In two weeks time I will be Everesting. I’ve been following TR’s base, build and speciality plans - I’m just about halfway through the speciality century plan - and have a ramp test scheduled for this week. The following week is my taper week. I’ve swapped these two weeks around so that the week of my Everesting is a taper week (this week should have been the taper week and next week the ramp test).
In the days (probably the week) following my Everesting, I’m not expecting to be on the bike - certainly not for workouts, though I may go for one or two gentle recovery rides.
Would I be better postponing the ramp test until after my Everesting when I’m fully recovered? Or should I do the test as scheduled? As I see it, if I do the test and I get a modest bump in my FTP, it could end up being negated by my taper week followed by time off the bike after my Everesting. My instinct is to postpone the test until after my Everesting, when I’ll be fully rested and recovered, and then finish the rest of the plan.
What are your thoughts?
Dont know, but please do both. Would be interesting to see the results 1 day prior and one day after 
I have done three everesting attempts (two successful, one less so), as well as several similar rides and races. I usually reduce training load the last 3-4 days before the attempt, get as much sleep as I can the week before, and eat quite a lot the last 48 hours to ensure that I have as much carbs onboard as possible.
The ramp test is, at least in my experience, such a small toll on the legs that I’d be happy to do it up to 48 hours before the attempt. You’d have to let your body recover afterwards, though…
And another observation I’ve made: My legs are usually insanely strong 3-5 days after such an effort, so if you want to set a personal best on a ramp or FTP test, the week after an everesting may be a good opportunity. If I were to follow a structured plan, I’d definitely take a week off after everesting before resuming a training plan.
Good luck with the attempt! My experience is that it is mentally toughest at around the 70% mark, so keep your inner dialogue extra positive - and keep an eye on power output and food intake!
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I’ve everested as well, no real issues in doing a ramp test a few days prior, wouldn’t hurt much as it’s only a 20 minute effort. Good luck!
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In my humble opinion - doing absolutely [nothing] (ok, maybe 30-60 minutes a day) in the week prior but a decent ride (100km ish) and an opener the day before would be able to prepare you for such an effort.
So maybe the ramp test can be your opener. See this one’s build up:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1759759491
It’s quite important to be mentally fresh/disengaged from everything when you go into an Everesting. Your body’s gonna be fatigued by the 6th, 7th or 8th hour. If your mind is fresh, you can keep on going, but if there’s a lot of chatter going on in your head, it’ll take quite a lot of energy to hang in there!
For me the opener helps me to be excited about the Everesting attempt and the intensity keeps the nerves at bay.
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