Fair point mrblobby. I’ve never been in a position to try for sprint, so hadn’t considered it.

Kryton. Yep it is on paid version. I thought Id try it out. Just had daughter no. 2. So no training. No outside rides. Just watching my fitness nose dive. Oh well my new daughter is ace

Well, spanner/works.

I’m at the end of the MTB plan, its pissing down so I eschewed the club ride in favor for…. the Coggans power profile test, as I was curious as to my rider profile.

It really was sick inducing, and I’m sitting here now with hurty legs and my quads and calves twitching by themselves, but anyway I’ve profiles as a “classic time triallist”. I’ve never done / considered a time trial.

My plan is to move on to the Road/Climbs plan in between my XC racing (4 x a month) to supplement the Tour of Cambridgshire and Velothon Wales and help me with the Clif on the Bontrager 24/12 ( a target 24 for me), or should I move to the time trial plan?

Which is the best plan for improving sustainable power and/or attacking my weakness which is sustained climbing?

You have a lot of stuff going on Kryton! I haven’t much in my calendar so I entered 8DC – anyone else? By the end of the week I will have doubled my TSS record but it isn’t so much the consecutive days that hurt it’s just the nature of the individual stages (power up ramps, down ramps). Still i’m learning a lot about stage racing from it.

Afterwards my plan is actually to return to aerobic base…

I probably shouldnt have performed the 20min test less that 48hrs after racing – what a disaster! My legs couldn’t cope and although I tried I had to stop/pause 8 times during the 20. Aerobically I was fine not going above 92% HR. I ended up 2w under current FTP, although I did set new 5, 10 and 30 minute power records.

I feel horrible now. Wobbly legs and a really acid gut. 😐

Kryton, had a similar experience yesterday. Had two 20 min intervals to do as part of yesterdays ride (outdoors, not TR) and first was sweetspotty, next was full gas. First was fine, for the second I just couldn’t push up beyond threshold. Blame stupid head cold I’ve picked up from the kids.

You seem to really be beasting yourself Kryton! Rest is a valuable part too 😀

Anyone got any nice, slightly different custom sessions they are “enjoying”?

A nice session for a crit type race (or XC I would say) is some Z4/Z5 under overs. I would normally associate under overs with making 2×20’s at 100% FTP a bit more interesting and varied but they seem pretty useful at higher intensities too.

3×10 minute blocks of Z4/ Z5 under overs, with 1 min work @ 120-130% FTP followed by 2 min “rest” at 100-105% FTP throughout these 10 minutes. So, 4 lots of “work” separated with 3 lots of “rest”, repeated 3 times, making a total of 3×10 minutes. 10 minutes Z2 proper rest between the blocks of 10 minute under overs.

My legs seem to be responding well to backing up a higher intensity day with a day or 2 of Sweetspot 2×20’s (90-95% FTP). Not too mentally tough but enough work to keep the legs ticking over between the hard days.

You seem to really be beasting yourself Kryton! Rest is a valuable part too

I only ride / race every other day, average TSS is 350. It’ll be 450-500 this week due to Sunday being a 140k ride, currently sitting in 255 (30 min race sharpener on Tuesday, 1:05 XC race on Wednesday and the 20 min test today.) I’m only doing low volume stuff due to work/family.

I did try some of the 20 min workout, including the entire 5 min 125% warmup on my new TT clip on bars though 😀

A nice session for a crit type race (or XC I would say) is some Z4/Z5 under overs. I would normally associate under overs with making 2×20’s at 100% FTP a bit more interesting and varied but they seem pretty useful at higher intensities to

Tinemaha is a good one, some VO2 max followed by OU’s.

I probably shouldnt have performed the 20min test less that 48hrs after racing – what a disaster! My legs couldn’t cope and although I tried I had to stop/pause 8 times during the 20. Aerobically I was fine not going above 92% HR. I ended up 2w under current FTP, although I did set new 5, 10 and 30 minute power records.

Obree did hour twice in 24 hours 😉

Updates to the Tacx Smart trainers now allow control by TrainerRoad (here).

Quite tempted by this. Looks like it would allow control of the turbo brake based on power reported from a real PM too (rather than using what is still virtual power reported by the turbo.) As nice as a Kickr would be, a Tacx Vortex Smart is a quarter of the price.

Complete newbie questions here so sorry in advance… I have borrowed a mates turbo trainer and wahoo speed and cadence sensor. I only have android devices so have registered myself at http://www.turbotraining.co.uk/. Have installed the sensor and connected to my phone, found a session I want to follow. However, when I begin the workout it says start pedaling to begin the workout and nothing happens once I start pedaling. Sorry for the newbie (stupid) questions.

bavariangaz, you might want to post this in a new thread. This is a thread for TrainerRoad, a different application, so it’s likely folk here won’t be using the turbotraining application.

Having said that, have you tried installing the Wahoo app and seeing if the paired sensor shows up on that and gives readings for speed and cadence?

Have managed to sync the sensor up through the wahoo app. Just want something a lot more structured than what is offered on there. If I had an ios device then I’d be using TrainerRoad

I’m after a new turbo, want a direct drive one, not got enough cash for a kickr, saw an Elite Muin in Evans today, looked slick – anyone used one?

Was just reading a few interesting comments over at timetriallingforum about direct drive turbos. Lot of love for the LeMond. I’ve been put off the Kickr a bit by many reports of iffy power readings.

Any other turboists loving the hot weather? Did a couple of hours last night (a custom one, basically z2 with a 2×20) and it was 24C in my turbo torture chamber. HR just kept creeping up and up for the same power 🙁

All is well with a big ass fan!

It was 21 degrees yesterday evening on my long(ish) ride so riding indoors with a decent fan feels quite polar by comparison!

been reading the same thread mrblobby, want something quiet though, as when the mrs goes back to work after maternity only time ill have on days when she’s at work will be in the evenings when the kids are asleep,

DanW, I have a big high velocity floor fan positioned inches from my face but I was still a sweaty mess. I think it’s the soaking wet shorts that’s the most unpleasant thing.

dirtyrider, JetBlack sounds like it might do the job. Same scenario here and I’ve just got a Minoura TwinMag. Though the noise it makes is pretty negligible compared to the fan! Neither seem to bother the kids though.

I’m supposed to be doing a 90min z2 tonight (Andrews). I’m plugging my power profile into my garmin with an aim to replicating it outside this evening instead.

There’s only about 30W variation between blocks there, all in z2. If trying to do that on the road I’d just aim for around mid z2, you’ll get lots of variation around that just from being on the road. Think the artificial variation there is mostly just to make things a little less tedious on the turbo!

Yep. I’m just putting the lower / upper zone 2 alerts on the garmin power setting to keep,me literally I’m the zone….

Interesting to see how you get on with the alerts. I think they would annoy me as I’d frequently be dipping just over and under zone. Might give it a try though. I tend to just scribble power numbers for the session on a sticky label and pop it on the stem.

mrblobby – Member
Interesting to see how you get on with the alerts.

Well, they were a bit of a pain in the arse, not least because the traffic was heavy due to the M25 being closed. But I found once I was in the country side I was able to rely on RPE to stay in the zone, not and the alerts worked well to keep me their, beeping far less frequently.

Its difficult though – watts that low are very easily achieve as the road rises, but mean very fast riding as the road dips. In total I achieve 40 mins of 90 in the zone. I might have achieved mre if it wasn’t for the traffic issue. Nice sunny easy 33k ride though.

Nice work. Mine would have been going off all ride it was so blustery out there tonight. When do we get some nice balmy summer evenings?

Notice new version of TR out with support for Tacx Smart trainer control. Anyone tried it yet?

Turbo bargain here if anyone looking to get one.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/elite-supercrono-power-fluid-elastogel-trainer-2013/?referid=affwin&utm_source=affiliate-window&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_campaign=www.offeroftheday.co.uk&utm_term=60612&utm_content=org,5360052917bo

I’ve got a minoura b60r someone can have for £40 🙂

Quote impressed with the new RideSync option. It actually works, my training peaks and strava was updated as and when the TR session saved itself.

Oooh thanks, just tried it, works well with Training Peaks. Shame it can’t do the dropbox one at the moment as some user limit seems to have been reached.

So I ordered an Elite Muin with a load of clubcard points I didn’t know I could double up and got Evans to price match Wiggle

I’m assuming I’ll be better off using my mtb with stages (I can set up the xtr di2 with a 11 speed road cassette while I’m off the bike, I guess the leg break will keep me off the mtb longer than road) until I can pick up a crank based power meter for my road bike (the powertap g3 bank at paligap for the second time in 4 months) I’ll just have to fit a bigger chainring

Article on Team sky website about Ian Boswell at the tour of California. You can look at his Traingpeaks data. Article here:

http://www.teamsky.com/teamsky/features/article/53005#4kmXmsHh9E6BRTg7.97

The most interesting thing for me is not how hard or fast the pros can go but how easy a 5 or 6 hour stage is for them at times and how little it takes out of them

just done a single lap (single legged) on Zwift, certainly seems a better option than trainer road for those “recovery” sessions, certainly less monotonous for now at least, I’m sure it could get boring but at least theres something to look at

Elite Turbo Muin, Stages and with 11 Speed road cassette and XTR di2 mated up lovely,

We need to see this XTR Di2 MTB Dan 😀 Is it on the Tallboy or something new? Good to hear you are riding again

sorry while i take the thread off topic for a moment,

the di2, its a bit of a messy install at the moment, i don’t like the battery bottle mount thing, just looks stuck on and its in the way it feels, also it houses a junction which everything has to go through, might try switching it to the old battery and mount, looks neat enough on my road bike with the under bb small junction (sm-jc40) – look forward to the availability of more integrated solutions, although if I’m honest i should just bite the bullet and buy a Cannondale F-Si as there is zero need for a full sus local

had to mount the junction on the seat tube as well, no room under the stem (Syntace Flatforce) and i don’t want the display as I’m not keen on having 2 displays on the bars) so I’ve run a looooong wire from the shift to the junction inside the battery mount

im not keen on the ergonomics of the shifter either, although today was actually the first time I’ve used it apart from to screw it together

anyway, enough thinking out loud and waffling, a couple of pics

Shifter

Junction Location

Messy Battery Junction

Been pretty quiet here lately. Everyone out enjoying the long warm evenings?

First evening on the turbo in a while here, just couldn’t get my turbo head on at all and quit the session after half an hour. Very poor 🙁

Been pretty quiet here lately. Everyone out enjoying the long warm evenings?

First evening on the turbo in a while here, just couldn’t get my turbo head on at all and quit the session after half an hour. Very poor

did 20 minutes this morning on Zwift (just over a lap) one legged 213W average, cannot keep the cadence high though so 70 average, even 20 minutes was enough, was very muggy

Well, the weather is utter pants at the moment and I feel like I’ve been struggling in the short course XC races I’ve done this season (I wasn’t very diligent about the turbo training this winter), so I thought I’d do an 8 minute test this evening to get a feel for where my fitness is in relation to this time last year.

Surprisingly, I’m only 5W (virtual power) down on last year’s all time high FTP of 215W, and up a reasonable amount from my last test in November (202W). I also managed to go over what I thought was my max HR (hit 192bpm when I thought my max was 191), so I definitely gave it my all. I also realised that cooling is a major problem when turbo training in the summer – I’ve only ever used the turbo over winter previously and I was melting despite the autumnal weather outside.

My plan is to try out the MTB marathon training plan with a view to doing the Kielder 101 at the beginning of September. I suspect my recent woes with XC racing are down to carrying a couple of kilos of extra padding, and finally having some proper competition in the women’s races, rather than lack of fitness.

Time to stop eating quite so much cake…

Legolam, can recommend the big 18″ floor fan from screwfix. Shifts a lot of air!

Tried two turbo sessions last week and had to abandon both after about half an hour. Think turboing in such conditions is as much a mental as a physical thing and I just wasn’t in the mood. Couldn’t even summon the will to spin at z1 power.

Had another go today and did my usual day before a race session. Went a fair bit better… well at least I finished it!

Oh god.

I’m supposed to be doing Vancouver +1 today. 1h 45 and 3 x 20’s. I can’t get out on the bike so planned to do it outside on the patio tonight. But the duration, and the heat! aaargh…

Has anyone had any issues with the iphone app freezing? Twice in the last week or so it has frozen about 20 mins into a workout. Cadence & power are still working & displayed but the interval & total time is frozen and I can’t get it to restart, so I have to abandon the session and start a new one from scratch.

When this happens the workout is saved to my career but there is no image associated with it. There is an option to “resume ride” but it doesn’t work and just dumps me back at the career screen.

I’ve mailed TR support but just wondered if anyone else had experienced the same.