Power Curve Question

Trying to understand how my power curve from Saturday (outside ride) has some larger bumps in it where the power on the chart increases with time instead of decreases. I hadn’t seen this before. Can someone explain what causes this?

Seen the same thing occasionally and guessing it’s just a quirk of the way you were putting out power. E.g. let’s say you had a 10 minute period where you started with doing 1 minute at 500W, then settled into 250W for 8 minutes, then did another 1 minute at 500W.

Your 10 minute average would be: (8x250)+(2x500)/10 = 300W
Your best 9 minute average within that timeframe would be: (8x250)+(1x500)/9 = 278W

Obviously unlikely to be as clearcut as that, but shows how it’s possible for average power to be higher over a longer timeframe than a shorter one.

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That’s pretty much spot on. If you did a 7 min effort with a sprint at the end and a sprint at the start your 5 min average power will be less than your seven min average power.

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