Oops - need help interpreting fitness test

[jim_s]

Went out today to try the fitness test (first moderate-temperature, not-insanely-windy day in a very long time here!). Did my first one heading out a road that is slightly rolling, but trends uphill at about .73%. Wind was kind of swirly, and looking back at the file, iBike registered it as about a 2.5mph ave headwind. I can't recall the exact numbers, but I believe ave watts at the end of the test read in the low 270's, and the w/kg reading said somewhere around 4.3-something. I didn't (and don't) believe that (I wish!), so I rode for about 5 minutes, then did a second test coming back the other way on the same road. Thing is, when getting setup for the second the test, I saw this 'Fe no' thing, and wasn't sure what it was, but knew I'd chosen 'no' on the way out, so figured I'd try 'yes' on the way back. Imagine my discomfort when I subsequently learned that I'd chosen to be a female for the return trip. (Thankfully it was a solo ride and nobody saw me...) The second test had ave watts somewhere around 260 IIRC, with a w/kg reading of 4.26 (that part I know for sure - I'm looking at it right now). Still high, but at least trending in the proper direction. (The 'level' reading for this was an 8 - see below for more info on that part.)

After the ride, I downloaded the ride bits (each test and the time before, after and between were separate files), and when I looked at the file for the first test, it gave an ave watts of 258. More believable, though I suspect still a bit high. I weigh 138lbs, so in kg that's 62.73, so 258/62.73 = 4.11, if I have that all correct. That's a fair bit below the reported 4.36 at the finish of the test, but is at least plausible. Going through the same process for the 2nd test, it shows an ave watts of 254, and 254/62.73 = 4.05. (note that this is significantly different than the 4.26 w/kg that iBike reported for the 2nd test. Could I have been somehow 'promoted' to the next watts level because I was biking in virtual drag? I read in the manual that a male level '7' is equivalent to a female level '8', and from the chart in the manual, a male 4.26 would be a 7, while a female 4.26 would be a female 8. Would it also have bumped my mediocre 4.11 up to the next level, as well?)

I wanted to get proper 'credit' for this whole ride in WKO. so I appended together the 5 resulting ride files (before the first test, the first test, the 5 min between, the second test, after the second test), and when I did that, and then selected each of the test sections from the complete ride, I got respectively 272w and 276w averages.

Now, another semi-oops that I need to come clean on - I didn't do a wind offset when I headed out for my ride, and between the first and second tests, I stopped and checked the offset, thinking maybe that would account for the inflated numbers on the first test - it was actually reading about a 3.5mph tail wind (-3.5 on the offset screen) at rest and out of the wind, but I went ahead and did an offset at that point - so, that might account for the second test's ave watts being higher than the first in the appended complete file.) I pulled the part of the appended complete file comprising the two test sections, along w/ the 5 min between, into a separate file and zero'd the ground wind for that (recall the first test was going out, the 2nd test was coming back), and that gave more believable ave power numbers of 240 for the ride out and 242 for the ride back. (Doing the same - ie, zeroing out the wind for the entire ride, then selecting each of the test sections, gave 242 and 239w respectively, so it seems to me that my real ave watts for the tests were right around 240w.)

So, the question(s):

- given my initial lack of offset, my mid-ride offset and my experiment in alternate genders, what really should I take away from this ride? (in terms of my power output for the tests, thank you very much...)
- given that my last test was done as a female, and it seems that the last test done is what the fitness functions (such as interval settings, etc) are based on, is there I way that I can get the proper w/kg and 'level' into the iBike so that the little sucker doesn't kill me on future interval sets? (ie, since it seems to have maybe bumped me up a level beyond where I'm actually at)

Appreciate any help!!

[coachboyd]

Can I see the appended file?

One thing to note though. . .this sport is cruel, it really benefits those who weigh very little. Even the big guys you see in the Euro peloton are tiny when you see them in person. One of my somewhat regular training partners is one of the biggest riders in the pack, George Hincapie. But riding with him in June getting ready for the Tour de France, he is like 6'3" and 155lbs. W/kg is a way of giving a fitness value that stands true across the board. Cycling really is about who can out out the most power and weigh the least. Of course there are good and bad ways to lose the weight.

You said that you are 138 pounds, with a weight like that your w/kg is bound to be higher and seeing a fitness level at 7 can be an actuality. I will take a look at your file and see if there's anything I can do.

as for getting your fitness level back to a level 7 you are probably going to have to do another fitness test. On this one you can go through all the calibration steps so that there is no question when you crush it again! The intervals built into the iBike are all based on percentages of what you held for the 20 minutes though, so you would be doing intervals based on 260 watts as it stands right now. The difference in the structure of the level 7 and level 8 intervals are not very big. They are listed in a thread I started here http://www.ibikeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=699

[jim_s]

Hi Boyd. Yikes, that's scary to think about, that old George is only 20 lbs heavier than I am, but can probably crank out 2-3x my FTP. I feel like an ant under a shoe - a very big shoe!

I've attached the appended file - I really appreciate you taking the time to look at it.

Doing another fitness test isn't a problem - I actually kind of enjoy them! But, I would like to learn from the two I did today, and try to get a general feel for where I am at the moment. My goal for the year is to get past 4 w/kg FTP if I can, so this was my initial assessment of what I have ahead of me.

Thanks Again!

Jim

[jim_s]

BTW, I downloaded and looked at the spreadsheet. Looks like good stuff, and good to know it was put together by someone who has a clue about intervals, vs my attempts to gravitate simply toward what hurts the most!

What is generally considered a good mix of these intervals to do? My two goals presently are to get my FTP up and, perhaps somewhat counter to that, to prepare for and pull off a personal best on a hilly century in May. (so, do I concentrate on cardio & strength (to raise LT/FTP)? fat burning (for hilly endurance) and cardio?)

Thanks Again,

Jim