Friday
Dec142007
Touring the Coast of Spain with Predictor-Lotto ProTour Cycling Team
Friday, December 14, 2007 at 2:37PM
Predictor-Lotto Training Camp
Benicasim, Spain
Dirk Friel, TrainingPeaks' Chief Marketing Officer had the privilege of riding with the Predictor-Lotto ProTour cycling team for a third time this week. Their route started in Benicasim, Spain where the team is based for their winter training camp.
The 4 hour ride took them quickly out of the small town on a palm tree lined boulevard and along Spain's coast for nearly 70 miles.
The weather is sunny with blue skies but cold enough (40 - 60 degrees Fahrenheit) for leg warmers, jackets and gloves. Despite the chill in the air, the riders have time to notice the incredible and culturally rich scenery.
More impressive than the scenery however, was the intensity of the team's training ride. The entire ride had just under a 20 mph average and 5,131 ft of elevation gain. Dirk said that the hardest part of the 4 hour ride was the climb that started less than 40 minutes into the ride. The 454 watts Normalized Power over that 5 minutes had Dirk pushing hard to stay with the group.
Below is Dirk's power file from today's ride. Notice the line showing Dirk's threshold power of 360 watts. Click on the graph below to see his power numbers. Or, click here to see his TrainingPeaks public profile. You can download the raw data and analyze the file on your desktop if you have WKO+ (click here to download a free trial).
For comparison, click the file below to see Predictor-Lotto's Wim de Vocht's power file from the same ride. Or, click here to see his TrainingPeaks public profile of the ride. Notice his threshold power line of 380 watts.
When you analyze the two files, you'll notice a big difference between the amount of time Dirk spent riding above his threshold power as compared to the time Wim spent above his threshold. The two were riding right next to each other, but Dirk had to ride with more intensity to keep the same pace. You can see this by comparing their TSS (Training Stress Score) scores and their IF (Intensity Factor) scores. Dirk's TSS score was 240 (IF of .784) compared to Wim's TSS score of 195 (IF of .712).
The benefit of all this science is that each rider and their coach will be able to use this data for customized training. Long term, the training that Wim needs to meet his 2008 race goals will be completely different from that which Dirk needs. But without this data, neither rider could most effectively develop their form. Training with technology can make you faster!
Benicasim, Spain
Dirk Friel, TrainingPeaks' Chief Marketing Officer had the privilege of riding with the Predictor-Lotto ProTour cycling team for a third time this week. Their route started in Benicasim, Spain where the team is based for their winter training camp.
The 4 hour ride took them quickly out of the small town on a palm tree lined boulevard and along Spain's coast for nearly 70 miles.
The weather is sunny with blue skies but cold enough (40 - 60 degrees Fahrenheit) for leg warmers, jackets and gloves. Despite the chill in the air, the riders have time to notice the incredible and culturally rich scenery.
More impressive than the scenery however, was the intensity of the team's training ride. The entire ride had just under a 20 mph average and 5,131 ft of elevation gain. Dirk said that the hardest part of the 4 hour ride was the climb that started less than 40 minutes into the ride. The 454 watts Normalized Power over that 5 minutes had Dirk pushing hard to stay with the group.
Below is Dirk's power file from today's ride. Notice the line showing Dirk's threshold power of 360 watts. Click on the graph below to see his power numbers. Or, click here to see his TrainingPeaks public profile. You can download the raw data and analyze the file on your desktop if you have WKO+ (click here to download a free trial).
For comparison, click the file below to see Predictor-Lotto's Wim de Vocht's power file from the same ride. Or, click here to see his TrainingPeaks public profile of the ride. Notice his threshold power line of 380 watts.
When you analyze the two files, you'll notice a big difference between the amount of time Dirk spent riding above his threshold power as compared to the time Wim spent above his threshold. The two were riding right next to each other, but Dirk had to ride with more intensity to keep the same pace. You can see this by comparing their TSS (Training Stress Score) scores and their IF (Intensity Factor) scores. Dirk's TSS score was 240 (IF of .784) compared to Wim's TSS score of 195 (IF of .712).
The benefit of all this science is that each rider and their coach will be able to use this data for customized training. Long term, the training that Wim needs to meet his 2008 race goals will be completely different from that which Dirk needs. But without this data, neither rider could most effectively develop their form. Training with technology can make you faster!
Reader Comments (3)
well its really cool to be able too see there data but these powermeters and power taps are so expensive. It is really unreal to see how much power these world class cyclists can substain. they are freaks of nature. I would love to be able to monitor my own power one day. I train really hard about 15-18 hrs a week All I have is a hr monitor to go by. thanks matt
What was dirk using to get altitude data? i noticed he has both power and alt in a single file, but i've not been able to combine my garmin 305 data with my SRM data in WKO ...til now, i'm downloading them as seperate files to two profiles on WKO ...
Hey Matt L - HR is totally viable! Though not as 'cool' as a power file you can effectively estimate your power/HR relationship with a variety of approaches....being responsible in the application of efforts above threshold is really the point right..especially with your volume of riding!