Bradley + 1 question about target power

Hi, I’m Michele from Italy.
I started using Trainerroad 5 months ago, I’m enthusiast about it, my actually ftp is 218, it’s increased of 26 watt but i feel i can do better. I’m 163 cm for 53 kg. However my question is about a workout did today. It’s the first time that apparently i’m not goal with target power (even though it was all within my reach and I never happened to not exactly achieve the goal of power in sweet spots) the workout was Bradley+1, i used erg mode, it was structured of 5 blocksx10 minutes near 92-95%Ftp with addition of 4x8 sprint.
I don’t know if i wrong to understand the workout (and i push too much on sprints), if is a problem of my elite suito, or if i wrong with setup of this workout (using erg mode and put big ring, normally i used small ring for all my workouts)…
I 'll give you a link for a while to help me to understand. The problem was immediately after sprints my smart trainer need more or less 20 to 30 seconds to allineate with target power because the flywheel is too fast (so for the rest of short blocks i have to chase my goal power) maybe i had to use resistance mode (i don’t choose it because I don’t like to tweak with my hands and the touchscreen during workout)

I don’t have a smart trainer so I can’t help you with any ERG specific tips. However, other than not letting your sprint cadence (and therefore the flywheel speed) get too far above your sweet spot cadence there isn’t a ton that you can do. If it is a wheel on smart trainer then you can slightly drag the rear brake but from your post it sounds like the trainer is direct drive. As you do more workouts like this one you may simply get better at mitigating this issue.
I know it can be annoying during the workout but in the end I don’t think it is changing the nature of the workout and you are still getting all of the intended benefits. People have been doing this kind of workout of decades outside where you would also have to manage the slow down from sprint speed down to sweet spot power. I say just keep pedaling until the flywheel catches up to your cadence and don’t worry about it too much.

When ERG mode is taking too much time to adjust to the target power due to the intertia in the flywheel, you can decrease the inertia of the system by selecting an easier gear. We find that ERG mode responds the fastest when you are using your small chainring in the front and a middle cog on your cassette.

Go ahead and try your next workout with an easier gear and see if that helps the trainer match the Target Power more accurately :slight_smile:

Not necessarily “easy”, but here is a trick I sometimes employ to get flywheel speed under control quicker: