Thought you would be interested to see a video of a Powertap working on Zipp 808 wheels. You can clearly see the triple readout display and how it looks on the handlebars. Enjoy.
Filed under cycling, Knowledge by on Mar 24th, 2010. 
Just a quick update to tell you Cadel Evans is another rider who is training with a powertap as this video shows
Filed under cycling, Knowledge by on Mar 23rd, 2010.
As a cyclist you're probably already aware of the advantages of carrying less fat. Not only will your health be improved, your longevity increased but you will also be able to ride faster over rolling terrain.
Weight loss is one of the main aspirations for people when asked what they would like to change about their health or appearance.
The established methods of losing weight are
Increasing your energy output and therefore increasing caloric expenditure
Suppressing your appetite
Increasing your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Maintaining your lean body mass at the expense of fat
3500 is the magic number
At the foundation of all weight control programs is that fat loss happens when the number of calories spent over a given period is greater than the number consumed. The net deficit which is covered by calories taken from the body's fat reserves results in weight loss. How much weight loss can be calulated by one pound of body fat equates to 3500 calories.
Riding your bike will assist in increasing calorie expenditure in two ways. Firstly you will burn calories due to the effort of riding your bike while you are doing it. You can work this out for yourself - watches such as the Garmin devices will calculate this according to your heartrate, the exercise duration and your weight. Secondly regular exercise will increase the amount of calories you consume at rest - your BMR. So even when you are resting or sleeping you will still be burning extra calories. In fact your increase in BMR can maintained with as little as 30 to 40 minutes of exercise 3 to 4 times a week with the effect even more pronounced in older athletes.
Check part2 for more details on the intensity levels that work best for promoting fat burning and discover the carbohydrate/protein/fat content of your meals should be.
Filed under cycling, Knowledge by on Feb 25th, 2010.
A power profile test is conducted at the start of a training programme (or for those of you without a power meter its done at the point you switch to training with one). It is used to establish what kind of a rider you are, where your strengths and weaknesses are and to set the parameters within which you will establish your power based training zones.
What you're trying to do is measure your peak wattage over various measurements of time. This does not mean the highest number of watts you can reach during the interval, rather the highest average watts you can sustain for the duration.
When you have all the information you put it into a power profile chart and a pattern emerges which describes accurately your strengths and weaknesses.
The test is simple but quite hard both physically and mentally and needs to be completed 3 times to record the best score which is the figure you input into the profile. This means you need to be well rested before each test, even treating it as you would a race, with the same level of preparation. Although the best way to test your true FTP (Functional Threshold Power) is to ride for an hour at TT pace this is too hard in the context of this test so It is suggested that you try that as a stand alone session later on.
In each of the test intervals, you want to set the highest possible average watts for the length of the interval, so don't blow up too early and don't finish with plenty left in the tank
The warm up:
10 mins @ 60% max heart rate
10 mins @ 70% max heart rate
5mins @ 80% max heart rate
5 mins easy spinning
5 x 30 second absolute max sprints with 1 minute rest between each.
The test intervals:
6 minutes average power test
6 minutes recovery
12 seconds average power test
6 minutes recovery
1minute average power test
6 minutes recovery
12 minutes average power test
6 minutes recovery
30 minute av power test
When you download the data, isolate the average heart rate during the last 20 minutes of the 30 minute test as this will give you a very useful indicator of your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR), very useful for later on.
So do the above test 3 times, download the files and run them through the software to create the power profile, or better still give them to your coach and let him do it. From there you'll be able to set all sorts of highly specific training sessions to improve.
Filed under cycling, Knowledge by on Oct 27th, 2009.
