With Saturday’s “International Cloudripper -3 Day” just around the corner, I thought I’d start a thread for discussion. I’m sure there are going to be a million posts about “why is my new FTP X?” tomorrow, but I’m more interested in the followup verification ride, Cloudripper -3.
Has anyone done this workout already with a brand new FTP? How did it go? Thoughts about it in combination with the new FTP? Did it help you in analyzing whether your new TR AI FTP is similar to what your “real FTP” is (however you choose to define that)? Anyone moving it up to do Friday instead of Saturday?
I hope @huges84 doesnt mind me quoting them, but they were right, so I’m adding context below. Thanks for the great post!
I was given this one as my 2nd workout with the new AI plans, 3 days after FTP updated. Felt easy for an over under workout. Had plenty left in the tank at the end, which I didn’t expect. I added a few minutes by RPE immediately after the last set, to see how hard I’d have to go for it to feel hard, since that seemed the point of the workout. I didn’t adjust intensity of the ride during.
My AI FTP dropped as I had about a 3 week offseason break with no riding. Prior to that had been just maintaining on low volume, though less consistently than I could have. Makes sense to have dropped, things feel like they’re returning quickly as I ramp volume back up.
I did this one my first week on new FTP, it was my 3rd workout after two SS workouts. I rated my first SS ‘Very Hard’ and my threshold workout got adjusted down to CloudRipper. I rated it Moderate so mustn’t have been too bad.
The new workout selector has made me take nutrition/recovery much more serious. If I don’t do that properly, these workouts can be very challenging. But if I dial in recovery/eating then they are all in the ‘hard but doable’ range.
Friday is my “do hard stuff” day so sure, I’ll swap in Cloudripper -3. I did have Tioga scheduled for myself so a little easier but similar. Or can I stick with Tioga?
I was running an FTP of 242 and detection pre-prediction came up at 244 so not so bad. Been training at 244 but with prediction off as I’m on a 3 week cycle and prediction wants to bump my FTP just prior to the last “do hard stuff” day of week 3 which I’m hoping to do Mary Austin -1 so as far as taking the bump just before that workout I ain’t having it. I’ll let detection run before the rest week and figure out what I want my FTP to be from there based on how everything felt the prior weeks. Feels like I might be flying a little close to the sun with my current FTP so I’m likely to leave it where it is for the next 4 week block unless I’m feeling super strong somehow. Probably not going to use prediction as I don’t need that sort of stick/carrot for motivation.
Interesting that the two of you had it as your first threshold workout after the initial New AI FTP. I got Wheel -3, which I promptly failed, but that was fair as I had just gone half of December without riding and was about to go into some oral surgery. I’m interested to see what happens Saturday when a ton of us get the exact same workout assigned.
I got Cloudripper -2 after a 9w bump under the new AI FTP (5 days after an update from the old model). Predictor said 43% chance easy, 43% chance moderate, 10% hard. I have it set to aggressive.
I didn’t find it particularly challenging. Rated it easy, 85% of max HR peak.
I had Temple, a 4.2 over-under today. I was really torn between a hard and very hard rating. Very hard drops my Saturday FTP detection by 4 watts.. Leaving it at very hard moved my FTP from 286>292, vs 298
I had Antelope +2 on Tuesday (which I crushed), then a 2 hour endurance ride yesterday, right into Temple, so I think the lack of recovery swayed my rating.
Yeah, not sure. If I’m fueled properly, I don’t find riding at threshold for 9 mins ever really pushed me. I’m pretty carb heavy the day before and day of, and then I’m 120g/hr on the bike.
Maybe the prediction is also an artifact of how I usually rate/do workouts? Everything is either easy, moderate, or fail for me; if I’m struggling too much, I’ll turn down via the % and/or just get off the bike.
@Pbase You didn’t really give the context for International Cloudripper -3 Day. In the Beta group we noticed that many people’s plans were planning Cloudripper -3 for the day that their FTP was predicted (the 28th day since their last AI FTP update). And since everyone in the beta got the AI FTP turned on at the same time, it was scheduled for this Saturday for all of us.
And since it’s the first workout with a higher TR FTP and it’s an over/under workout, it’s a decent way to validate the new TR FTP by RPE and see how well the AI did in picking that new TR FTP. And if so, then you’ll also see how well your training did or didn’t raise your TR FTP.
[Note that I said TR FTP - please don’t side rail this thread with debate if it’s actually FTP. There’s another thread for that debate. ]
Of course, the AI alters workout selection up until the day of the workout, so it wasn’t certain that we’d still have that workout come Saturday. Today mine had scheduled for Saturday a workout that was almost the same as Cloudripper -3 but instead of steady power overs they were overs that ramp up and down. I think it was Avalanche Spire. Anyways, the duration, WL and type was basically the same I swapped it back to CR -3.
The new AI FTP put me at 218 on Jan 10. It’s predicting 226 on Saturday and I don’t have any workouts scheduled for tomorrow, so presumably the prediction won’t change.
My detection day was today. It updated to the predicted number. It also changed the workout for tomorrow, so it’s now Fang Mountain, not Cloudripper -3.
Me too. I was scheduled Cloudripper -2 for a while as my first new TH, but somewhere in the month it changed to Wheel -2. From the predicted difficulty the model doesn’t see a lot to choose between them - indeed, Cloudripper -2 is a ‘similar’ alternate.
Interesting. Your post prompted me to go play with the individual zone sliders, and now I’m back to Cloudripper -3. We’ll see what it is when I log in tomorrow to do the workout. I wish I’d thought to screenshot my AL’s before and after the FTP Detection.
Because duration matters a whole lot more than the max.
If I was asked to do enough work to hold me at 180+ for 30 minutes at a time, and made it genuinely not repeatable, then I would rate it hard. But this was only 9 minutes, with tons of rest. And properly fueled makes a big difference too.
I was a swimmer for 7 years, maybe intervals are in my blood now.
There’s another thread for that debate. ]
