A had a 2 week holiday and shortly after I returned my car broke down, I am waiting for a spot when the garage has time to fix my car, so I decided to cycle instead of drive. Today I tried FTP detection and say a big drop in FTP (278->263W), back to where I was last December. 
Well, how do you really feel for any given workouts, done before or after the AIFTPD change?
- Main point is to consider the reality of your body and itâs present state in context against AIFTPD. There could be a number of reasons that the result may not align with your actual state, so Iâd reserve the tears until you evaluate now.
I canât really do structure right now because my car is still broken but when I compare my power to heart rate before and after my holiday that seemed to have improved
- So, this is a worry for another day then?
If you canât train, and have life getting in the way, your FTP is whatever it is. It wonât really matter until you can get back to actual training. At that time, you can either use AIFTPD, do any form of test or swag it manually to get your new starting point.
Gains & losses happen, all part of training. Accept that and move on. Not much point in sweating where you were, work from where you are.
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Why you are so surprised and what exactly did you expect to happen with your fitness? This is a very small drop after 2 weeks off the bike. When I come off my peak form and take 1 week off the bike it usually takes 2 months + to peak again and min 1 month to be able to do high intensity properly. And first week after time off I can barely do FTP power! (4.7W/kg)
My advice is donât worry about your FTP since it means nothing, youâre not training, clearly not panning any racing events anytime soon. Just enjoy riding your bike.
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Two ways I think about itâŚ
- you got some rest, opening the door to pushing above where you were
- only 2 weeks likely means simply going out and riding your bike is TRAINING to reverse the loss in blood volume (and some leg muscle enzymes and what not)
There is some science behind this, if you search âcycling detrainingâ youâll get a lot of search results and here are two easier to read articles:
and
anyone that thinks riding your bike is not training must be in marketing 
For the last 4 weeks I did a lot of z2, so much so that my form even dipped into the red (see screenshot) with a few harder efforts in between
a lot going on in that screenshot but its hard to see the volume. When my fitness drops from a 2-4 week break, I donât bother changing FTP which means TSS/CTL/TSB are off. So I donât trust those metrics and seeing form dip into the red is not surprising.
Yeah I look at kJ work and train by HR after immediately coming back. Youâve already seen some signs of higher EF, right? AI FTP is a black box. Your call on what to do next.
It is ok to take a step back to move forward. After a âseason breakâ a decline is expected and should be welcomed. You are recovered and now ready to build back. You donât want to come back from a season break and start blasting workouts right out of the gate⌠Thatâs a good way to peak early and get burned out.
Enjoy the step back. Embrace a a month of lower FTP and crush your workouts. Ultimately it will help you prepare for the next training block when you get that FTP bump!
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If it helps, I can commiserate. I was forced off for 2 weeks and am just clawing back. Decided to stick with TR, set up a base block and clicked detect⌠16% drop. My first workout was labeled âthresholdâ but was a full 20 watts below what my threshold had been (and only 9 minute intervals!). Itâs times like this I wish I could afford a real coach to cry to, but Iâm just going to keep my head down and keep spinning. It will come back. (Right, guys? Right!?)
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Right. FWIW I took off 4 weeks in September 2021. Didnât change my ftp, did my usual productive endurance rides by HR (fully endorsed/encouraged by my coach), he tossed in some easy tempo work, at some point I started tossing in some 5-10 second ride ending sprints. After two months I was back to pre-break August fitness, and by January I had pushed fitness to new heights.
Hey there!
Like other athletes are saying here, I wouldnât be too concerned about the decrease in FTP after that time off.
Taking those 2 weeks off can help rejuvenate you mentally and physically for more training to come. Itâs often advised to take some time off in the middle and/or end of a season to help athletes stay fresh and motivated.
Once youâre back into training, your previous gains will come back quickly! I really liked the examples @WindWarrior and @Jolyzara gave â the time off may make you feel like youâre losing fitness in the short-term, but a few months from now, youâll be flying and possibly even setting new PRs!
As you get into your next training plan, rest assured that Adaptive Training will get your workouts dialed in for you, and AI FTP Detection will ensure your FTP is accurately updated as you continue to train.
Feel free to let us know if you have any other questions!