Stupid party tricks…
106% for 20+ minutes on rolling terrain. Variability of 1.00 if you remove having to wait for a left turn, and a stop light near the end.
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This ride had 1000m of climbing. I did my best to ride to the PM. Much of the tips above related to me during this ride as I’ve been working on pegging RPE to PM based work. It’s a work in progress but I’m getting better. The ride below was a PM based workout. As you can see, I noticed the amount of coasting so I’ve adjusted what I do in each ride to take into account this. I usually ride this exact route so I’m now getting pretty good at staying in the zones as I climb (slower cadence etc) and pedaling during the descents by slowing enough so I need to pedal down. I don’t have any large descents or climbs or any that are very long but it is still a work in progress figuring what not to and what to do to keep in the zones. The active recovery amount was not slowing enough on the shallow descents to keep in Endurance.
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On Wahoo head units you can get a graphical display of how much time you spent in which power or heart rate zone.
That’s very good. Although if you live somewhere windy, it may not be as easy to be that consistent.
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Good work! Don’t overthink it. I found the 2-minute real-time power graph on Garmin to really help my brain learn how leg feelings matched up with power smoothness. Allow your cadence to vary, which is the opposite of what most learn using erg inside.
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yeah, it was actually a previous convo with you on another thread that got me there. I’ve been focusing on overall IF and getting the right gear and cadence for the terrain im riding. Coupled with riding erg less and less indoor is helping me get the feeling. In fact using erg less has had the biggest impact on getting that feeling right outside
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I follow CTS too, and love that my weekend rides are both zone 2 / 3 (intervals wed and thurs). my rides are nearly always 1000 feet climbing per 10 miles so their plans suit me perfectly. I keep an eye on HR so that after a few hours my hr is still green on the wahoo.
Those plans and TR AI ftp work perfectly for me.
I believe Garmin also has a page that you can add which will show percentage of time in zones. I just typically put the zone 2 time next to ride time.
In regards to wind it also gets windy in Colorado and need to plan accordingly. I had a two hour zone 2 ride I needed to do yesterday with 15mph winds and gust up to 25mph. I ended up going out with the tailwind and had to use brake tapping when I was getting maxed out but was still able to stay in zone 2. The ride back with a headwind was much easier.
It definitely takes a lot more focus and planning on the ride and has taken time to get better at it. At times I just want to go ride and not be paying attention to zones but FTFP (as FasCat Cycling would say). Here is a pic of my 2hr Z2 ride from yesterday that was 82% zone 2 and my NP and Avg Power were within one watt.
One other point I forgot to mention is bike paths can also be good and bad. I have a super long bike path near me (Cherry Creek Bike Path) that is great as there are no interruptions but it can also get a little twisty and crowded at times making it challenging. I definitely have to use the brake method to stay in power on bike paths at times. Long flat to rolling roads out in the country I find the best if available.
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I do the only thing I can and ride around the lake because that is only part that is flat.
I also struggle to keep my endurance rides in desired range, so I developed a Data Field for most Edge computers that gives visual and audible feedback to help you stay in zone 2 based on your desired range of heart rate or power (but could be set to use for any range you want):
https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/4a869cf4-c276-4303-ab04-712fc1a2ffea
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I’d say so!
Thanks I wasn’t sure since the ride involved 4 thousand feet of climbing. ,
I’ll throw in an example of my own I guess. This is maybe one of the best I could find. On a less disciplined ride I’d have more Z1 time and a bit more Z3 but I wouldn’t touch into Z4 much more, even without looking at power. It’s just become second nature to keep the power under wraps.
I’m in SE Pennsylvania so it’s pretty hilly and I weight ~180lbs.
You can see my speed is all over the place but my power stays pretty consistent. I inevitably have to coast to stop signs, lights, and down steep descents.
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The amount of elevation gain is immaterial if you are keeping your power within Z2…it is about the power you put out, not how many feet you climb.
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It’s all about power output and HR, not terrain. It can be more tricky to keep things steady in rolling terrain, but with the right gearing and some practice, it’s certainly doable!
Nice effort!
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If I am riding in hilly terrain or have to deal with traffic, I would not want to use tricks to keep power constant. When I ride outdoors, I want to ingrain good habits and techniques for outdoor riding. E. g. maintaining momentum, pacing, riding with the flow of your environment (for safety) and proper cornering technique on descents. Dipping into other zones can be minimized, but not always avoided (e. g. to safely and quickly overtake someone, I might go into Z4).
If I want to put out perfectly flat power curves, I hop on my trainer. 
Yes, although it is almost always harder if you are opting for a hilly or mountainous course: on the uphill, you have to grind (unless you have MTB gearing), and on the downhill you typically don’t pedal.
Of course…but in this case jpdurk held his power in check and his power remained in or below Z2. In terms of his question (is this a Z2 ride?) and analysis, the fact that he climbed 4k feet is irrelevant.
Selecting a course that has 4k feet of climbing for a Z2 ride is probably not optimal unless you have very low gearing (as you note), but for post-ride analysis, it doesn’t matter.
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My personal opinion is most people who attempt zone 2 rides in hilly terrain don’t have easy enough gears and/or discipline on the climbs. I have very good w/kg and 1:1 easiest gear, and it can still be a challenge. Probably better just to seek out the flattest route possible in your area for true z2 rides.
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It’s a challenge. I have a rails to trails path near me which is my main good option for zone 2 as it’s pretty flat. Anything else either has too much traffic or just too many steep punchy hills.
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2.8-2.9 W/kg and it’s not a challenge 
unless it’s a group ride and there aren’t other like minded riders that agree to not chase the rabbits