So today I was supposed to do Wright Peak -1 before deloading next week and doing another ramp test at the start of my build phase.
But… the weather has been great these last few days and I decided to do an outdoor ride instead. Oh boy, what a difference vs my last outdoor ride! During my ~2.5h, I rode 72.6km at an average of almost 30kph and averaging 233W according to my Garmin for the entire ride while my FTP was 221W roughly 4w ago!!!
And that while my weight keeps on coming down as well…I’m now down to 81kg, coming from around 94-95kg 4-5 months ago since I started cycling.
I’m looking forward to a week of recovery and I am curious what my new FTP is going to be… I’m stoked!
Had a similar nice bump as well (almost 8%) not that long ago whilst finishing SSBMV2, it’s a really good block to even do a few times over. I see you had an even larger bump percentage wise.
One word of caution if you are doing Build now, as am I (currently 3rd week of General Build MV). Some workouts will be a mean motha… such a large increase will cause pain. I know I suffered
Shorter VO2 level intervals have now suddenly become sustained prolonged threshold efforts. Plus the weekly TSS values are even higher than in SSB. Make sure you are well rested and get enough carbs prior to workouts, it will save your life…
Excellent progress - joking aside I would look at your outdoor riding position as well - unless you were on a winter bike with mudguards and winter tyres it shouldn’t take 233W to average 18mph even @81kg - I would think you could reduce your drag a lot and get more speed for your watts. I do tt but even on my standard road bike with training wheels and tyres I can get 20mph from 200W and @tempo 22mph for 1hr 45mins@253W and in a road bike tt I did on a hilly circuit I got 24mph from 268W for nearly an hour. Admittedly I only weigh 61kg but I reckon your 233W has got to be worth 20mph with a decent bike fit - good luck
Completely agree to how hard Build is esp when you get a large increase in base. Experienced this 2x now having inconsistent years and then regaining a lot in a short period of time during base, and finding the build really hard.
You almost need a transition phase for anyone <X years training or when gains are more than X% per phase so that they can get some success in the Build phase. Dont want people to loose motivation or end up bailing or reducing workouts anyway…
Given we have so much time now without any events, maybe people could consider a build your own transition phase of SSB2 or similar before moving to Build
Trust in the plan and listen to your body. it is also about where you are in terms of potential. You might be gifted wit a good aerobic system and still reaping low hanging fruits.
My advice is to be aware of our fatigue level and don’t skip on your recovery weeks/rides. make sure the quality of your more intense rides are not being affected and you will keep ramping up.
Amen to that, this is also one of the more important bits. If your workout is for example 95 TSS, then don’t do more. At least what I found is that although you might feel strong and tempted on a particular day to do more you are risking overcooking yourself in a day or two which in the long run will reduce your gains. The more compliant you are with your workouts, their TSS and IF the better. Chad made these workouts as they are for a reason
I’ll echo what others have said about the build phase. I’ve moved up about 20% in FTP from November until now (just finishing build) as a new rider to structured training. Sustained Power build was TOUGH, especially the second block. What I realized towards the end is that I had to back down my workout % by a few points to keep it sustainable. At some point in the build block, you’ll be doing 3x 100% FTP efforts for upwards of 20 minutes (Mt Goode +2). If your Trainerroad FTP number (from the ramp) is leading ahead of the sustained power you can truly output (which is common for newer riders) by a few percent, you would essentially be trying to do three 20min FTP tests in a row. A 20 min FTP test calculates your FTP by taking 95% of your sustained 20 minute power…essentially you are doing about 105% FTP for 20 minutes. So this is a limit for most everyone and no one can do that three times in a row. Those few extra percent make a huge difference.
Initially, I started by following each workout and would drop effort as I needed mid-ride to try to complete, but by that time I had already dug a hole I couldn’t get out of. In the later sessions, I tried to head that off by adjusting my level going in and the rides were still very hard but barely doable. You will be operating at the hairy edge of what you can sustain in the Build phase so you have to pay more attention to decide what is sustainable for you. I still saw nice gains coming out of Build.
Two years ago I got a big bump coming out of base and I really struggled in build. Failed a lot of the 2-3 minute VO2 workouts and even the longer threshold workouts were very hard. Similar bump in FTP last year and same result. (Although I got the flu in the middle of it so not counting that one)
I’m just finishing build this year and am happy to say I haven’t failed a single workout. I think the difference is I did more volume. I’ve always done low volume and starting thinking I need more time on the bike in the base phase. This year I did low volume again, but added in a ton of extra “Baxter” type rides on the off days. Also, as someone mentioned already pay attention to carbs on those tough ride days.
I agree with @jdman, 233w should have you well above 30kph given it’s a flat route with no exreme winds ofcourse.
In road bike position 230w efforts get me around 34-35kph average (BW = 75kg).
Main thing to look at would be your body position on the bike. Are you in the drops, hoods, or hands up on the bar? Do you have straight arms, or bent? Arms flaring out, or straight? Getting lower and more narrow can increase your speed by a lot.
Yep you’re tyres have a standardised rolling resistance of 17.2W where as Michelin Lithion 2’s I have on my training wheels are 15.2 W. The Michelin power competitions I have on my 60mm road bike racing wheels are 10.9W and the tubeless Vittoria Corsa speeds I have on my tt bike are 7W (but I wouldn’t use these for any race without a nice smooth tarmac road as they have only a thin layer of graphene between the road and well some sealant!). The best compromise by far are the new Continental Grand prix 5000 which are 8.3W tubeless and still only 10W with a standard tube - and they are pretty tough! On top of that ride on the hoods not on the drops, rest your forearms behind the hoods, make sure you have a strong core and get lower on the bike (maybe lowering the stem - but only a few mm every couple of weeks). Also get a bike fit or someone to watch you riding. Plus decent tight fitting bibs and jersey. I use a skin suit obviously for tt (and a high tech one at that) and that is quicker still but a decent set of normal well fitting kit can save you 10-20W as you are most of the drag on a bike. That said if you just ride outside to get in the zone 2 miles and enjoy yourself then who cares …if you want to impress your mates on Strava or race it is more of an issue
Also let us not forget that while it is nice to look at average mph (I’m guilty of it too) it’s not really relevant. There could have been a big headwind or tail wind, the terrain could be much different than you’re used to or as good as one individual thinks they feel they could have underlying fatigue. It’s fun to say that doing this many watts=mph that’s rarely true but in a controlled environment.
I like this approach. In the past when I struggled with Build I would wait too long to drop the intensity. At that point the wheels were already off and even a 5-10% drop wouldn’t help.
A small drop in the early intervals makes a lot of sense.
I’m going to have to agree and disagree with you on this
For 99% of us mere mortals that don’t have the spare cash laying around to do wind tunnel testing, looking at MPH during our rides is our only way to do some aero testing. So I don’t think it’s irrelevant at all. Having a significantly lower average speed compared to others could be a sign that you’re leaving cheap and easy to gain mph on the table.
However, I fully agree that ride circumstances have to be taken into account here, like the ones you mentioned, to make any valid comparison. That’s also why I stated “given it’s a flat route with no extreme winds”.
such a large increase will cause pain. I know I suffered 
Plus the weekly TSS values are even higher than in SSB. Make sure you are well rested and get enough carbs prior to workouts, it will save your life… 
