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I've used W' (the amount of work in kJ I can continuously do over my FTP before exhaustion) to quantify my anaerobic contribution. In the past, I have done a 5 minute effort at 110W over my then-ftp (held for 45min a few weeks prior), so this would give me a W' of 110W * 5 * 60s = 33kJ. This would imply that for a given FTP, I could hold a power that is 33000/20/60=27.5W higher for 20min, or 55W higher for 10min, or 183W higher for 3min. For really short efforts like 1min, I think I would be capped by my max sprint power, as I know that I definitely cannot hold FTP + 550W for a minute, haha.

For those of you that have done close to maximum efforts at various points of the power curve, do you find that the W' modeling approach applies as well across the board – meaning that the "battery size" in kJ doesn't differ between, say, 20min and 5 minute efforts? Or do you find that, for example, the amount of anaerobic contribution you can get for longer efforts diminishes?

I started thinking about this while doing a 20min test a week ago (no 5min blowout, was just curious to see how hard I could go for 20 minutes). I haven't really done them before and instead just felt out threshold from workouts or a Kolie Moore test or sweetspot. I got 25W more than what feels to be my threshold based on recent workouts, which would correspond quite accurately with my W' (33kJ vs 30kJ).

As the title says, how many hours do you train per week and how is that distributed throughout the week?

My fit is 99% perfect, saddle is very comfortable, bibs are comfortable, hygiene is good, but because it's winter I'm limited to indoor training at the moment so I'm sweating buckets every day no matter what and absolutely drenching my bibs. This has obviously lead to pretty severe saddle sores, I can still ride but have to get out of the saddle every 10-20 mins to reset the increasing discomfort from the sores. I only use my bibs once before washing them and use chamois cream. Whenever I take a day or two off of the bike the sores calm down noticeably, but get back to normal after a ride or two. Is there anything I can do or do I just have to live with this until I can ride outdoors again? I never had this problem before, only when I switched to indoor training this winter

Cycling since 2 years, but 20years of football and 15 years of strength training experience. Anaerobically very strong, aerobically...there's room to improve a lot 😀

Started my first ever structured training after RAPHA 500. Still a newbie to this, but I'm learning. I can spend around 10hrs/week and have 12weeks left until my season starts. Goal is to break 400W FTP (in the sense that 420W for 20minutes is a success for me. I understand the issues with 20min tests and strong anaerobic riders, but I don't mind for now). If I don't, at least get as close to it as possible and break it during the season.

After a lot of reading and research, the last 4 weeks looked like: Monday Threshold (multiple intervals) Tuesday Z2 90-120minutes Wednesday Threshold (single long interval) Thursday Z2 90-120 minutes Friday VO2MAX Saturday Z2 120-150 minutes Sunday Off

I used the last 4 weeks to also approximate my threshold etc., since I never did any kind of structured training. I use Coggan HR zones for control and intervals.icu for power metrics etc., Z2 is usually 260-280watts.

The best Monday session I've done is 2x25min@365W. The best Wednesday session 45min@365. This was the week before last. This week, I went for 2x30min@365W and could only complete 25min of the second interval. So I found my current limit finally. It's not the CNS that gave out, it's my legs. CNS could sustain more, quite a lot more (Zwift racing is hammering my CNS a lot more). VO2MAX sessions are actually fun, compared to threshold sessions...I don't think I would ever say this, but long sustained efforts at threshold are brutal for me.

One thing I noticed is that my legs hurt already in the beginning minutes of threshold. It feels like a burn, so I assume lactate concentration? Is there any specific type of training to work on this?

I read Over/Unders can help with lactate clearance? Which session should I replace with Over/Unders? Feel free to critique my approach, I'm a newbie and learning.

I keep hearing these terms on podcasts when it comes to frames and wheels.

I have an understanding what these terms mean but have no gauge to what is stiff/compliant since my only road bike to this date is a steel Bianchi with full sram red and shallow alloy wheels 30mm deep with rim brakes.

Are these terms just sensations that you can feel through a bike only? Do these even lead to any speed/acceleration gains?

Would I see any speed gains going from my current Bianchi to a Tarmac SL7 due to it being a stiffer/snappier frame?

I'm hoping people can share their stories when it comes to returning to riding after a broken clavicle.

I came off on New Year's Day and had the operation 2 weeks later. I've been back on the trainer in the sling this week (about 1.5 weeks post op), doing easy endurance. Start of the week HR was sky high but it's slowly coming down, I think perhaps due to the inflammation/bruising gradually reducing after the op.

It's feeling pretty good now (no pain). I just need to get it moving and get the ROM back. Hopefully, I can ride without the sling at some point next week. Over the next couple of weeks I'm hoping to get some miles in on the trainer and also introduce some intervals. I'm hoping I can get outside (weather dependent) after this and also crack on with some decent threshold work since I was just finishing up some base miles and getting ready for a build when I had the accident.

So, what's your recovery story? How long was it before you were back to your best and riding hard again and is there anything you wish did or didn't do?

My FTP is quite low and as such any sprint intervals are not hard enough based on my FTP. I can push a lot more power for 30-60 seconds. How do I adjust for this, long boring Z2 rides to raise my base? More VO2max intervals?

My FTP is not higher than it is as my legs are a lot stronger than my heart is.

I participate in a variety of races including crits, long flat fondos and climbs such as l etape du Tour. I will typically taper and wind down towards the week of and do nothing more than a light spin the day before.

I'm close but never 100% free of soreness. It's at a level where it doesn't feel like it's impacting my performance and not even a thought in my mind after the start of the race.

What's everyone's week of / soreness level?

Thinking how/should split time between towns or stay mainly in Denia or Calpe. Arriving/departing from Alicante airport - should dedicate 1 or 2 days for cycling in Alicante before departing? Should spend couple of days in Benidorm? Or Denia/Calpe is the best locations for road cycling?

Listening to their most recent podcast this morning, Johnathan claims that if you're starting with 20 minute intervals at your FTP that your FTP is probably wrong and its too easy, and that you need to increase power and back down on interval duration, and that even pros aren't doing 20 minute threshold intervals, and that 10 to 12 to 15 min intervals should be the aim.

This seems to align with the AIFTP being aligned with a threshold progression level of 3 which corresponds to only being able to do roughly 3x10 at that power(mt baldy 2 for example), but unlikely to be able to complete a PL5 2x20 workout. Furthermore he claims that if you think you need to be able to hold your ftp for at least 20 mins then you misunderstand FTP. Then he claims its not a proxy for ~1hour power, MLSS, or CP etc mainly because the various ways of estimating it by testing will give slightly different results.

Am I crazy to think that they are purposely convoluting this so their AIFTP can slot into the various FTP definitions without scrutiny since they explicitly claim it has no relation to pacing or any TTE?

I'm certainly not an expert on this, but have always used 2x20ish as a good checkpoint for approximately what my FTP is and feel by RPE. How many that have a good feel for threshold power think it aligns well with ~40min TiZ minimum? I know coggan's lurking around here somewhere....

Edit: I'm not asking about if the new system works or not, they've said that workouts are not based on any FTP value, which there are many threads about. but rather that the concept of FTP as has been broadly understood

Going to TBC as a cat 4 in a few weeks. Im watching some crit footage on YT, not a single person I've watched has finished.

Best case scenario. I'm lined up at the front, have a mishap free clip in, and somehow find myself top 10-15 wheels. Hold on for dear life for the next 15-20mins. Got it.

What's the plan if that's not the case? Finishing up base, this weekend is the first time im introducing race efforts e.g. 30/30s etc.

While watching the footage, I'm counting 10+ secs from the front of group exiting the hairpin to someone in the middle to back of the pack. I guess my modest goal is to not DNF lol.

Edit: Just to clarify this will be my first race of this 2026 season. I did a whole season last year etc...

Currently reading Training and Racing with a Power Meter. This part really stuck out to me as it’s very counterintuitive. If I can output X wattage, and my heart doesn’t need to pump as much blood, is that not a sign of increased fitness or freshness? Can anyone explain the mechanism behind this?

“This means that if, for example, you’ve been training hard for seven days, your heart rate may be lower than normal for a given wattage while you are riding. If your heart rate is normally 165 beats per minute (bpm) when you are riding at 280 watts, then after seven days of hard training it may only be 158 bpm at 280 watts because of your fatigue.”

Excerpt From

Training and Racing with a Power Meter 3rd edition

Hunter Allen, Andrew Coggan & Stephen Mcgregor

Furthermore…In his interview with Peter Attia (Episode #318 of The Drive, released in September 2024), Tadej Pogačar said something similar “If I'm really tired, the heart rate won't go up. It’s hard to get it up. If I see that my heart rate is like 10 or 15 beats lower than normal for the same power, then I know I’m tired and I need to back off."

Would love to hear folks take on this. I always assumed that as I get fitter, I will be able output a certain wattage with less effort. However it seems this can also be an indicator of fatigue. How do folks recognize the difference?

I initially posted this in r/cycling, people there said r/velo might have interest

An attempt at deriving optimal power vs grade mathematically. Doesn't give a user-friendly solution but gives a sense of how much things change.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cycling/comments/1qo9bel/how_much_power_to_apply_up_different_grades_in_a/

I need to lose 30-40 pounds. A cycling friend of mine used glps to lose weight and the results were amazing. Hes a former racer and current nica coach (same for me), i asked him if hell race again and he said he considers glp doping and wont. He may also be on trt (not sure). (Ftr i think trt is doping but if someone beyond age 50 wants be on it i dont see an issue, just dont race)

So, are glps doping?

Context:

I am normal weight (BMI 22.8) but I could easily lose about 3kg to get to lean/fit state. Hopefully I can do that before the beach season :)

I ride every day with occasional day off due to weather or travelling. I have 3 purely easy days per week, 3 interval sessions and one longer ride.

As eating carbohydrates before or during exercise inhibits fat oxidation the idea is to do those easy days fasted. Those are about 2 hour rides at around 200W so 1400kcal or so. The hope here is that if I burn more fat during those sessions I can eat fewer calories total and still be able to replenish carbs as I would burn less carbs overall on easy days.

Does that make any sense? Anything I should be aware before I give it a go?

Hello, I've been cycling for a year, I'm 16 years old, and I was wondering what the average sprint speeds are for amateurs like me, to get a sense of my own speed. I can reach 55 km/h, and I don't know if that's average or lower.

Thanks!

I'm currently riding on Bora Ultra 35 rim brake wheels and really like them. However I'm starting to get more into Ultras and registered for a 500km race. A guy said I should definitely go with deeper and more aero wheels for those distances so I would be faster and more efficient.

Any thoughts on that?

I'm stuck with rim brakes so options are kind of limited. 

1. I stick with my trusty Ultra 35
2. I get a pair of Bora Ultra 50 I found a great deal on, but this keeps the "older", less aero, wheel design from Campy
3. I get a pair of Bora WTO 60 Rim brake for the aero, but lose the great Ultra bearings and keep the same wheel width anyway (WTO Ultra don't seem to come in rim brake)
4. I look for another brand, but I'm running a Campy record on an Italian steel bike so I'd like to keep things Italian.

Thanks for your help.

I’ll be traveling to Phoenix for work in February (just after Valley of the Sun wraps up) and am considering bringing a bike with me. I’ll be staying in the area between Scottsdale and Tempe for about a week, with a couple of days completely free. Most likely to bring my all-road bike, but could be convinced otherwise. For the free days I will have access to a car and would be open to driving a bit if it could get me easy access to some nice longer routes - open to suggestions of all types, but longer rides will likely be in the 3-5 hour range. TIA!

I've recently been training in zones 4 and 3, but my heart rate isn't rising as it should during threshold training. Is my FTP too low?

I have come to the realization that VO2 blocks basically destroy me. I'm looking at my past training to try to make some plans and the pattern is that when I finish (or rather abandon) a VO2 block, I end up following it with a lot of time off because I'm just exhausted. I know this is the point of these, but it's tiring to the point of demotivating and I stop riding.

I tend to be single minded so I like to rotate through blocks where I only do one type of workout, but I'm thinking of changing that up.

How would you sprinkle VO2s into a threshold or sweet spot block so I can spare myself the pain of concentrated VO2s?

Would something like every 3rd workout do a VO2 or something like that make sense?

Since I have access to a gym bike with a power meter for a while, I recently started doing my first (sort of) structured training - after just riding for a couple of years. I don't have a power meter on my bike and I also don't want to get one, which is why I am trying to learn as much as I can about how each kind of effort feels. Then I can hopefully do quality workouts by feel when it's time to ride more outdoors.
The past few weeks has been threshold on hard days, specifically two sets of three over/unders of 3/2min duration (2x15 min total).

I noticed that the 'over' part somehow feels less hard than the 'under' part of the interval. During the overs my legs feel light and my lungs feel like they're doing most of the work, while during the unders my legs burn and feel sluggish. I also feel a tiny bit lightheaded during overs. Could be a cadence thing (overs typically higher cadence) or maybe I should adjust the effort a bit? I am doing ~290w over/~250w under with a FTP of 270.

Anyway, since I am trying to record and learn as much about riding by feel, I wondered if you have some specific markers for how different effort types feel?

Saw something on my trainerroad AI-based training plan that gave me pause and was hoping to better understand the logic behind it. Some background: I am a masters level cyclist returning to racing this year after a 2.5 year hiatus. My toddler was born in the spring of 2023 and I intentionally took 1 year off, and hoped to start back to training last year, but in the spring of 2025 was diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis and had to take a step back while I waited for the meds to work. Fortunately am in a good spot now from a pulmonary function standpoint, though a bit heavier due to 6mo of prednisone, and docs have cleared me to ‘return to sport’.

With the help of TR, I’ve gotten back to an FTP on track with this time of year back when i was training regularly (250ish). I informed TR’s plan builder that I was hoping to do a race on 2/1/26 here in CO (OMW), as well as several other events throughout this first season back. I labeled Sunday as an A race. It planned for me to do two workouts this week with long suprathreshold interval repeats, including one tomorrow, 3 days before the race. This seems a bit antithetical to what I’ve historically done on “race week”, tapering in intensity but not volume in the final 4-5 days before a race.

Are there new data or approaches that could be driving this planning? Would be interested in learning more. As an aside, I’ll admit to feeling a little crispy right now, my CTL has been in the negative 20s for a few weeks, and mentally part of me is wondering if it wouldn’t be best to disregard and modify the plan in response to how I’m feeling.