Done see link,
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Thanks Ray. I’ve joined so do you still need my username? It looks as if the Team may allow some good interchange and discussion as we can watch each other’s training. One thing I’m interested in whether the Ramp Test “discriminates” against old guys by focusing on VO2 Max for the calculation. I can churn out watts at and above my FTP for long stretches on the road, but my FTP has hovered in the same neighborhood for 6 months. I decided to move from LV to MV to see if that will boost the Ramp Test, but I plan two or three alternate FTP tests on the road.
Thanks… Good context on your progress. You’ve inspired me to throw in on the MV plant.
Thanks, Ray! I joined, and also @DavidWms Strava group, which was super easy. There is even an over-60 group on David Tinker’s intervals.icu .
At 79 I’m obviously more in the camp of how to get slower slower vs how to get faster faster. Comparing my testosterone – I mean stats – with a 60-year-old guy who’s been racing for 30-40 years isn’t too much of an attraction for me, though my hat is off to lifelong competitive athletes. What does attract me is exchanging whatever we’re learning about using cycling to nourish the most fitness / health we can. Even though I’m not TR’s target demographic, I love the ecosystem it has created and have learned more here than anywhere else, so prefer staying here.
What I’ve been doing since the pandemic is my own makeshift polarized experiment – doubling volume with very easy long outdoor solo rides, lately spiced up with short VO2max workouts – either TR or short Zwift crits. Also some experiments with alternatives to the ramp test for FTP calibration. Right now there is a lively discussion in My Polarized Training Experience (Chad McNeese & others) that for me has lots of relevance for older cyclists, although that isn’t the main focus.
One technical question. I assumed that joining a TR Team would open my workout files – otherwise private – to other people on this team. But I see it marked as private in the Team roster. So is the public/private distinction anybody or nobody? I’ve used the notes as notes to myself for myself for 4 years, and don’t mind some other geezers seeing the notes on the fridge or the long-expired pickled ginger inside when it serves a good purpose, but otherwise I’m a pretty private person – no FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc. I have what I thought was a private Strava account and get spooked when it tells me I might want to follow the ex of a nephew I haven’t seen in 25 years and barely know.
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Sadly, the Public / Private switch is all or nothing. This limitation has been mentioned in various threads, and there is a Feature Request for changing in the Teams side:
Thanks for the lightning response, Chad. Looks like still not any time soon. But lots is going on at TR.
Thanks also for getting your own personal experience out there to kick off the POL thread, which has for me been fascinating. If “no pain, no gain” gets replaced by “less pain, more gain”, or even for real geezers “less pain, less loss” it would be akin to what is now simply fact – that the skinniest hardest tires were not ever the fastest (except on a railroad track), and everybody just thought they were. Win-win, way more comfort, no loss in speed.
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Happy to help. There sure is a ton of info in just about every angle of training and racing to be found here. Glad to hear that you are gaining knowledge and action items from all the great content here 
Happy training.
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I’d suggest trying the Kolie Moore Basic test which is in the O60 team workouts. It’s basically under then FTP and followed by a ramp to improve if you can. Not as fierce as a ramp test.
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Joined both. My rule for allowing followers in Strava is to ignore someone who hasn’t done any recent workouts. Oh, in the Strava club, I’m the guy in Harju County. Like oldcrank, my TR account is private and you won’t find me in FB, etc.
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Can you succinctly summarize how to calculate your FTP after completing KMB test? It says: “Your FTP is the average FTP over the extended effort period, depending upon when you finish it.” I tried to read through the separate thread on the test but my eyes glazed over. Assume you complete the 10 minutes at 100% FTP and then complete a gradual increase to 120%, what would the % increase be in FTP? Since the increase is gradual over the last 10 minutes, an average FTP would not be easy to calculate, unless you used the lap feature when starting 100% and let it do the work?
If you did:
- 10 minutes at 95% FTP
- 10 minutes at FTP
- 10 minutes ramping to 120% FTP
Then you have a 1.67% increase in FTP.
math details if you are interested
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Thanks! Could this test be done outside on a flat road, in addition to on a trainer?
It was designed to be done non-Erg and by feel, so you could try that and use lap button for the bike computer and websites to give you average power. Or try Friel’s 30-minute LTHR/FTP test.
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DavidWms: if you do the test in TR – using workout creator or one of the already-created workouts – then go into the results and select the time period that begins when you start the 95% and ends when you drop off the perch. Selecting this interval will provide you with all the statistics for that section, including average power, which is KM’s estimate of FTP.
If you use this method, you don’t have to go to the end of any particular interval that you have defined.
You can do the test on the road [best slightly uphill or flat] or on the trainer. But you cannot export a custom workout to wahoo/garmin.
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I’m glad you did the maths. I just select that section of the workout and look at the summary power.
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Yes, either use lap button on bike computer or select that section of the workout.
Mistakenly thought the question was about estimating before the test… or maybe I was bored and couldn’t remember the last time putting pen to paper Used to be able to solve those problems in my head, oh well I guess the brain is another body part that falls into the ‘use it or lose it’ category 
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I think it was, but who cares, just go for it and dig deep.
Thanks for the refresher on zooming in on a portion of the workout.
Hmm, if you can’t export it as outside workout, then would I just have to try to replicate the workout freestyle with a timer? Maybe i could tape a 3 x 5 index card to handlebars with instructions, but then it would throw my test off due to the loss of aero, correct? 
Damn! I just discovered this thread! Woohoo! I found a home! I’ll be 67 in a couple of months. I’ve been an avid cyclist during a 25+ year sandlot basketball career. Had to quit B-ball because the knees said “no mas.” I’ve been averaging about 4000 mi/year since then, but until TR came into my life, I really didn’t know how to get faster. TR showed the way (Can I get an “Amen”, somebody?)! I’m in my 4th year of TR - 1 year on, 1 year off (injuries + work), now 2 years training - mostly mid-volume plans.
Stephen Sieler’s video presentation (thanks to oldcrank) was most informative about what I can expect as I stare down 70’s throat and corroborates what I’ve learned anecdotally. My ftp went up gradually to 233 now - no big jumps. I can do over-and-unders, but the 120% VO2Max intervals are too much. I don’t like taking ftp tests every 4 weeks, so I wait until I can complete the intervals in the threshold workouts @ 90 rpms -then I’m ready for an ftp test. I discovered by accident that I hit a plateau by just training with SSB plans alone. I suffered a concussion and had to spend 4 months cycling through TB MV & HV plans to keep my HR down, after which I found SSBMV still hard but great fun (except the 120% VO2Max stuff). Since then, I’ve been incorporating 60-70 mile rides about every other weekend in lieu of a TR workout. [Thanks to Robert K’s (Oct 2019) biology lesson on the benefits of committed low-intensity training, I can now recognize the fast-twitch muscle oxidation process at work in my legs.]
Since covid-19 about 85% percent of my miles are on TR because I still work full time and have deadlines to meet (“Born to ride, forced to work”). Besides, I’m pathologically incapable of doing TR sessions outdoors because there is just too much stuff to look at and ponder on. So, TR remains my never ending Night School - at least until I’m 90 - at least that is the plan.
Given that I never had the chance to be a Cat 5 Jr. Joe Racer, I’m at peace with all of this because my efficiency factors (NP/ave HR) for same workouts since 2018 have increased by 8%-13% (depending on the workout). My cardiologist likes my BP readings and says “See you next year.” That’s all I know for now.
Steve
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Welcome, Steve. Like you, I’m still a full-time guy as well but don’t reach your mileage most years. You might take a look at the TR Team here and the Strava Club (both mentioned above.) I’m also just learning to navigate Intervals.icu (which looks intimidating until you spend some time with it.) I need to spend more time learning about the low-intensity training, especially now that I’ve moved to MV and have 5 workouts per week.