Points...

[Robh]

Hi Adam,

I can do my own ramp test as I have a powermeter and a program on a laptop to tell me when to up the wattage although it's easier to do this with someone else shouting out to you than trying to kill yourself and look at a screen.

Here's some links :-

http://www.jbst.com/ramptest.html

http://www.cyclecoach.com/pageID-training.htm (this is the guy I bought myPowertap from).

http://www.cyclecoach.com/pageID-articl ... elines.htm

What have I achieved? Nothing as at the age of 19 I stopped cycling after 3 years and only just started to race, had the pleasure of racing with Roger Hammond in a surrey league handicap race back in 1991 finishing 7th behind Roger I think if i recall.

As a junior I rode one 10 mile time trial on a standard road bike with no aero equipment and got a time of just over 24mins.

The other time trial I did was a 25mile 2 up which me and my mate won the junior prize.

My first Junior road race I sacriificed finishing high up by waiting for a team mate who had blown to drag him up back to the bunch but the cheeky git sprinted past me up the hill where the finish line was.

The reason I gave up was because of illness as I suffered with chronic heartburn which was aggravated worse on the bike and appeared the first time during a Goodwood race. Took up football instead as it was less painful for my heartburn as i'm not bent over like on a bike then a few years later I also got IBS (stomach pains) which I still have.

In 2001 I decided to return to cycling but not race as my heartburn and stomach cramps really screws with my head up as the pain is real bad some days and as usual it's worse whilst riding, I do have good and bad days.

Also in 2001 was the first time I came into contact with ACC and use to ride with the 19mph group as the other 2 groups was just the 17's & 15's back then.

In 2002 I purchased the powertap hub best purchase ever have never looked back.

Now at the grand old age of 34 I ride my bike 3 times a week on my own and usually average during the summer 19-20mph on my weekend endurance rides (70ish miles). During the week I do LT inervals with my powertap and spend lots of time reading about the use of powermeters and training techniques.

The last ride I did with ACC was in May 2005 when I went out on one of Paul Tunnell's long rides to Worthing.

Think that covers it...

Rob

[-Adam-]

Ok fair do's, you do seem mighty knowledgeable! I will check out your links in due course, hopefully they'll point me in the right direction...

What if a ramp test reveals im as good enough to be a pro!? Then ill really have to work hard, goddammit!

Thanks Rob

[Robh]

I could preform the ramp test at my house then collect the results an scale it to the BCF method :-

W/Kg2/3 Level
Up to 15 Untrained
15.1-17 Fair
17.1-20 Moderate
20.1-21 Average
21.1-23 Good
23.1-24.8 Very Good
24.9-26 Excellent
26.1-27 Extremely Fit
27.1-29 World Class
29.1-35 Pro Tour

Note watts per (kg^2/3) provides relative scaling. Absolute values on the high end are about 600 watts, unless the rider is very large (I think something around 650 watts is the absolute high end). For amateurs, a score of 25 would be pretty good. Something around 27 might get you to a Division III professional team as a domestic…

Suppose you weigh 75 kg and have a MAP (from test) of 425 watts.

425/75 = 5.67 watts/kg; this is the normal scaling

425/75^(2/3) = 425/17.78 = 23.90 watts/kg^2/3

The reason some prefer 2/3 scaling is that watts/kg is not quite an exact predictor of performance. For example if there is a large size difference between riders of similar relative watts/kg, the bigger rider has a distinct advantage. In this example, a 65 kg rider of 5.67 watts/kg will have a 22.48 watts/kg^2/3 and would be at a distadvantage on all but the steepest climbs. For example, assuming a "tempo" climb at 4.0 watts/kg, the 10kg heavier rider would finish a 8%, 8km climb about a minute ahead of the 65 kg rider, even though their watts/kg are the same.
(The above text was taken from another forum)


All you would need to do is bring your bike along, I believe you ride Shimano as that's what my Powertap wheel is. Then I would fit my wheel to your bike, hook it up to the my turbo trainer and then fit the Powertap harness to your bike which is a few cable ties.

This would be done in my garage, a 30 mins warm up is needed for your legs and for you to get use to the wattage numbers then the test would last for 15-20mins.

The Ric Stern Training or BC protocol is :-
25 W/min non-elite males
20 W/min elite males
15 W/min females

Therefore for you Adam using 20W/min you would start at 100 W and increase your wattage by 5 every 12 seconds and until failure.

Map/Ramp test expalined in full :-

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=powerstern

It's a maximal test so very stressful for the body, I personally did record my highest HB on the test back in 2001. You also have to be well rested so no racing the day before or hard training so best to do during a recovery week. I would warn you I could not except any responsibility for any injuries sustained during the test.

I just need to find my spare harness which is in the shed.

As you are still young and your aerobic engine is increasing every year your results should get better plus with better training methods from a coach over the years, obviously there's a point where you can't improve anymore because of ageing.

Rob

[Robh]

[img]http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t209/sbc205/powerprofile_v4.gif[/img]

The W/kg number is based on what Wattage you could do for an hour.

[Matthew Ives]

Just out of interest, Rob, why do you do all your riding on your own? Do you prefer it that way or is it just more convenient?

[Robh]

[quote="Matthew Ives"]Just out of interest, Rob, why do you do all your riding on your own? Do you prefer it that way or is it just more convenient?

[Toks]

[quote="RobH"] All you would need to do is bring your bike along, I believe you ride Shimano as that's what my Powertap wheel is. Then I would fit my wheel to your bike, hook it up to the my turbo trainer and then fit the Powertap harness to your bike which is a few cable ties.

This would be done in my garage, a 30 mins warm up is needed for your legs and for you to get use to the wattage numbers then the test would last for 15-20mins.

[tel]

I seem to remember the crook who ran the Linda McCartney racing team, whose name I can`t remember at the moment, went from novice to elite in one season and then rode the Tour of Britain the next year.
So it can be done.

Good luck trying.

Terry

[quote="Toks"][quote="RobH"] All you would need to do is bring your bike along, I believe you ride Shimano as that's what my Powertap wheel is. Then I would fit my wheel to your bike, hook it up to the my turbo trainer and then fit the Powertap harness to your bike which is a few cable ties.

This would be done in my garage, a 30 mins warm up is needed for your legs and for you to get use to the wattage numbers then the test would last for 15-20mins.

[-Adam-]

Ok guys, well until the later part of May i have to be up here at uni (actually working as well, so much to do this week!) So ill read up and get back to you then.

But i am definately up for doing one of these ramp tests to see what i can do!

Thanks for the advice etc, ill be in touch...

Adam