir.
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Working from home has its advantages and with a broken finger I’m not safe on the road so the turbo is my only way to ride.
New ftp test this morning gives me a W/kg of 3.95. So close, but yet, so far.
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Retest just now. Hardly ideal prep with 5.5hrs of zwift Haute Route in my legs from the weekend, but I’d rather eek it up gradually given the time the current situation is affording me.
I bailed on the ramp 40s into 346w. Giving a FTP of 253, which is +3.7% than my last test of 244w. I weighed 69-71kg over the last few days. I’ll take the median as I think a rest day has left my a bit more hydrated than normal!
So that has me at c3.6 w/kg. I’m getting there! Optimally prepared I might have got through another minute or so.
253w is also 1w higher than any ftp I’ve ever recorded. Although my previous 252w was the old 20min test, so not like for like. This is certainly my best ramp test though.
Can’t complain with this:
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That’s great going
Also strange, but I seem to put in my strongest performance with a load of fatigue in my legs as well, 3 new ftps on 3 consecutive days last week. I am sure someone could explain how/why
Looks like you are improving cycling strength significantly this year
just claim to be like a Grand Tour rider. Building throughout the three weeks.
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Well that lunchtime ramp test was a bit of a waste of time!
Racing this evening yielded…
Didn’t know how to get the screenshot of the zwift popup notifying me of the new FTP
I also got a training peaks popup on my phone saying 260w.
So that makes me 3.7 now…
Inching closer!
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Similar for me, Zwift Yorkshire race for me last night. Went hard just to try and stay with the second group in B, but lost them halfway through unfortunately. Happy to feel I belong in B though now I guess after racing C a couple of times last week but was probably sanbagging.
3.6w/kg using this morning’s weight. Unlikely to drop any weight as I’m eating everything in the house and barely even doing any training currently.
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Had a go at a proper 1 hour FTP test today. 3.26W per kg so some way to go…
I have run a lot over the winter but barely ridden since last July so am not in good bike shape and so not sure what’s a realistic target. 3.5W per kg maybe?
( riding with a powermeter for 1st time so have no real point of reference)
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Didn’t ride for a whole week since this, so did a ramp test last night to check this was accurate (given I don’t want to do an hours test), and was happy to see an FTP output of 294. A mighty increase of 1 watt, but given ive stopped training I cant complain. 0.4kg lighter as well, so a slight increase to w/kg as well
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Interesting thread, only noticed it now.
My target this year was 4w/kg for the Extreme X which I believe makes it doable. Before it got cancelled I was tracking at 290w and 78kg, so just 10w and 3kg off target (300/75) late February for a 4 July race. Clearly doable.
Since it’s been cancelled, we’ll, haven’t bothered checking for a while. Right now it’s chocolate time. 
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Should probably have updated here as well as on the zwift thread. The next race in the SE british cycling series on Tuesday yielded another improvement…
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I’ve got two sets of power pedals, both Favero,
In zwift I use Assiomas - TT last Wednesday 276W @73kg (FTP 262W = 3.6w/kg Cat B)
90 mins tempo On road Thursday - 237W off 144bpm - 18.7mph
Tonight using Assioma out on road - 204W off 143bpm - 18.6mph.
So if I add that 33W difference to last Wednesdays TT would give me 309W @ 73kg (FTP 293 4.01w/kg) which would squeaky bum me into Cat A.
To know for sure If need to do the same TT as last Wednesday using the Bepro but I’m reasonably confident I’ve nailed the 4 w/kg on a technicality to join the club 
I also had a pair of power taps last year that read another 20watts more than even the bepros. If I can just buy those back
So did a ramp test just now, and came out with 258. Though that’s a blimmin mission to actually find out what it was within zwift. I still hold that it’s the most user unfriendly UI ever!
I’m between 73-74 kgs. So that puts me at about 3.5 w/kg.
Not too bad I think as a starter, and I did a proper flat out 800m run last night that cooked my legs. Though I’m not sure if i could’ve pushed more than the 340 I stopped at. With a dumb trainer and shitty gears that don’t work, I’d struggle to actually push much more wattage without spinning at about 120rpm!
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