If you think the 4iiii is to blame, then stick to your Kickr for power. When I got my first 4iiii, it produced fantastical power numbers for the first month and then settled down. (Think top-level TdF numbers … I remember, it gave me an almost 1,900 W sprint.) If yours doesn’t settle down, yu should contact support. There is no point having a power meter whose numbers you can’t trust.
@OreoCookie More words of wisdom and appreciate the sharing. Your path sounds very similar to the one I am on.
When I first got back into cycling and was only on my MTB (and being new to Strava) progress was measured by improvements in average speed and segments. I was only riding three times a week and reasonably short so it was easy to fall into the ride as fast as you can all the time to make progress. When I purchased the road bike the weekly km and hours went up but I was still locked into the mentality (which seems so common) that fast all the time is the way to progress.
It’s interesting to me at least that the biggest FTP gains I have seen albeit from AIFTP has been since I have intentionally switched gears and use the weekend rides to focus on endurance and just have some fun exploring the beautiful place I live in and keep the structure during the week. I have been way more consistent both outside and inside and it’s brought the fun back to being outside. Sure is hard through to keep it in low gear still at times but I am getting better.
Also super fortunate to have come into this with a big focus on sleep and overall nutrition. I probably still have some work to do for off the bike fueling especially during big weeks but have been focused on sleep and sleep quality for about three years now and it’s been transformative. (Matt Walker’s Sleep is your Superpower TED talk scared the crap out of me)
I will keep following your advice, I have my next race in four weeks time so working through the TR approach to it’s lead up and will keep on keeping on. So fortunate to live in a place where cycling is a year round thing.
Thank you for sharing your experiences.