Cycling with Power Bike Clinic

Power. Wattage. Yet another metric I apparently have to get acquainted with if I am to get better at cycling. I hadn't heard of it at all until a time trial on an Absolute Endurance CompuTrainer in January, and I waved it off as too much to think about. But it's supposed to be the best measure of your cycling fitness and performance ahead of speed, cadence and heart rate.

The clinic was presented by Mr. Absolute Endurance, Alan Chud. I missed most of the classroom talk he gave being late from work, so still don't quite understand how they measure power output on your bike. But it happens in watts, so I wonder what calibre of athlete could power up a lightbulb...

The stuff I did catch was that it's best to maintain the same wattage regardless of the terrain, and that your wattage should be determined by a lactate threshold test and applied a bit differently to different distances. The winner of last year's Lake Placid had an exceptionally flat wattage graph, despite the hilly course. Adjusting your gears to avoid working too hard uphill and not going fast enough downhill is key.

Al then took us to the CompuTrainers and demo'ed the two ways you can use wattage for training: I'd already ridden a couple of their virtual courses, where you influence your wattage; the other way to train is to fix a specific wattage regardless of what gear you're in. Riders will do an entire workout essentially on a "fixie," but modulating their wattage on the computer according to the coach's instructions. I would have a very hard time sitting through that, but apparently it makes you fast.

We got to throw our bikes on the trainers and try maintaining wattage on a course. Al asked us to anticipate having to change gears, not doing it too late. I ended up changing gears as much or a bit more than I do out on the road, which is supposed to be great! I actually did something right on a bike! The wattage was a bit erratic, but mostly 100-120, and spiked a few times when even fast gearing-down couldn't catch up to the change in incline.

One more thing I asked was about wattage and getting up out of the saddle. I know there are various opinions on this one, but Al recommends always staying seated and just using your gears. You can get up as a last resort, but it's very tiring, and most people get into a really awkward forward/downward position that obscures their view and shuts down the power because of an improper hip angle. If you must stand up, do it with chest and head up, and butt just off the seat - like a sprinter at the ready.

He also mentioned a pedal stroke analysis he offers, which shows you imbalances between your left and right side as well as efficiency on the full pedal stroke circle. I'm strongly considering this.

If I try to absorb too much more technique for triathlon this year, I might burst.