If you are the sort of person who loves knowing what's going on inside your body, what's going on with your aerodynamics and what's really happening in a race then you will absolutely love having a power meter. However if you are the sort of person who prefers to just ride along steadily remaining oblivious to many variables then power meters probably aren’t for you.
When you first get a power meter you will want to fit it to your bike and go out cycling straight away. This is a good idea but ensure it is fitted professionally – SRM power meters need to be fitted correctly to the bottom bracket and Powertap power meters need to be built into a new back wheel. Both of these power meters will need the digital display unit fitted to the handlebars and connected, either wirelessly or through wires to the power measuring component of the power meter.
The first thing to do when you get your power meter is to just ride as you would normally for a couple of weeks or so. Don’t adapt your training, just check your display and stats on your home PC to start mentally making the correlation between what your regular efforts feel like and what wattage figures you are putting out. This will help you integrate power meter training into your general training routine. You’ll get used to seeing how quickly the power meter responds to your change of efforts and how high your wattage goes when you make short sharp efforts.
When you are familiar with your power meter it’s time to start using it to record some important data… its time for the all out power test.
Get your bike on a turbo trainer, on the velodrome or on a long hill and ride flat out for 5 minutes. Use your power meter software on your PC to tell you what your average power output was and record this along with your current body weight so you can get an accurate watts/kg figure. You will want this data when you are planning your next training programme.
To collect more useful data you can do a power test over 20 minutes and also over an hour. Obviously you will need to give yourself enough days to recover between these tests and treat them as you would a competition to ensure you are going into them in the best condition possible.
When you have your first road race with a power meter keep it recording all the stats throughout the race so you can see how many watts was required from you when the bunch was chasing breaks, when it was windy, when you were sheltered and when you were in a break. The results can be quite surprising and with the data from your power meter you can train for these race specific requirements more accurately.
If you are a time trailers or triathlete you can benefit from additional aspects of power meters if you have got access to an indoor velodrome. It is possible to use a power meter to refine your on the bike positioning – you are looking for a position that is as aero as possible without overly compromising power output. The way to measure is to compare power output to a given heart rate compared to the time to do a set number of laps. With some fine tuning you should be able to get yourself as low and aero as possible to go faster without requiring any extra effort.
Additionally time triallers and triathletes can set a target wattage that has been pre-calculated from their training schedules to stick to during a race to ensure they work at an optimum efficiency. Too low and they are wasting potential, too high and they will suffer with fatigue during the event. Ride at the optimum efficiency for their body however and they will be setting personal bests as a matter of course.
Filed under Knowledge by on May 7th, 2009. 
Dear Bob
I’ve been racing for a number of years now and being a family man I’ve tried to keep my training to a set schedule so as to be able to give a lot of regular time to my family, which is something I consider important. Last weekend I was thirty minutes into my planned 5 hour training ride when the display on my Powertap power meter kept cutting out forcing me to head for home early as the training session was wasted. As I approached my house I noticed my cousin’s car on my driveway and the front bedroom curtains closed, even though it was only midday.
Upon letting myself into the house I could hear all manner of moaning and groaning coming from the upstairs which I found confusing. I headed into the hall and up the stairs where there were men’s and women’s clothes discarded on the floor. The noises coming from the bedroom were unmistakeably those of my wife in the throes of sexual ecstasy and although the bedroom door was almost shut I could see through the crack in the door as my wife was straddled naked over my cousin passionately riding him, completely oblivious to anything else.
I was so shocked at this sight it felt like I had become paralysed on the spot, I managed to avoid the desire to burst in and do something that may have put me in court before a judge and instead took myself quietly downstairs trying to work out what was going on and what to do. Eventually, in my state of confusion I thought it would be best to pretend I had never seen it and went back out to my bicycle and stayed out for another 4 hours trying unsuccessfully to figure out a way of confronting my wife that wouldn’t lead to the immediate breakup of our family.
Upon returning home my cousin’s car was gone so I pretended everything was normal and my wife greeted me with a kiss as she always does while watching television in the lounge. I’ve got no idea if this was a one off or if its been happening for a long time. I need to get it resolved but at the same time I still love my wife a lot even though I’m repulsed by the thoughts of her with my cousin.
J, London
Dear J
I’d just like to tell you that I’m sorry to hear of your misfortune, this is a hard thing for anyone to deal with. Primarily I would suggest you check the location and orientation of the Powertap receiver on the chainstay as this can cause problems as well as ensuring that the batteries in both the hub and CPU are fine. ‘Data drops’ can also be caused by some old versions of firmware in the Powertap CPUs which need to be upgraded to the latest version. This is an easy procedure to do by getting in touch with Powertap direct and should hopefully ensure you don’t have any more wasted training sessions.
All the best
Bob
Filed under Knowledge by on May 8th, 2009.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this before – training makes you slower, recovery makes you faster. Think about it for a minute nest time you are sitting on your turbo trainer looking over the figures from your power meter or heart rate monitor …If you were to ride hard every day would you get faster? Or would you start to notice a stiffness in your legs, an inability to sprint, your wattage decreasing on your power meter, an sluggish heart rate on your heart rate monitor at the high end and eventually a debilitating fatigue that stops you riding and racing?
Training breaks muscle down, rest periods , such as when you are sleeping, is when it rebuilds. In a period of heavy training we need more than just our regular sleep. Days off of the bike are just as important as days on the bike.
You can bet that somewhere there are successful pro cyclists right this minute tapering for a big event or recovering from training blocks by doing rest. They’re not doing ‘nothing’ , they really are doing ‘rest’
So what sort of things can you do to aid this rest, recovery, repair and get results?
Firstly plan ahead to maximise your rest days – book a sports massage, go to the gym and chill in the sauna or steam room, sit in the Jacuzzi or just get some honiez back to chill in a hot tub with you!
Rent your favourite film on DVD and lay on the sofa or couch for the afternoon watching it
Cook some slow healthy food and take the time to enjoy eating it
Take care of outstanding paperwork from your couch so you don’t have to worry about it when you are riding next.
Have a lie in in the morning or take a long siesta.
Play with your kids or snuggle up with your partner who you’ve probably neglected during your training phases.
And what are the things you shouldn't do? Well, don’t work late in the office to catch up on things you ignored to go training. Don’t cross train and definitely don't lose the benefits of resting by doing a hard commute on the bike.
You might feel like you need to be doing 'something' but trust me you are... the real magic is going on in a place you can't see it and it works best when you are resting.
Filed under Knowledge by on May 12th, 2009.
The exercise ones body gets while cycling is generally linked with an increase in health and well being. According to studies carried about by the World Health Organization, lack of physical activity is second only to smoking tobacco as a serioud health risk in developed countries, and consequently many tens of billions of dollars of healthcare costs are incurred in treating this. The WHO's report proposes that increasing physical activity is a public health 'best buy' and that riding a bike is a 'highly suitable activity' for this. The British cycling charity Sustrans has found that investment in cycling facilities can give a 20 to 1 return from health and other benefits. It has been estimated that approximately twenty life years are gained from the the physical health benefits of road bicycling for every life year lost through injury.
Bicycles are often used by people looking to increase their fitness and cardiovascular health and consequently cycling is especially helpful for those with arthritis of the lower limbs who are unable to pursue impact or weight bearing sports that would cause problems for their knees and other joints. Since cycling can also be used for the every day purpose of transport and commuting, it can be easy to ride regularly and need less self-discipline to exercise.
Due to the rider being seated most of the time, cycling is a relatively non weight bearing exercise that, similar to swimming, does little to promote bone density. Cycling standing up and out of the saddle, on the other hand, does a better job by transferring more of the rider's body weight to the legs. It used to be thought that cycling while standing was less energy efficient apart from aerodynamic resistance, but recent research has proven this to be untrue.
Cycling on a stationary cycle is frequently advocated as a suitable exercise for rehabilitation, particularly for lower limb injuries due to the low impact that it has on the joints. Cycling on static bikes or turbo trainers is commonly used in conjunction with knee rehabilitation programs.
As a response to the increased first world sedentary lifestyle and consequential obesity of its population, one approach to be adopted by many organizations concerned with health and environment is the promotion of active travel, in which walking and cycling are promoted as safe and attractive alternatives to motorized transport. Given that many journeys are for relatively short distances, there is considerable scope to replace private motor car use with walking or cycling, though in many cities this may require some infrastructure modification, particularly to attract those who are less experienced and confident at negotiating traffic on a bicycle. Various cities around the world such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oxford manage to promote bike use as a form of regular transportation. For these types of riders the need for power meters and heart rate monitors is lessened as just the act of riding a couple of miles is enough of a health boost.
Filed under Knowledge by on May 13th, 2009.
One of the unusual things about the FACT theories on training is their recommendation that the majority of training is done at a moderately low intensity.
For most riders the magic figure is LBP-20.
What does this mean exactly?
Well LBP is your heartrate in beats per minute at the point of your lactate balance point, as calculated in your last FACT LBP test.
The -20 is 20 beats under this figure.
So for example if a rider had a Lactate Balance Point heart rate of 150bpm at their last test then their LBP-20 figure is 130bpm
According to the FACT protocol this is the heartrate they will get the most benefits from training at for most of the time. Well, 90% of the time to be precise.
Its not something to be undertaken lightly though, the hours do have to be put in. You'd probably want to be doing around 10-12 hours of LBP-20 riding a week. This can either be done out on the open road or on a turbo trainer. You will definitely need a heart rate monitor, you won't need a power meter but it is useful if you want to compare your power output to your heart rate to see if you are getting any improvements.
What are the main benefits of training using the FACT method? Well its not that different to the old school ideas you might have heard when you first joined a cycling club - get the miles in.
You'll get increased mitochondria and lung capacity but without as much risk of fatigue as more intense training regimes.
Some riders find their minds start drifting and they report getting 'bored' when doing LBP-20 rides. The main reason for this is probably because they don't trust the method and subconsciously feel uncomfortable not riding flat out. Once you understand the physiological adaptations that will occur at LBP-20 its actually very enjoyable to be able to ride your bike knowing you will still be relatively fresh to do other activities when you get home rather than crashing out asleep on the sofa and yet still be improving your fitness and future performance.
If you really do need something to keep you occupied you can work on your neuromuscular system by pedalling with just one leg for 3 minutes at a time and alternating. You can also do sessions where you try just breathing through your nose to increase the work your lungs are doing.
With a power meter on your handlebars you can also keep yourself occupied studying the wattages you are producing while doing LBP-20 rides. Watching what happens on longer rides where your wattage starts to drop off is also important but we will go into that in more detail in another article.
Filed under Knowledge by on May 15th, 2009.
