Bon Anniversaire III

Three years today since my accident.

I’m not sure sometimes if it seems like yesterday, or a lifetime ago, as the temporal distance sensation oscillates from day to day.

One thing is for sure, I am mostly looking ahead and not back. But anniversaries (good or bad) tend to be times for reflection. So it is once again with today’s post.

I did previous post-accident annual reviews in these two posts in 2008 and 2009:
Bon Anniversaire
Bon Anniversaire II

It’s been, all up, a pretty darn good year with more change and plenty of challenges. In keeping with the theme of this blog, I’ll go over my rehab and cycling related topics for the past year and leave out other personal stuff.

Rehab
My physical rehabilitation has progressed very well. I upgraded my general prosthetic in June 2009 as I had “under grown” the other one. I say “under grown” as my fellow acquired amputees would know that the residual leg (or “stump” as we call it) gradually shrinks over time, until it settles after 2-3 years. It does continue to change over the years.

Prosthetic sockets, being hard inflexible containers for your stump, eventually have to be re-made to suit your new size and shape. In between times, you adjust to it each day, and through the day, by using different size, thickness and number of socks to provide for more or less compression as comfort dictates.

One frustrating aspect was my early use of the new prosthetic didn’t go so well. My knee reacted badly and it broke open the skin on the inward side of my knee and the rubbing against tendon created significant discomfort. My knee swelled and I couldn’t get my stump into the socket. Which sucked. A lot.

Eventually it settled down and I could get back to “normality”.

The open sore / hole in the side of my knee created in June 2009 is still there today. It simply won’t heal up. I’ve tried all sorts of tricks and tips to fix it but with no real success. The only option I think is to not wear a prosthetic for as long as it takes to properly heal over – which I would estimate to be maybe three or more weeks. That’s just not really much of an option when you’re a cycling coach. But it may come to that one day.

Most of the time it’s not so bad, but occasionally it flares up and the knee swells and it hurts when I put the leg on, sometimes standing/walking can be very painful. Sometimes I can’t get into my prosthetic at all. It happened again in December 2009, and the same thing has happened this week. So far I haven’t been able to nail down a consistent trigger for it – which is something I really want to do, as if I know how to avoid it in future, then that’s what I’ll do!

Cycling Performance
Those leg troubles aside, my cycling performance improvement has been excellent. So much so that in the past six months I have actually exceeded pre-amputation power output levels over significant durations, both in terms of absolute wattages, and expressed as power to body mass ratio terms.

I did this post on Power Profiling in January, which compared my then post-amputation power profile to my pre-amputation power profile.

Here’s another chart to show my progress since I got back on the bike in June 2008. It shows the maximal 1-hour (normalised) power I attained in each 90-day period since starting riding again, right through to today. I chose normalised power as it provides a sensible comparison of my performance capacity across all types of racing and training, and represents a very good estimate of the progression in my Functional Threshold Power.


As you can see, my progression has been consistent and steady, culminating in a 1-hour race power last weekend exceeding my all time best except for just one occasion from my pre-amputation racing days (that was during the State Criterium championships in 2006 at 337W).

In fact, in that race last weekend I set my all time highest 2-hour normalised power of 315W.

I must admit, I do surprise even myself at times.

Of course, all the way through this I have had fantastic support from many people, especially from my coach Ric Stern. We are setting no limits on what's possible. Heck, when I can outperform what I did on a bike before an amputation, then what else can I do?

Nevertheless, I still have lost significant elements of my cycling capacities, most notably my sprinting and standing start abilities have been curtailed somewhat. Which just means they may require more work in order to close that gap as well.

Cycling Leg
After getting my new general purpose leg, I also worked on adding a dedicated cycling leg to my “stable”. Previously, in order to cycle, I used to screw off my walking “foot” and screw on a cycling “leg” attachment. It enabled me to ride but it was a PITA having to keep screwing them on/off, and the constant changing would not have been doing the components much good (one day I found one clamp had completely cracked through). And being very sensitive to the set up of the bike leg (lengths/angles etc), this process did have a habit of unintentionally changing the set up at times, enough to cause discomfort or pain when riding.

Getting a dedicated leg would make sure the set up was better suited for the bike, and have the ability to quickly remove one leg and put on the other, if for instance I wanted to hop off at the track and walk somewhere.

So it was back to George at the Appliance and Limb Centre for the bike leg socket design. That bit wasn't so hard as it was really a replica of my existing general purpose socket (all carbon fibre custom moulding) although that might be understating it a little. The funky bits were what we attached to it and the design of an aerodynamic outer shell.

It was all made possible with the funding raised by the local track cycling community organised by Paul Craft of RAW Track fame (and donations and help from wonderful people all over the world), who generously raised about $8000 to cover the costs. The leg was built and we designed a funky aerodynamic carbon fibre cover for it. The leg cost $7600. Add to that a new stump liner at $1000 a pop (and which wear out pretty quickly I’ve since discovered, needing several per year), and well, there goes the $8k!

Also a big thank you to John Bosevski of Cycle Underground who engineered a special adapter plate for connecting the standard prosthetic block to a standard 3-hole cycling cleat. That was based on an original version Peter Barnard made for me in his home workshop.

Steve Nemeth, CEO of Bont Shoes, supplied me with custom mouldable Bont road and track shoes, which have been great (thanks Steve). If anyone needs a size 44 left Bont cycling shoe - let me know - I have two of them spare!

That lace up track shoe is the best I've ever used. Steve has also helped with a few other bits for me. In a semi-related note, just last week I was contacted by a fellow from Canberra, who was in touch with a guy I know in Perth, who for some reason ended up with a spare right Bont shoe in my size. I don't know what happened to the left one and so he generously mailed the spare shoe to me!

Of course getting the leg sized up and fitted properly for the bike - well I was helped by none other than my good buddy and bike fit guru Steve Hogg of Sydney Cyclefit Centre. It was amazing how just the smallest tweak in the grub screws at the bottom of the leg make a large difference in my ability to pedal effectively and in (relative) comfort.

The leg has been great and has been very well used so far and the support I received was, and continues to be, amazing and I am very grateful to everyone for helping.

Racing
In April and May 2009 I competed at both the Para-cycling National and Oceania Paralympic championships, my first attempt at Para-cycling events. I picked up a silver medal in both the road race & time trial at the Nationals and two Gold medals in the same events at the Oceania Paralympic event held in Darwin.

In August I started racing back at the track during the Friday Night Winter race series, and even won my first track race since returning. It was good to be back on the boards. The previous year when I couldn’t race, I was the Chief Commissaire for the series. This time I did half the series as commissaire / half racing.

In October 2009 I raced the UCI World Masters Track Championships. I surprised myself with my 3rd fastest ever 3km individual pursuit and made the finals of both the scratch and points races. I was very happy with that, partly because in 2005 I set out with the goal of making those finals in 2007, but my accident happened in the lead up to the 2007 event and destroyed those hopes. I was also surprised because they were very hard races and there were some pretty fancied names that missed out on finals. It just showed me once again what was possible provided you keep at it, remain positive and do the work necessary.

In November I ventured back to doing an open track race carnival up at the Central Coast (always good carnival that one). It was a successful night and I won one race, took three second places and a 5th in the open miss ‘n’ out race.

My form kept building and I started to approach pre-amputation power output levels. Maybe, I thought, I could get there....

Then, bang – I go and do some time trial training efforts at a power higher than pre-amputation levels. Holy smokes!! OK, don’t stop now :D

All this was of course part of my plan to race the National Para-cycling track championships earlier this year and come home a National Champ. I ended up not even going. I’m not going to bore you with the details, just to say that bureaucratic stuffing about regarding State selection policy left me in no-man’s land for the second year running, unable to plan for the expense and time needed to participate and I had to commit to other things. My form was excellent. Shit happens they say.

The experience left a bad taste though and I struggled for motivation for a little while after that episode. But we move on. I am now somewhat ambivalent about para-cycling competition. Apart from the good encouragement I receive from other para-cyclists, I experienced a less than enthusiastic level of interest from officials in seeing more riders compete at championships; indeed it seemed as if there was active dissuasion going on. Turns out I wasn’t the only one to experience that, which was kind of good (in a bad way) as it meant I wasn’t just being paranoid.

Eventually I got myself going again, and as always the best thing for me is to pin a number on my back and go race! I just love racing so I raced some local criteriums. What grade? Well I started with the local open C-grade.

Oops, won that comfortably.

Next time out I went to B-grade....


Oops, I bridged across to a break and the three of us circulated at same pace as A-grade and left the rest of them to fight it out for nothing. OK, so I’ve been re-graded back into A-grade. LOL.

Last weekend I raced a local Masters Enduro – a 2 hour + 1 lap affair. What a corker of a race! Apart from helping a mate (& client) get into a successful 3-man break, along the way I generated my highest ever 2-hour race power and 2nd highest ever 1-hour race power. Here I am poking my tongue out for a bit of fun when I spotted photographer Ernie Smith.

OK - I nicked that pic off Ernie's website - I'll sort that later with him :-)

California/Seminar/GranFondo
In September & October 2009, I had a wonderful experience all down to the generosity of Steve Palladino and family, who invited me to stay with them in Santa Rosa.


While there I delivered a seminar on Training and Racing with a Power Meter (talking about a case study in application of a power meter to help Jayson Austin achieve his world masters hour record), did some great training rides with Steve, culminating in Levi Leipheimer’s 170km GranFondo along with the Fightin’ Boba crew. It was fantastic.

Coaching
My coaching activity took another step up through the past year, it’s now the sole source of my income and I love it. I have a great group of clients, spread all across the globe ( I currently have coaching clients located in seven countries) and I really enjoy helping them to perform even better than ever.

Some great results from riders & teams I coach, including multiple State & National championship wins and one world record. Here's a pic of Jayson on his way to a UCI world record.


I started up a new product, customised 3-month training plans, which have been very successful with sales going worldwide including the UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East, USA, Canada, New Zealand and of course all States of Australia. Lots of great feedback with people reporting excellent results and coming back for their second and third plans.

Along with Joanne Palazzetti, I have been very busy with the establishment of a new indoor training centre for cyclists and triathletes – the Turbo Studio. We commenced operation in February 2010 and so far the response has been excellent, with really good growth in client numbers - already some of our sessions are full.


People are really responding to the professionalism of the set up and having a dedicated cycle coaching resource available to guide them in the right direction and answer their various enquiries about training. Half the time is spent dispelling training myths and educating about the use of power measurement in training. It’s all evidence-based training principles and the results are speaking for themselves.

I want to thank Jo for her totally professional approach, creativeness, passion and friendship in getting this project up and running, and for asking me to come on board and just do what I do – i.e. help people get the most from training with power!!

Added to that, I began a power meter hire business. That’s also going well!

Ric Stern & I have been working on other things at RST, with Ric getting the cyclecoach.com website updated with many new features including the establishment of a new forum for all things bike related – especially about training and racing and to support all our coaching clients around the world, including those who are using our Training Plans. The members' forum is available for anyone to join.

Not stopping there – we have other projects in the pipe and expect to announce shortly the addition of new coaches to the RST crew. We have a pretty thorough selection process as we seek to maintain the highest standards in professional and scientific coaching services.

I also embarked upon something I expected to do years ago, and upgrade to the Cycling Australia Level 2 coaching accreditation (I was scheduled to do it in 2007 but my accident got in the way of that). Level 2 is the highest level of accreditation available in Australia bar those on CA staff who are required to do a Level 3.

So far I’ve done part I of the process, which was to attend the week-long CA coaching course in November & December but I still need to complete the balance of activities. It’s just been overly busy since then, especially with the setting up of a new business but I’ll get back to that as a priority over the next few months.

It’s not like I’m not doing practical coaching – it’s what I do for a living and I supervise training groups every working day, write about it constantly and so on.... :-)

So what lies ahead?
Well I expect to keep plugging away with my training and racing ambitions. My racing goals however are a little fluid at this stage and so I’ll likely do some Masters championships along with local racing for the next block. I will continue to pursue improvement in my form and power and to race regularly. Let’s see how much further I can drive my development as a rider.

Business wise there is much to look forward to this year – the Turbo Studio will keep forging ahead, I expect squad training to become part of life, power training seminars to be delivered and of course we are introducing the Winter Indoor Race Series on the Turbo Studio’s Computrainers, which should be a lot of fun. Given there’s about $5000 in prizes (mostly cash) up for grabs, I’m sure it’ll be popular.

My clients have tremendous goals to achieve and I’ll be working hard to help nail them and take them all to a new level of performance. Championships, sportives, category upgrades, commencing racing, all sorts of new goals and challenges.

RST goes from strength to strength and is growing as well, so more to come on that front, including some more new training products on the (hopefully near) horizon.

I expect to complete my Level 2 coaching accreditation as well.

At the moment I am also slated for a return to California in October for the Granfondo, so that should be another epic adventure.

OK, that was a long post, but hopefully not too dull a read. Perhaps you can see why my blogging frequency has dropped a little lately. Of course there's lots of more personal stuff that I don’t write about on this blog (that’s my business!) and there has been plenty to work with on those fronts as well. All up, it’s been another cracker of a year and I hope to make this next one even better!

Safe riding out there.

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Where the blogging heck have I been?

Collecting race winnings at Heffron Park, that's where!

In reality I've just been really busy with lots of stuff and blogging has taken a bit of a back seat for a little while. There is much to write about, just not so much time to do it lately.

So what's new in the Zoo? Plenty!!

Business wise I've been busy with the opening of a new indoor/outdoor cycling training centre here in Sydney - Turbo Studio. Click the link for a peek.


We opened this month and all is going really well. Some are now finding out just how effective a focused power-based indoor training session can be. It suits riders of all abilities as all sessions are set relative to each rider's individual fitness level. That's the great thing with the Computrainer's Multirider set up. And I've been designing the sessions with Erg+ software and next week we are looking to add the real erg videos to the sessions for some extra fun.

Training and race wise, I've been going nicely since the new year ticked over and I cleared a knee injury in December. Threshold power is back to around 300W and I've done three races so far this year, two others were washed out/canceled due to the pile driving rain we've had in Sydney during February.

So it's been three crits so far, all at a local crit circuit, Heffron Park.

I won my first race on 16 January by a country mile and the next week I raced the Australia Day crit (26 Jan), where race promoter and handicapper thought I should be bumped up a couple of levels and race with the likes of Stuart "Computer" Campbell.

Not quite sure how the A grade riders get to race B grade (this is an open race) but nonetheless I hung in there. I suspect I was lucky to be allowed to start at all but that's another story ;-)

That race was ~ 45-min with NP of 319W, Average Power 294W. I was digging hard at times but it was good fun.

Winning the sprint at Heffron

On Saturday just gone, I raced up a grade at Heffron and after the usual opening flurry of attacks (one of which I calmly closed down), I saw two guys attack into the wicked northerly wind and thought to myself "they look the goods", so I took off after them. Nobody followed me.

I then spent the next half lap bridging across and then the three of us decided to work together with the bunch following at about 30 metres. We all committed and the gap began to grow, until after a hard five laps or so I think we cracked their spirit and so we settled into a grind to the finish, never really letting up the pace until the final lap or so. I initiated the sprint, kept it clean (line wise) but was overhauled about 20-metres out and settled for second place. Still getting used to my new level of sprinting. As they say, when in doubt - lead it out.

Longer race this time, ~ 52 min with NP of 319W and Average Power 302W. So fitness is coming along nicely and I look forward to the State Points race championships this weekend coming.

Also keeping me busy is preparations for the Team Pursuit championships. I've been my Club TP coach for a few years now. This year is a little different. I am actually going to race it this year. I'm really happy about that as the TP is my favourite bike race. And it would seem I definitely have the legs for it this time.

As for other training related items, I have a few things banking up to write about - one an item on Quadrant Analysis and maximal force velocity data and another on the relationship between performance in individual pursuit and power/CdA ratios. And another is to finally do the write up and pictures about my completed prosthetic racing leg.

And I hear a whisper about a wind tunnel in Sydney.....

All good stuff. 'til next time folks, safe riding!

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Power Profiling - Now and Then

Often I am asked how my cycling power ouput compares now, to before my accident and amputation.

As I progressed with my training during 2009, and as my fitness continued to improve under Ric Stern's guidance, the answer to that question kept changing, mainly as I started to close in on pre-amputation power levels.

Now that I have a full year's worth of data from 2009, I decided to take a look at my annual power profile and see how it compares to pre-amp levels.

Below is aggregate power profile data covering the past 5 years. It shows my best power to mass ratio (W/kg) for each of 4 separate durations for the years 2005 through to 2009:


The power durations shown are:
5 seconds
1 minute
5 minutes, and
95% of my 20-minute power.

Each of these power-durations represents key elements of cycling fitness, with different energy systems being the primary contributor to performance at each duration. That's why it's such a telling indicator of your overall cycling makeup, and an excellent indicator of your relative strengths and weaknesses.

This is provided of course the profile does in fact contain data from best efforts for the duration. Given it's aggregate data for whole years, then I think it's a reasonable assumption. Nevertheless, sometimes the 1-minute column can still be under stated as that usually requires dedicated efforts not often performed in training or racing.

You can read more about power profiling in this original item by Dr Andrew Coggan here:
Power Profiling


So the group of columns on the left shows my best 5-second power to mass ratio for each year from 2005 to 2009. Each group of columns moving to the right covers the other durations, with 95% of 20-minute power shown by the columns on the far right.

What matters with power profiling is the overall shape of the profile, rather than the absolute numbers. The shape in this case indicated by the lines joining the columns, which I have shown for 2006 (orange line) and for 2009 (blue line). I chose those two years as they are the two complete years representing pre-amputation and post-amputation training/racing data.

I notice a few things:
- the overall shape of each line is similar
- my short duration power has taken a large nosedive
- my longer duration power to mass ratio is actually higher than previously attained

This clearly demonstrates that it's my sprint power that has suffered the most from my lower leg amputation, yet the predominantly aerobic power durations (5-min and 20+ min) have not.

This suggests a few things to me.

One is it's an example of how we are not force (strength) limited when cycling at aerobic power levels, since even though I have lost significant leg musculature and with it strength, I have still been able to generate the longer duration power.

Another is that the lack of a lower leg muscular-skeletal system has a significant impact on sprint ability. The lower leg matters a lot more in the generation of short duration sprint power, than for longer duration aerobic power.

What can I make of this information? Well for one I no longer have the sprint I used to, yet I am as likely to be as well set up for the end of a race as I was before, since I have the engine to deliver me there. But now I lack the finishing ability. My strategy and tactics in racing may need to be modified a little as a result.

I can still work on improving my sprint of course (all track/roadie riders should) but I would say that reclaiming pre-amp sprint power levels is not going to be anywhere near as "easy" as it was for aerobic power durations, if in fact it is actually possible.

It also points to me reconsidering what events I may in fact focus on. They may change as well.

Plenty to ponder with a power profile.

What's yours look like?

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Ground Control to Major Tom

A few of you that follow this little blog will have noticed my steady progress in fitness and form.

It has been going great and I continued with my progress in 2x20-min threshold tolerance interval efforts, culminating in an average of ~ 320W in 2x20-min efforts week before last (an all time PB), followed up with a couple of efforts over 300W a few days later.

Then I headed off to Adelaide for a week and a bit for a Cycling Australia coaching course. I had expected that week to be a light one from a training perspective and after a couple of busy days and some very ordinary weather on arrival (gale force winds and rain!) I got out for a ride on one afternoon after the course was finished for the day. Legs not too bad but still carrying a little fatigue. Nevertheless able to crank it out just fine.

But then something happened to my leg/stump that night. I have no real idea why but it decided to swell. A lot. When it does that then simply putting my prosthetic on is a struggle and very painful. Houston, we have a problem....

Indeed it took me about 10-minutes the next morning to gradually ease my leg into the prosthetic and stand up. It's really painful when that happens. I nearly didn't go to the course that day but I persisted, doing as little time on my feet as humanly possible. Over the next few days I had to repeat the process, gradually getting the leg in there in the morning.

The swelling gradually subsided over the following days but it remained painful. Suffice to say that any ride plans went out the window, even an invite to a local race which I was looking forward to had to be canned.

The real PITA is not knowing why it does this. It's not common but it's really crap when it does this.

So today, eight days after my last ride I tried a light ride to see how it was.

Not flash. Knee was very sore, putting any sort of effort down was not very agreeable, getting out of saddle was not an option and after 10-min the sore spot on the inside of my knee was starting hurt as well. So I pulled the plug after 15-min lest I create more problems. Try again tomorrow. Amazing how quickly the amputation side loses its form.

Hopefully it just needed a bit of a spin to get it moving again and will be better next time. Fitness should return pretty quickly provide the soreness goes. I'm sure gunna need it!


Other things:

Cycling NSW have still not advised on the selection policy for Track Nationals. It's now less than eight weeks to go and I have no idea whether/how selection will happen. At present, the draft selection policy suggests that no NSW para cycling rider will be selected. This is in stark contrast to all other states that are actively promoting as many riders as possible to compete.

It simply sucks and is quite demotivating, certainly not something you want overlayed when you are dealing with injury as well.


In the coming weeks I expect to spend a fair bit of time at the track, trialling a few things from a position/aero perspective as well as start the track specific phase of training. So let's hope this leg gets better quickly!

And on Friday I will be dropping my cycling prosthetic in to George at the ALS to have the outer carbon fibre shell completed. Hopefully that won't take too long. Then I'll be able to show off the flashiest bike leg in the country!

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Do the work, and it will come...

Today I had a training session in Centennial Park.

It was what I call TTIs (threshold tolerance intervals), which were done as two 20-min efforts, with about a 5-min easy riding in between each effort. They are very hard going, ridden at time trial pace. I've written about these plenty before and I've been doing a block of them lately.

As many of you know, I use a power meter on my bike to help monitor my effort as well as record my performance. I've been doing this for many years.

My average power for each TTI today was 314 watts & 313 watts respectively.

That exceeds my all time previous best 2x20-min TTIs (313W & 310W) in January-2007.

That's two years six months after my amputation and one year five months after I attempted to ride for the first time on an indoor trainer (10-min at 100W).

Do the work, and you will improve. Even if you are missing a bit of leg.

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Granfondo 2009

The countryside surrounding Santa Rosa, California:


In early October 2009 I participated in Levi's King Ridge Granfondo.

It was the finale to a week long visit to Santa Rosa, California.

It was a great week of riding and the weather was excellent! Being a city bound lad, the ability to ride for just a few minutes from home and find yourself on country roads winding through the vineyards was fabulous!

I am especially grateful to my very generous hosts, the Palladino clan. Steve, Sharon and Shannon went out of their way to make me feel very welcome, and Steve not only loaned me a bike for the week but also took me out for some great training rides in the week leading up to the Granfondo. What a great place to live and train!

A couple of pictures:

Out training in the days before:


On the morning of the Granfondo, Steve, Sharon & Shannon hosted a Team Boba breakfast, with Shannon cooking pankakes. Yumm!! They were gooood.


I was an honourary "Fightin' Boba" for the day and wore the team kit:

Here's Steve enjoying the ride along with some of the Boba crew:

The roads had some pretty steep sections at times and I saw signs like this indicating an 18% gradient a few times along the way:


Of course going down also means going up, here I am with Steve making my way up the final major climb of the day from Coleman Valley:

One of the funnier moments was on this climb when a few riders were passing a cyclist who was off his bike, hunched over and leaning on the top tube of his bike, no doubt wondering how he was going to be able to continue.

As we were approaching him, another rider started yelling in that uniquely enthusiastic American way "Come on buddy, don't stop now, you can do it, c'mon!! C'mon, get back on!!"

To which the reply from the hunched over rider was, "Shut up, I'm praying!" No doubt he was!

And here are some shots of the scenery encountered along the way:

I also managed a close up view of the redwoods with a little off road excursion when I overcooked it a little on one steep winding descent (and didn't quite have the emergency braking finesse I am used to as the brakes on Steve's bike, while very good, are opposite handed to what I normally ride). It was funny enough and no harm done to me, the bike or the local flora and fauna. Climb back up to the road, dust myself off and get going again. Last time I did something like that was about 25 years ago on a motorbike.

Anyone for lemonade?


The ride itself is pretty challenging, a 103 mile (166km) ride with ~ 9,000 feet (~3000m) of climbing. The more difficult sections were an average gradient ~ 10%.

Ride stats for the Granfondo:

Duration: _______ 6:04:27 (6:29:27)
Work: _________ 3882 kJ
TSS: __________ 389.4
Intensity factor: __ 0.802
Average Power: __ 178 watts
Normalised Power: 224 watts

All up, a great week. I can certainly recommend it!!

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Yowser!!!

Training continues apace. No easing up for me following World Masters Track Champs. None of this rest up for a month crap between seasons.

So with some good ol' fashioned solid endurance work during the week, today I was back to doing an old favourite workout, 2 x 20-minute threshold tolerance intervals (TTIs).

I've written about these before. Really top notch hard efforts designed to boost your power at threshold, which is the single most important physiological factor for success in endurance cycling.

Click here to read more.

Last time I did regular TTIs, was in October & November 2006, about six months before my accident. I've done a few as well since of course but it is interesting to note my progress relative to pre-accident levels.

In October & November 2006, my TTI power on road bike was consistently 295-300 watts. And in fact back then I was doing mostly 2 x 15-minute efforts rather than 2 x 20-min efforts.

In the above linked post, I note I also did a 2 x 20-minute TTIs with average power of 313W & 310W. That was January 2007, when I was right into some good form, had won an open crit and was cranking along nicely leading up to State & National Masters track champs (where I set some PBs). I note my comments at the time were that that was a "breakthrough workout" for me.

So how was today's effort? Well here a pic of the file (well the bit with the TTIs, I chopped off the commute to/from my training course).


That, my good readers, is 2 x 20-min TTIs with power averages of 306W and 307W respectively. OK, them's SRM watts versus Powertap watts, so a couple of percent for drive train differences, but still, that I gotta admit is pretty darn remarkable.

So it puts me at roughly 95-98% of pre-accident TT power.

And I'm only just gettin' started.....

Yowser!!

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Legs on fire!

Well, sort of.

At least that's how it felt racing last night at the Central Coast Track Open. It's been a few years since I've raced this carnival (for obvious reasons), that the ever energised Paul Craft of RAW Track fame organises. It's always been a favourite - all the good stuff you get from a country track carnival without having to travel too far - it's about a 90-minute drive from my place.

When I say good stuff, I mean you get value for money races. Lots of events, something for everyone and the usual Crafty entertainment value. Shame you can't say that for many of the events hosted in the city.

I went up early this year as they were desperately seeking extra commissaires for the junior carnival which was being held in the afternoon before the senior carnival. So I spent the afternoon checking junior gear rollouts and standing (sometimes sitting) in the sun making sure all the little tikes behaved themselves out there on the track. It's fun watching 'em go round.

Once that was over I pulled on the Bicisport skinsuit, pumped up the tyres and got out on the track for my warmup. Looking at the program I had been given a mark of 195 metres, which put me at the top of the C grade field. I think in days gone past I'd be closer to the 90-110 metre mark and in the B grade group.

For those not familar with what I mean, in Australia we have a form of track racing called a "Wheelrace". Riders line up on the track at their designated handicap mark, the gun/whistle goes and the winner is first past the post after a designated number of laps. So in theory all riders have a chance to win since the fastest riders have to complete a greater distance. The rider(s) off zero metres is/are called the "scratch" marker(s). So in this example, when I race the wheelrace I start 195 metres in front of the "scratchies".

Now what also happens is you can't have everyone who's racing the carnival on the track at the same time, so heats are run to determine who qualifies for the wheelrace final. There are many ways to do this so I won't bore you with the details.

Just before that race was the opening scratch race, which I came second in after a bit of collusion between two Bathurst riders prevented a fair sprint - with one deliberately blocking me for his mate (the winner also qualified for the wheelrace final). Collusion is not legal in track racing but the comms didn't pick that one up. Generally doing things like working hard to pull a mate along is OK but deliberately blocking another rider is a BIG NO NO - you must contest the sprint. I had a seriously good lunge at the line despite only getting to poke my nose out at the very last second. Damn I thought, the legs felt GREAT!!

Wheelrace heats were run as graded wheelraces and in my heat I was the next to last marker but I won my heat (and a few $ for my effort) by passing all riders in front of me. I think the extra motivation from the scratch race finish spurred me on this time. And good legs.

After the scratch race and wheelrace heat, there were Kierin heats, which I placed 2nd in to qualify for the final (three went through to final).

Then we had one of Crafty's special races, the "miss n out handicap". Simple race, riders roll out and every lap the last rider across the line is eliminated, except that in this case the A, B & C grades start at different points on the track. So in the opening laps a few A graders get eliminated early until they catch B and/or C grade. Once it comes together it reverts to a standard miss n out. Our race came together reasonably early so I did what I always do and be attentive to position in the bunch while other (often much stronger/fitter) riders get eliminated behind. In the end I was 4th last rider eliminated, with the remaining riders being the A grade road runner dudes. Once again, nice work legs.

Right after that was the Kierin final! I came second by about a wheel. And a few more $. Petrol money really.

Then the Wheelrace final. That wasn't so good as I had a slight mishap with my cleat off the start, which cost me too much distance to the riders in front and I couldn't make it up, so I retired gracefully and called it a night.

So six races with one win, three seconds, two finals and a 5th in the miss n out. And a few $ for my efforts.

On fire!!

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WTF is happening??

Ok, it's been a while and posting lately has been slow.

That's actually a good thing - I've just been really busy. I have lots to update on, so I'll get to it all. Eventually, LOL.

I had a fantastic trip to California to ride the countryside around Santa Rosa, participate in Levi's Granfondo and also deliver a seminar on training with power. So I'll get to those in separate posts later.

I also have been doing lots of training leading up to the UCI World Masters Track championships which were held last week. I had a really good championships, riding a good pursuit time and making the finals of both the scratch and points races. More on that later too.

Here I am am up front and personal during my Individual Pursuit last week:


I rode a 3:54 3km pursuit, which is about 6-7 seconds slower than my all time PB but it's still my 3rd fastest time ever. My average power was 375 watts.

Also, as part of the training I did some aerodynamic field testing, mostly for wheel choices, so I'll report on that too!

And some cool stuff on the coaching front as well..... like I said, I have been busy.

Ahead I have a really solid block of training in front of me as I prepare for the Track nationals in early February in Adelaide.

And more cycling performance experiments to perform.

And to finally finish off the leg - with an aero fairing.....

Also I go to Adelaide in late-November for a week long Cycling Australia coaching development course.

Stay tuned folks!!

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Testing is Training....

One of the Pithy Power Proverbs is "Training is testing, testing is training." by Andy Coggan. It's really a way of saying that one shouldn't be afraid of "mucking up their training" in order to schedule a performance test, since by their very nature, tests are very high quality training efforts anyway.

Many think that one needs to taper or rest up significantly for such tests and that's what "mucks up your training". Well yes and no. A lot depends on where you are at in your training.

Certainly at lower Chronic Training Levels (less than ~70-80 TSS/day), then a significant rest up really isn't necessary. Sure, don't go and smash yourself the day before hand but not too much more concern should be had with resting up. At high CTLs then perhaps a little more recovery time is in order before tests.

So over the past couple of weeks I have been doing some testing. Coach Ric figured it was time we checked under the hood to see whether I was running a 2 pot screamer, a Wankel rotary, a turbo 4, the family 6 or a big donk of a V8.

Before I get to how that panned out, here's a quick summary of my training over the past 7.5 weeks in the form of a Performance Manager Chart:


You can see that following a break after the National (Apr-09) and Oceania (May-09) Paralympic road race championships, my CTL had fallen significantly (was at ~ 70 CTL at time of the champs). I had expected it to drop a bit as I was taking a week off and then some easy riding but a series of events led to quite a long interruption to my training of about 8 weeks. Initially I had problems with my new walking prosthetic and after that was finally sorted and I rode again for a couple of weeks, I took then ill for a while with some weirdo viral bug. So CTL dropped to ~ 32 TSS/day with lots of time off the bike.

OK, so once I was healthy enough to train and had my prosthetic sorted, it was time to ramp it back up again. In the period leading up to testing my CTL was rising at a little over 6 TSS/day per week, which you can see by that steady upward march of the blue CTL line in the chart above.

So after that five week block of training, I had a week with a 16km time trial (TT) scheduled for a Tuesday and a Maximal Aerobic Power (MAP) test on the Thursday. Those days are shown on the chart above.

Here's the power trace from the 16km TT:


Well it's actually a bit shorter than 16km at 15.3km. Four laps of Sydney's Centennial Park (a gradually undulating course) but it's close enough for the purpose and is a testing ground I have used many times. I did the TT on my road bike (no TT rig at the moment).

299 watts for 24:29 (37.4 km/h)
Peak 20-min: 301W
CTL: 69
TSB: -31

That's 92% of my pre-injury PB power (326W) on the same course.

Testing Part II was the MAP test on the Thursday. Here's the result:

MAP is the maximal 1-minute average power from a ramp test to exhaustion using a ramp rate of 20 or 25W/min (depending on category of rider). I use a 25W/min ramp protocol.

MAP: 410 watts
CTL: 70.6 TSS/day
TSB: -25.2

That's an all time PB MAP result for me and is 103% of my pre-injury PB (399W).

Note the Training Stress Balance (TSB) at the time of both tests - both what I would call significantly negative (meaning I was quite fatigued), yet I still produced post-accident PB power levels and in the case of my MAP, well I'm a little astounded at setting an all time best just 14 months after I tried to pedal on a bike again for the first time since my accident.

So astounded was I on the day that I decided to make a special effort to re-check the slope calibration of the SRM power meter on my ergo bike. It was slightly off and my numbers were lowered by 4W (initially I had 414W).

Here's a look at my previous MAP test results over the past two and a bit years. Also marked are the months where I had my accident and amputation, as well as when I started back on the home trainer:


One can wonder - was I fully developed as an athlete beforehand? Has that skewed the results?

Well probably not fully developed (I sure had plans of becoming more powerful), but I wasn't un- or under-developed either. I had an FTP well over 300W and a CTL of the order of 100 TSS/day. Up to that point I had attained podium in 6 team pursuit championships including a championship win in state record time, 1 x podium at teams time trial championships, 1 x podium at criterium championships as well as an open criterium win, and a podium at the national masters track points race champsionships (right before my accident).

Now I don't know what specific conclusions you can draw from this n=1 study, but as an athlete who has severals years of power meter data prior to and after a lower leg amputation I think it will no doubt be of interest to those who study the performance implications for such injuries and the use of prosthetics in cycling. Clearly there are many high performing athletes using similar prosthetics.


One outcome of testing is to establish or validate an estimate for Functional Threshold (~1-hour TT) Power (FTP) . On the basis of these tests (the TT in particular and my recent longer threshold tolerance intervals), I have reset my FTP to 280 watts as of the day of the TT. It was previously set at 270 watts.

So what now? Well one thing to note is the ratio of FTP to MAP.

Currently that puts me at a ratio of 280W / 410W = 68%
My previous best pre-injury I was 315W / 399W = 79%

That's quite a remarkable difference in the ratios and I'm not entirely sure of the reason.

Typically the ratio of FTP to MAP is in the range of 72% - 77%, so on both accounts I fall outside the typical range (it happens). Pre-accident I was always somewhere around the upper end of the range. Everyone's ratio is different and can vary through the course of training and be due to your physiological and power profile (anaerobic capacity, VO2max, % of VO2max one can sustain at threshold and so on).

One way to think of it is MAP is like your aerobic ceiling* and FTP is how close to that ceiling you are able to get when riding a TT. So in this sense, it suggests that my roof is plenty high and that I have lots of room to further improve my TT power before I starting bumping my head. Which is good!

* of course there is an anaerobic component to MAP as well (as indeed there is in shorter TTs albeit a smaller overall contributor to total energy output) but examination of hundreds, if not thousands, of MAP tests have shown it to be a reliable indicator of aerobic performance potential.

My testing isn't actually finished. Since I will be targeting the 3km and 4km individual pursuit (and track TT 750m and kilometre) over the next 6 months we have also scheduled a trial 3km pursuit effort for this coming week. That'll be fun.

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No news is good news

Yep, been a little busy of late so not so many posts.

A quick one for the record....

After the National and Oceania championships, I had a bit of time off the bike, which I wanted. A week was the idea, followed by some leisurely riding for a while. Best laid plans....

Then that became a lot of time off because I had trouble adapting to a new prosthetic. Took a while to sort it but it got sorted.

So a few weeks later I started training again and not long after caught some rotten lurgy, which coincidentally also made my leg swell up and I couldn't wear my prosthetic. So another 2 weeks of very little on the training front.

Never mind, get healthy first, train second. Well I've now had a really good few weeks back on the steed and the Performance Manager Chart shows clearly the impact to training loads of two longish periods of time off the bike. The blue CTL line looks like one of those Tour de France mountain stage course profiles.


This week, even after such a short time training again, I did 2x20-minute threshold tolerance efforts at 275+ watts in the park, which is already at a level I was prior to the championships.

My progression on these 2x20-min TTIs since starting back on the bike last year went something like:

Sep 08: 220W
Oct 08: 230W to 240W
Nov 08: 245W
Dec 08: 250W to 260W to 265W
Jan 09: 265W
Feb 09: 265W to 270W
Apr 09: 275W to 280W


And now, after these interruptions to training, I go and bang out 275+W with a little still in the tank.

So now the goal is 290W in ~ 5-6 weeks. Let's see, eh?

Oh, and keeping training in a consistent manner which will see that blue line rising for some time yet.

Next week I start track racing again - the RAW Track series, at which I have been Commissaire for so far this year (and all last season). So it will be fun to ditch the comm's jacket and pull on the skinsuit. Should be a hoot. RST is also a sponsor of RAW Track and RAW Track have supported me greatly in helping to raise money for my bike leg.

As for the bike leg, it is partly completed. I am using it and have been getting all the angles etc tweaked but waiting for one special component (a cleat adapter plate) to be finished by a machine shop friend (I'm currently using an adapter good buddy Peter Barnard made for me last year), so I can hook up the new pylon/clamp I have waiting, finalise the position (lengths and various angles) and then get the aerofoil section completed.

When done we'll make a small run of the adapter plates for future use. Its design will make cleat removal/replacement a lot easier and will be a bit more stream lined and light weight than the one I have at the moment.

It will be one funky looking aero leg when done....

Have also been very busy with coaching things, lots happening on that front but more on that later. One cool thing coming up will be a trip to Northern California at end September, where I'll get to hang, ride, deliver a seminar on training with power and participate in Levi Leipheimer's Granfondo on 3 October. Can't wait!

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The Sins of Sins (Testing FTP #2)

One of the most frequently referenced items on this good ol’ blog of mine (I can call it old, it’s in its fourth year – that’s officially old in interwebby speak) was an item I penned about ways to estimate your Functional Threshold Power (FTP - maximal quasi steady state average power one can sustain for about an hour).

That post was basically an expansion on the original information provided by Dr Andrew Coggan, publicly posted many years ago on the Wattage Forum and dubbed “The Seven Deadly Sins”.

Indeed since writing it, this one blog item has been viewed nearly 45,000 times.
Here is the link to the original post:
The Seven Deadly Sins

It was recently suggested to me (by Steve Palladino) that it might be worthwhile to pen a follow up to that post. One that explores some of the common mistakes people make when attempting to estimate their FTP. So here are a few thoughts on the subject.

As is often the case, none of this is particularly original, most of these are just accumulated tidbits of information and knowledge and it is by no means an exhaustive list. I may even have some of it wrong. You may have others worth adding or corrections – by all means, let me know – happy to add them to the examples listed.

Before getting into the list – The Sins of Sins – I will say that estimating FTP is important and the reasons for that are outlined in my previously linked post. It's not important in a “curing cancer” kind of way, but getting it right to at least a reasonable level of accuracy is pretty darn handy as there are many other very useful facets of training and racing with power that rely on having a good FTP estimate.

One doesn’t need to be completely anal about it and testing really often is not typically necessary (a few times a year is usually enough – the appropriate frequency depends on individual circumstances). Also nailing it down to the watt is not necessary either, the nearest five watts is typically more than sufficient.


The Sins of Sins – Top 10 (in no specific order):
SOS #1 – Not testing at all
SOS #2 – Not using an accurate power meter
SOS #3 – Using inconsistent methodologies
SOS #4 – Not replicating riding conditions in testing
SOS #5 – Ignoring signs that FTP has changed
SOS #6 – 95% of a 20-min mean maximal power = FTP
SOS #7 – Using NP from rides < < 1-hour
SOS #8 – Inappropriate use of the CP model
SOS #9 – Not performing maximal efforts
SOS #10 – “I’ve got an NP buster!”


OK, let’s examine each in a little more detail...

Sin of Sins #1 – Not testing at all
OK, this might seem a bit redundant, but honestly there are people who think they can get away with no testing at all but still want to know what their FTP is. Or that testing is such an impost in the training / racing schedule that it is “harmful” to schedule it. Bollocks.

Given the adage “training is testing, testing is training” then really there’s no excuse for never doing an effort or two in order to nail down one’s FTP more tightly than a lame guess. Stop wondering and go and do it. Gee, I feel better already.

Of course, an experienced eye can often inspect the mass of an individual’s power meter data and probably come up with a reasonable SWAG. But far better to schedule a test and be certain.


Sin of Sins #2 – Not using an accurate power meter
(and/or not using a power meter at all)

This is also a pretty obvious sin of sins but it happens. If you are going to use a power meter, it makes a lot of sense to ensure you are collecting accurate data. Otherwise how are you going to be sure that changes in power output as reported are in fact representative of actual changes in performance?

Check your meter’s calibration and make sure you perform the appropriate torque zero / zero offset procedure so that the data can be considered reliable. Neither is hard to do nor time consuming.

And if you don’t have a power meter, sure, go time yourself up a long steep hill climb and make an estimate of power output using analyticcycling.com, but then what? Without a reliable means to collect power data at other times, then the primary benefits of knowing your FTP and all that flows from it are not accessible. So use the hill climb as a good fitness test but the power estimate is essentially for satisfying curiosity or bragging rights at the coffee shop.


Sin of Sins #3 – Using inconsistent methodologies
This is pretty common. When you start out with a power meter, naturally you’ll want to work out the best, most reliable method for your particular circumstances. Everyone has different terrain to ride on, levels of traffic to contend with, opportunities to do a time trial, or time in which they can safely perform a test where they live, or can’t get outside for months on end, etc etc, so the sin(s) they choose to use as most appropriate to estimate FTP are different.

But once you have settled on a good method, then stick with it and replicate the same protocol each time. By reducing the number of variables that can influence the outcome, the more reliable is the data and what can be interpreted from it.

Examples of consistency might include:
- Using the same venue
- Using the same number of light, recovery ride or rest day(s) before the test(s)
- Performing tests in the same order, with the same break in between
- Performing the tests on the same number of days apart (or always on the same day)
- Using the same equipment
- Looking for similar environmental conditions if possible
- Performing tests over the same distance/duration

Of course it is not always easy or practical to replicate everything, every time, but at least consider these factors when deciding on a test method. Some methods lend themselves to more consistent protocol than others. A time trial over the same course, or undertaking a Maximal Aerobic Power test are examples of those which enable consistency without too much thinking involved.


Sin of Sins #4 – Not replicating riding conditions in testing
This might not be as bad as it can seem at first but it makes sense to at least use a test method using the bike/equipment/terrain/location/bike position etc that comprises the majority of your riding at that stage of your training/season.

This is especially the case when there is likely to be a significant difference in the performance (power) using the test method versus what you would ordinarily be able to produce. For example, if you only ride indoors occasionally and know you struggle to generate the same power as you typically do outdoors, then don’t use the indoor trainer to test FTP.


Sin of Sins #5 – Ignoring signs that FTP has changed
“I had a two hour group run today and my Intensity Factor was 1.07”.
Provided you are not falling for SOS #1 or SOS #2, then be on the lookout for signs that FTP may indeed have shifted significantly. There are a number of them and they include:

- Actual performance not consistent with current FTP estimate, such as AP/NP from a 40km TT that is significantly different from FTP

- An Intensity Factor (IF) > 1.05 for any ride or section of a ride of about an hour

- Regular long intervals at/near FTP becoming “easy(ish)”

- Perceived exertion for rides not consistent with intended level (e.g. a tempo power rides feels more like an endurance ride)

- a steeper than typically sustainable medium term rise in Chronic Training Load. e.g. your CTL has apprently risen at a much higher rate than you would normally expect to sustain without getting ill/niggles/overly fatigued (e.g. > 8 TSS/day/week but maybe less for some)

Now these are signs that FTP may need retesting but are not necessarily good tests in themselves. So ignore them at your peril but don’t jump to inappropriate conclusions or immediately adjust FTP. Gather some additional evidence.


Sin of Sins #6 – 95% of a 20-min mean maximal power = FTP
Well, this method of establishing FTP isn’t one of the listed Seven Deadly Sins in the first place, but it has become such a commonly referred to/utilised method (mainly due to its publication in the excellent book, Training and Racing with a Power Meter) that it gets its own SOS number.

Firstly, the main issue with this common Sin of Sins is that the ratio between 20-min power (or other similar shorter TT duration power) and FTP is not the same for everybody, and neither does the ratio remain static for an individual. One should recognise that due to several factors, not least of which is the contribution of anaerobic capacity and the exact protocol used (e.g. performing a pre-ride blowout effort), that the ratio is likely to be within a range and where someone is within that range is anyone’s guess.

So, FTP might be anywhere in the range of, say 90% to 98% of 20-min max average power. Personally, my FTP has been at both 92% and 96% of my then 20-min max average power. So, by all means use 95% of 20-min max power as a starting point but remember it may well be out by some margin and it would be wise to use an additional or alternative method to validate your FTP estimate.


Sin of Sins #7 – Using NP from rides < < 1-hour
“My 20-min max NP from that crit was 378 watts, so is my FTP 95% of that, i.e. 359 watts?”

Er, no.

Apart from falling for SOS #6, the efficacy of the Normalised Power algorithm in providing a “normalised iso-power equivalent” begins to drop somewhat as the duration shortens to substantially less than one hour. 20-minutes is in that grey zone. 30-minutes ain’t too shabby but I think anything less than 40-50 minutes is stretching the envelope a bit much for a reliable number from which to make an estimate of FTP.


Sin of Sins #8 – Inappropriate use of the CP model
The Critical Power (CP) model is a useful way to estimate FTP. See my previously linked item on the Seven Deadly Sins to find out a bit more on how it works.

The calculation of CP is sensitive to both the way data is collected and the data chosen to input into the model. So ignoring reasons for these sensitivities can introduce unwanted errors. Common SOS#8 mistakes are:

- Using data from inappropriate test durations. Ideally you will want data from within a range of durations – typically tests should be at least 3 minutes and no longer than 30 minutes duration. Tests from very short (e.g 1-minute) or long durations (e.g. 60-min) tend to skew the calculations somewhat. Besides, if you have a 60-min test, then CP is somewhat redundant.

- Using data from test durations that are too close to each other, e.g. 3-min and 6-min. It is far better to use one test of ~ 3-6 min and one of ~ 20-30-min. Can also include another from a duration in between but two really good points with sufficient spread between them is all that's really needed.

- Using multiple data points which include unreliable data, such as a test that was not truly a maximal effort for the duration or was tainted due to the protocol/method used to collect the data. Far better to have two very good data points than four data points with one or two suspect numbers.

- Not using the same test durations each time. E.g. using a 6-min and a 20-min test and next time using a 3-min and 28-min test. Pick your sample durations and stick with them, within reason. This is not as easy as it seems, since if you are doing a 5-min test, how hard do you go? It can be easier to pick a power level you expect to maintain for the duration and go ’til you blow. But if it becomes a significantly different duration, it may affect the outcome.

- Using a different protocol to collect the data. Principles of SOS #3 apply. If you perform both, say a 5-min and a 25-min test on the same day, then next time do it the same way and in the same order. If you perform the tests on different days, then be consistent about that protocol.

- Similarly, avoid cherry picking mean maximal power data from different rides, e.g. a local TT and last week’s crit and then next time a Level 4 training effort and the hillclimb during the local world’s bunch ride.

- Selecting non-contemporaneous data. Now that’s a big word. What I mean is, you don’t select your best 5-min power from three months ago and combine it with a 25-min test from last week. The data must be from the same time period (I suggest the limit for data collection be approximately one ATL time constant or around 7-10 days)

- Using Normalised Power. Don't. Use Average Power.

- Not weighing yourself or using the wrong body mass for the model (note that this doesn't affect CP calculations, just some versions of the model also quote or calculate CP in W/kg terms).

Note that the CP value calculated by the model is typically a better estimate of FTP than the 60-min power predicted by the model. The 60-min power prediction is usually a bit higher than the CP value.

Note added June 2013:
The Golden Cheetah power meter analysis software has a built in feature that uses the principles of the critical power model to provide a CP estimate based on your power meter files. I am not exactly sure of the means by which GC's implementation derives its estimate, but I suspect it is susceptible to the problem of cherry picking data, using inconsistent data, and possibly not including data from efforts of sufficient duration as mentioned above.

As a result, use of the CP model implemented in this manner routinely overestimates FTP. Initial data as assessed by Dr Coggan indicates a typical overestimation of around 5%. This presumes there is sufficient actual data with maximal efforts across various durations.


Sin of Sins #9 – Not performing maximal efforts
Testing performance requires one to go to the limit, otherwise one can never know where that limit is. There is some sub-maximal testing one can do, such as determining lactate threshold in the lab but for the purposes of using a power meter to ascertain FTP, then one does need to lay it all on the line.

Of course it goes without saying that one should be sufficiently fit and healthy to perform maximal effort testing. Undergoing testing while health concerns exist may well end up being the biggest mistake of all!


Sin of Sins #10 – "I’ve got an NP buster!"
No you don’t*.
It is 99.99% likely that:
(i) your FTP is underestimated, or
(ii) the duration you are referring to is not about an hour, or
(iii) your power meter data is suspect – reference SOS #2.

* OK it is possible, just highly improbable and some substantive evidence is required before making such a declaration and joining this rare club.

Finally, there’s not much point in taking your track bike to the local velodrome, doing a whole bunch of anaerobic efforts while tooling around the infield in between efforts, racking up some weirdo NP number due to all the breaks and then seeking to use it as guide to FTP. The test needs to be realistic for the purpose. This is a variant of SOS #4.

I’d expand some more on this, like “what the %&%$ is an NP buster?” and “I do so have an NP buster” but perhaps I’ll save that for another day.


OK, that’s enough for today. It was a bit long but hopefully it can help you to avoid some of the more common pitfalls when attempting to estimate your FTP. It's not all that hard.

Good luck and safe riding!

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Goals Galore

OK, my first season back on the bike is over. I'm having a shortish break of a week or so.

So how did I go? I think pretty well all things considered.

After learning to walk again, I attempted to pedal for the first time in mid-June 2008. By mid-May 2009 I had won 2 Gold medals at the Oceania para-cycling road championships in both the time trial and road race as well as Silver medals in the same two events at the Nationals a couple of weeks earlier. Along the way I had attained an FTP of ~ 270 watts and a MAP of 385 watts. I reached CTL of ~ 70 TSS/day.

Some things, which seem minor to many, were not trivial to do. Things like getting a bike leg attachment sorted out, having short cranks made so I could pedal with a knee that wouldn't flex very well. Progressing to longer cranks. Being able to ride out of the saddle. Riding outdoors again. Riding on the roads again. Racing for the first time again. Riding on the track. Racing on the track. So much has been a rediscovery of bike riding. In a way that's part of what has kept me going, re-learning stuff that I had taken for granted before.

So all up a very promising start for my first (nearly) year back on the bike.

But what's next?

Well I've decided on a few longer-term and medium-term goals.

Longer Term Goal (as at May 2009):
To be re-evaluated after Feb 2010 track nationals.
Kilometre time trial to be priority, ultimately aiming to be top 3 of all para categories by 2011/12.
This pushes for 2012 Paralympic selection in the team sprint.

Medium Term Goals (as at May 2009):

1. Attain podium standard performance level at Track Nationals, Feb 2010 (whether that results in podium depends on competitor numbers at that standard).
- Stretch goal to be Silver medal standard by Feb 2010
- Specific events are Kilo TT and 4km Pursuit.
Event standards (Gold / Silver / Bronze):
Kilometre TT: 1:16.631 / 1:18.091 / 1:20.280
4km Pursuit: 5:03.404 / 5:09.075 / 5:17.582

2. Continue all round development as a rider
- ability to ride competitively with prosthetic
- Lift mean maximal power/mass ratio across key durations (FTP / MAP / 1-min and sprint)

3. Further prosthetic development
- new cycling specific leg in use by Aug/Sep 2009

4. Refinement of riding position with new prosthetic / work on better aerodynamics
- seek 5% reduction in pursuit CdA (currently ~ 0.26m^2)

So there you have it.

Now all I got to do is buckets of hard work.

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Crocs, toads & mozzies...

OK, my first "season" is done. I finished it off with a trip to Darwin, in Australia's Top End, to compete in the Oceania Para-cycling road championships.

I finished that event with Gold medals in both the Time Trial and the Road Race for the LC2 category.

I also picked up a few dozen mozzie bites for my trouble, which have been persistent little buggers, itching for quite some time since getting home.

A few things about Darwin have changed in the 15 years since I lived there in the mid-1990s (but not all that much really - certainly not as much as locals would have you believe).

Firstly, you now see dead cane toads on the road. Next thing is part of the reason why you see dead cane toads on the road is because everyone is busy looking at the personalised numbers plates which seem to be on every other car, and clearly aren't seeing the toads they are running over.

Other than that, yeah there's a few more buildings, especially around the port area, more new apartments everywhere, some new hotels and some more shops here and there (like at Nightcliff).

Some things however, never change. The drivers pretty much exhibiting the same sloth like reflexes at traffic lights for instance. They'll run every red light under the tropical sun but take forever to start when the lights go green.

Then there's the NT News, the local paper. It is unique in Australia and the front page headline was typically a story about an animal (often crocodiles), alchohol and or sex. Extra points for combining all three.

Well here's the front page the first morning I was there:

Which was followed up a couple of days later with this little gem:

The fact that this latter one appeared the morning after the Commonwealth Government handed down probably the most talked about public budget in decades which appeared on every front page in the country, except the NT News. Well, that's if you ignore the "budget" reference to the photo of the python squeezing the life out of a possum!

Anyway, for the record, some power stats and comments from my racing over the last couple of weeks:

National Paracycling TT Championships (LC2):
Hilly course
Duration: 0:38:57
Average Power: 264 watts
Normalised Power: 276 watts
Place: 2nd (~2.5 minutes)

National Paracycling Road Race Championships (LC2):
Very hilly course.
Duration: 2:10:17
Average Power: 225 watts
Normalised Power: 271 watts
60-min mean max NP: 286 watts
30-min mean max NP: 308 watts
Place: 2nd (38 seconds down)

Oceania Paracycling TT Championships (LC2):
Duration: 0:52:27
Average Power: 264 watts
Normalised Power: 269 watts
Place: 1st

Oceania Paracycling Road Race Championships (LC2):
Duration: 1:52:34
Average Power: 216 watts
Normalised Power: 262 watts
Place: 1st

1st 46-min riding with Michael Gallagher (LC1 - categories were combined) before he finally cracked me:
Average Power: 225 watts
Normalised Power: 288 watts

Note: Michael also rode the open elite TT the next day. He won that.

Of all those rides I am most pleased with the National road race. That was a very tough course and I put out personal best power, and very nearly stole a march over my far younger and lighter competitor.

So, 11 months after I first tried to pedal again, and just over two years since my accident and 23 months since my amputation, that's not a bad start for my first season.

Planning for the season ahead has already started. I'm having a couple of easy weeks first though.



Thanks to Ron Bonham for the photos

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