Cervelo FTP test

My winter training season officially kicked off this week, and Tuesday is my FTP test day. I plan to alternate each Tuesday between my Cervelo P2K and my Orbea Orca. (winter plan is posted at http://jasperga.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-2008-training-schedule.html) Two reasons to alternate: 1. I'll get good L4 workouts in TT position and road position and 2. I'll find out how much power I sacrifice in the TT position.

Last night's FTP test was 45 mintues long. I started out much too hard, although I didn't realize it at the time. My first 20 minutes average was 265 watts, but my total test average was 251 watts.

I'm not sure exactly how to interpret the numbers. This summer I developed a theory that 20-minute ave power on a computrainer is equal to FTP (for more infor on that theory, see http://jasperga.blogspot.com/2007/06/ftp-testing-and-hammerhead-sharks.html). So the 265 watt 20-minute average is what I would expect this time of year on my Orbea. The 251 watt 45-minute average should be multiplied by probably 1.03 to account for trainer vs. race motivation factor, which would give me 258w for FTP. That seems about right for TT position. I hope to find that my road bike FTP is 10-20 watts higher than my TT bike FTP.

It'll be interesting to see what the Orbea numbers look like next Tuesday. Maybe with better pacing I can yeild a FTP in the 275 range with the Orca. If so, then my February target FTP might be in the 290 to 295 watt range (4.4 watts/kg). That would be a very good platform from which to begin higher intensity training for 2008.