Congratulations Tour de France Riders and Sweepstakes Winners!

This year’s Tour de France has certainly been dramatic, both for the riders and the fans. While the cyclists were out on the road dealing with headbutts, attacks, crashes and more, the fans were busy devouring the race commentary and analysis that goes with the sport. As part of the excitement this year, TrainingPeaks shared daily power files from Team Saxo Bank as well as the opportunity to win the same SRM power meter that the team uses along with other great prizes!

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New Device Compatibility: Timex Race Trainer, SRM PC VI and Polar RS800CX

We are pleased to announce support for several new devices:

• Timex Race Trainer wireless download HRM with ANT+
• SRM PC VI wireless power meter with ANT+
• Polar RS800CX with GPS capability.

Each of these devices can be directly downloaded and the data is easily uploaded to your personal account at TrainingPeaks.com How to download workout data:

• Timex Race Trainer uses the Timex Device Agent for easy downloading (PC, Mac Spring '09)
• SRM PC VI is compatible with either WKO+ or the TrainingPeaks Device Agent (PC and Mac)
• Polar RS800CX is compatible with WKO+ or the TrainingPeaks Device Agent (PC)

The Timex Race Trainer

With ANT+ wireless technology, the new Timex Race Trainer allows you to download your workout data wirelessly. The Timex Device Agent software manages the download of the watch and you can configure all the settings of the watch using the Device Agent, then send the configuration back to the watch, making it super easy to work with all the watch's settings. After you download, the workout data is instantly uploaded to TrainingPeaks.com.

The SRM with PowerControl VI

SRM is a wireless power meter utilizing ANT+ technology for data transfer between the crank mounted power meter and the head unit (PowerControl VI). It can also be used with a Garmin Edge 705 GPS providing data capture complete with maps, power, heart rate, cadence, speed and distance. After uploading to TrainingPeaks.com, view your data using the File Viewer and share it with friends.

The Polar RS800CX

The RS800CX is a wrist-top computer capable of tracking heart rate, gps data, speed, pace and distance, among other great features. Using TrainingPeaks provides the additional functionality of mapping your run or cycling route, all in our simple easy to use interface. View a recent workout by clicking the image below and see our fully interactive "File Viewer". Mapping is just one part of the comprehensive functionality you'll get when using your training devices along with our software. TrainingPeaks customer and client of Endurance Multisport, Jan Musli, shares a recent run using an RS800CX, click the image below to view it in our File Viewer

To learn about all 70+ devices we support, take a look at our Device Compatibility support page. Want to check out TrainingPeaks.com for yourself? Get a FREE account today, no credit card required. Note that you'll need to upgrade to a Premium account to upload data from devices.

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New Power Pods in TrainingPeaks.com 3.0

Power features for power meter users In our latest update to TrainingPeaks.com 3.0 (11/14/2008), we have added several new Pods that our power-meter users will appreciate. Not training with a power meter? Read on.. you'll want one soon, and the holiday season is right around the corner. What good are these Pods? One of the most fundamental concepts of training with power has to do with "mean maximal power", also known as "critical power". Mean max power is the power that you can sustain for a given amount of time. For example, a 35 yr old male might be able to average 250 watts of power for 30 minutes. A key indicator of improving fitness after some amount of training should show an increase in power output for the same time period. Perhaps in early spring you can manage 250 watts, but in late summer you could manage 270 watts of power for 30 minutes. More power equals more speed. This notion is "Mean maximal power", or, the maximum average (mean) power you can hold for a given time period. In this example, it is sometimes referred to as "CP 30", or "Critical Power 30 minutes". We have just added a Mean Max Power curve that plots your CP values for a wide range of time periods, and lets you compare them to your "bests" over history. This gives you a definitive way of seeing your training progress and comparing your current power outputs to your overall "bests". Want to learn more (and I mean a LOT more) about training with power? Visit our Cycling Articles section. Journal Power Pods: Mean Max Power Curve - See your power curve for a particular workout, compared to previous bests

Power Distribution - How much time did you spend at specific power outputs

Critical Power Distribution - wattage for each critical power value

Power by Zones - Time spent at each power zone (or power level as referred to by Coggan)

Dashboard Power Pod: Mean Max Power Curve - Compare one date range's bests to another date range's bests

In order to use these pods, you'll need a power meter, we are directly compatible with all the major power meters on the market today, including: SRM, PowerTap, iBike, CompuTrainer and Quarq. Check out our Compatible Devices page for more information on how to use a downloadable device with our software. Training with power is one of the best ways to help you get fitter faster, and enable you to make the most of your limited training time. You'll also want to checkout the popular book "Training and Racing with a Power Meter" by our own Hunter Allen and Dr. Andy Coggan, Ph.D. Each pod is also customizable by clicking the pencil icon at the top of each Pod. To put these Pods on your Journal or Calendar, simply click "Pods" (while viewing a workout on the Journal or Dashboard) then drag the pod from the Pod Library onto the Journal or Dashboard as shown below: If you are really into detailed analysis, then you also can't miss our desktop application WKO+, which is the gold standard for analyzing power meter data. To learn more about  all the different Pods, checkout our support center. For you seasoned power users, you'll note that we don't yet have TSS/IF available in the online app, but, we're working on it! Enjoy!

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John Korioth Shares His Thoughts (and SRM file) About Racing with Lance at The Tour de Gruene

Lance Armstrong teamed up this past Sunday with John Korioth to race the Tour de Gruene two-man team time trial event. John describes his experience as "probably the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike." The pain paid off as the pair won their division with a time of 56:37 on the 27.3 mile course, which was 2:34 faster than the second place team of David Wenger and Steven Wheeler. John and Lance both raced with an SRM powermeter and John has provided TrainingPeaks with his race file which can be seen and downloaded here. John averaged 340watts and had a normalized power reading of 357watts, which makes you wonder how many watts Lance was pushing given that John rode the majority of the race in Lance's slipstream. John reflects on his experience racing with Lance in a short interview with TrainingPeaks. TP-How did you feel during the TT? JK- This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike. Its tough to say I felt good with my HR so high all the time (well above my Lactate Threshold 168hr). I would have thought I would have been able to get some recovery sitting on Lance's wheel as I do on my road bike when riding behind him. However, once he is fully aero (TT Suit, and helmet) it is very tough to get a good draft off of him and then be able to get any recovery. As you can tell from the file, I think only once during the race did my HR ever get back down below 170 and that wasn't for long before it was back up to 178. TP-Did the race go as planned? JK- I thought I would have been able to help a little more and make some stronger pulls. When I was called through I was so redlined I tried to go easier just to get some recovery. Lance and I knew one of the keys was going to be communication and with those Aero helmets it is tough to hear so there was a lot of shouting at each other. If you would have heard me you would have thought I was mad at him but that was not the case. I was just trying to tell him to take it easy up the hills and into some turns so he wouldn't gap me off. TP- How much did you pull versus Lance? JK- I would probably say Lance pulled 75% off the time. I think he could have won all by himself if he wanted to. He is just that strong. He also just has the ability to make the bike go fast. He can get it up on a flat road to 31mph and just hold it there. Its tough to stick behind that for a long time. TP- Did you specifically train for this race? You had a great race. JK- I did train for it, but not like Masters Nationals (John is the current USAC 40-44 National Road race Champion). This wasn't even on my schedule until about 3 weeks prior. So I had to go get dust off the TT bike and make some adjustments and do what I could. My coach Dave Wenger (who was part of the second place team) from Source Endurance did the best he could but I think it could have been better with more time and some motor pacing. To read more about the race and see pictures, visit www.Velonews.com.

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Updated Version of TrainingPeaks WKO+ Now Available

TrainingPeaks WKO+ (formerly CyclingPeaks) has been updated with several bug fixes and enhancements including:

• Updated support for SRM PowerControl VI direct download
• .srm file support from PowerControl VI and SRMWin
• Drastically improved parsing speed for Garmin EDGE 705 .tcx files with power data
• .tcx compatibility improved for laps
• Link to Help Center on device download dialog box

The new build is free and available to all 2.x users now, simply follow this link and install build 94 "over the top" of your existing installation. http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/products/downloadfiles.asp New users can download a 14-day free trial also. Enjoy!

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