Hi all… I just signed up for TR but have enjoyed the podcast for some time…
I created myself a plan on the plan builder and will be starting Monday. I do have a trainer but was planning to start workouts OUTDOORS with my head unit until I can setup my pain cave (I just moved)… and noticed my first workout is the FTP Ramp test…
What? Ok I get it… but without the trainer I’m kind of stuck. I know the AI detection needs several workouts to figure out my ftp… so what should I do?
I have an FTP from early/mid 23 when I was doing another program… should I just plug that value in for now? Or am I in a limbo until either I do 10 workouts or setup the trainer?
Well, the best way to start your new plan is to assess current fitness, in my opinion. You could do outdoor time trials to estimate CP and use that for FTP. Better than using an old and out of date estimate.
You can do a 20min FTP test outdoors by loading it onto your head unit then find a stretch of road where you can sustain an effort over 20mins like a gradual hill that isn’t so steep you need to stand but one where you know you have to work
Assuming its not too old, if you know how things should feel you could use that and tweak or alternatively line up a 20min test or use intervals.icu estimate FTP (you probably want to set intervals to estimate on a decent period, IIRC the default is a bit short).
I’d back that “well trained” 2023 FTP down about 10% and start training. Or just ride, baby.
Start building the data set as soon as you can. If you can find a 20 minute stretch of road, go for a 20 minute version, but I couldn’t even find an uninterrupted 8 minute stretch of road within 15-20 miles of my house…
Get the pain cave set up, power it up and see what the protocol of your choice says once you’re comfortably moved.