Great Questions From A Client

1. I have been doing the one minute intervals on a 25 minute climb. Am I better off doing them on the flats and taking more time in between in order to put out more power? I feel that on the flats with a little time in between I should be able to keep them all over 400 watts....but maybe not. Thoughts? The challenge of doing them on the climb is lack of recovery between. Assuming that you have to keep the bike moving at even a minimal speed you're still likely putting out more power than you would coasting on a flat road between efforts. I've done steady state efforts on 2 hour climbs in Tennessee. The recovery between is badly recovery. If using a hill, it would be better to go up during the intervals and down during recovery. Or, use a flat road. The recovery is very important. This is actually when our heart gets the most benefit from working so hard. The high and low bpm we're calling on is great training to increase stroke volume. This is why in time on longer endurance rides power is up while HR is the same of ideally lower. On the power intervals, I do like using a hill for the effort. The constant resistance allows me to put out more power. The coast down is a great recovery. 2. What kind of power would I need to put out in order to do a 26mph 40K Time Trial like you talk about on your web site if I weigh 75 kilos..165ibs ? Thats a loaded question as there are aerodynamic and course considerations that are unknown. But, for the sake of the discussion, lets assume a flat course, out and back, no wind, and pretty average aero position and bike equipment. At that speed, you would cover the course in about 57:00 to 57:30. If we assume a 4 to 4.25 watts per kilogram over that time, you would be 300 to 320 avg watts. I'm basing this on what I've seen with other riders over that distance and wts/kg for shorter events that we can extrapolate into longer events. Once again, its complicated because I know similar riders who put out less wts/kg but go faster over any distance due to aerodynamic advantages. If we could test you over some 10 mile, 20k and 40k actual time trials we could determine some pretty accurate wattage goals for the 26 mph, 40k tt. But, I think we're close in the 300-325 range. 3 .Assuming that I will eventually be able to hold 300 watts for 25 minutes....how long in terms of months would it normally take to have the endurance to hold that for an hour once I get it for 25 minutes ? Being completely honest, I think it would take a year to get there. Thats a big jump assuming that the 25 minutes is at 92-95% of max HR or 105-107% of LT. Once again, we need to look at getting more oxygen to your muscles. Stroke volume will need to go up as heart rate (bpm) will likely stay the same. We also need to ride further into that zone above LT where it really hurts. It can be done! Those multiple power intervals can really help with this. Doing as many tt's as possible will also help. 4.Have you had any clients experiment with high mileage (300 per week ? Certainly, 350+ at times. The added miles don't necessarily help with adding power but they can. I love riding centuries and do 18-24 per year. My power on them has increased steadily and over the same courses I've become faster at the same HR zones. I think the big weeks also help psychologically with just knowing that you can handle big days in the saddle. A shorter day with intense intervals seems more doable. With the right recovery, the big days can have benefits.