If you want see some metrics on how to ride a course, head to Best Bike Splits, activate the trial, set up your FTP. Then create a race and import a Zwift route (You can find them online or in Strava), and run the analysis.
What you get is essentially a complete guide to exactly how hard you should be riding everywhere along the course.
Here is my old data for Zwift New York:
Best Bike Splits NY.pdf (1.5 MB)
So how is this useful?
-
Time Trials
I think the main ways people use this data is to import it to their computer and try to match exactly the targets it proved; this is basically the same as riding a time trial. Kinda neat if you want to ride solo and see if you can PB your times for a particular route. I’ve done it. It works in Zwift. You could print out the Race intervals and try to follow from the paper when riding, but that is nigh impossible for me. My eyes are not that keen and I am too gassed usually to read while riding hard. And if you are racing in Zwift, then there are other factors that affect your in-game ride such as drafting, and race strategy in general. In a race you really have to adapt to stay on-pace or you get dropped. This is what you are experiencing as you hit the hills. -
Target power for climbs
For me, the main thing I get from this data is essentially a baseline of how hard I COULD or SHOULD be going anywhere on course. The main thing I look for is the target power for specific gradients. Gradient changes are easy to follow in Zwift (top right) and what I try to do is exceed the target that I get from BBSplits. You can try and do the same thing using mileage, but I find it too difficult to make effective changes.
The best way I have found to use the data, is to write the gradients from -10 to +10 and put the target power next to it. I have a small whiteboard next to my TV (coincidence) so this is easy and I can see it quickly. When you see the gradient start to change, you can glance at the power required for +2-degrees and hit it quickly. It works as a quick reference.
- Learning how to optimize your output
Do #2 a few times and you start to learn things. Take a look at the data in the red boxes in the report and look at the required wattage for each of the gradients:
-0.3=234w
+4.18=306w
+10.18=329W
What do you think of those changes? These are the recommended outputs for you to set personal records based on the total course. The difference between flat to 4% is 72w; and that’s instantaneous power. When you hit a hill, are you hammering the pedals to get +72w in microseconds? Probably not. If you haven’t anticipated the hill and ramped up, you are slowing down UNTIL you add enough power to overcome the effects of the virtual hill. If you are trying to push the pedals as the gradient changes +1% more, it’s too late if everyone else was hammering at 0%, and you slow down and maybe get dropped.
From 4% to 10% the instantaneous jump is only 23w, but that is OVER my FTP; not exactly my “power-on-demand” powerband. 4% @ 306w I can do as much as I need to in the races I do. 329w burns after about 6 minutes so I have to be a bit smarter about how I use my muscles.
What I have learned from this data is that I have to go HARDER than I think and really want to on any climbs over 5%. I really need to be at 125% FTP to keep up on the climbs because I’m 102kg (225lbs). I have no choice but to go REALLY hard or I simply get dropped. On less steep gradients, I can GRIND out 310w and stay with the pack.
What I try to do is calculate the differences between the gradients that matter so I can apply extra power over what I’m riding at. My comfortable pace (call it sweet spot) is currently around 275w; 90% of my FTP. (Go figure). If the race is fast, I might have to ride at 290w just to keep up. So I have to add that 70+ watts on 5% grades to be competitive. Generally, I shoot for 90% FTP on flats, 110% up to 3%, 115% to 6%, and then +125% (over 330w) above 7%. This I learned from the data from Best Bike Splits.
Geeky I know. If you think about it, go HARDER than you think when it gets steep, PUSH a little on most climbs, and sit slightly below FTP everywhere else. But power targets help.
Good Hunting.