Cycling Peaks (How do you know.....

Ironmanbrad said:

I have been using Cycling Peaks for about 3 weeks now and I really enjoy it.
Can anybody tell me what to look for via charts/graphs to see how i am improving. i just started training via power only (computrainer and Power Tap).
Other then the basic monthly 20 minute TT test i do each month that i compair to last months test is there a chart that you use thats not a default chart? Thanks for the help.
Brad

The "Mean Maximal Power Curve Chart" is probably the best for keeping updated on personal bests that occur during all of your rides. After a season of use it will also give you insight into when you were peaking. So keep good records of your training plan and then you can go back and see what you did right prior to the peak.

I have a line chart which tracks avg. HR to avg. power. I wouldn't put stock in any one point, but I do see good general coorelation. For me personally, when I am sick or over-reached, my power line falls below my heart rate track. During early season the two lines fall almost on top of each other, and when I come on to form for racing, the power gaps noticably above the heart rate line.

I would also strongly recommend that you study up on TSS on the Cycling Peaks website, and start tracking 3, 7 and 30 day cumulative scores. This will give you valuable insight into the amount and progression of your training load. You will find how much is too much, and how much leads to peak fitness.

Thanks grchester that was a lot of help!! 🙂

Ironmanbrad said:

Thanks grchester that was a lot of help!! 🙂

Just start playing around too. What you can do is set yourself up as two different athletes with two different main pages. Download your workouts into both athletes, then get a feeling over time what data you need. That's the great thing about the software, it is sooo darned easy to manipulate tons of data. It's almost too easy, it doesn't give the neophytes a good sense of how hard it used to be, and how long it took to sort all of this stuff out.

Steve

Thanks Steve

One quick question TSS vs IF if i do a 1 hour interval session on my trainer and i am working real hard i get a low TSS of 119 but a high IF .992 so based on your chart any TSS less then 150 is a recovery ride but trust me this was no easy ride. But my saturday team ride which is about 3 hours i can get a TSS of 208 and an IF of .92 but the ride was not as "intense" as the interval session??
I think you guys need a total training intensity ride data score T.T.I.R.D that combines your TSS and IF data in some way to give you a score between 1 and 10. 1-3 recovery ride 3-5 .... you get the picture. Just a thought.
also where can i get information about the Mean Max Power Curve this is the one chart that i really dont understand how to read. I checked on your website and cant find any info about this.
Thanks again
Brad

Ironmanbrad said:

Thanks Steve

One quick question TSS vs IF if i do a 1 hour interval session on my trainer and i am working real hard i get a low TSS of 119 but a high IF .992 so based on your chart any TSS less then 150 is a recovery ride but trust me this was no easy ride. But my saturday team ride which is about 3 hours i can get a TSS of 208 and an IF of .92 but the ride was not as "intense" as the interval session??
I think you guys need a total training intensity ride data score T.T.I.R.D that combines your TSS and IF data in some way to give you a score between 1 and 10. 1-3 recovery ride 3-5 .... you get the picture. Just a thought.
also where can i get information about the Mean Max Power Curve this is the one chart that i really dont understand how to read. I checked on your website and cant find any info about this.
Thanks again
Brad

Brad, I will preface by saying that I had nothing to do with the development of CP. I am affiliated with the organization, but not with the software. Part of the reason I joined the organization though, was because I was so impressed with the software. That being said, I will pass your comments along.

With regard to your specific examples, I think the point of the guidelines (e.g. TSS less than 150=recovery ride) is that you should not have much residual fatigue after such a bout. Still, by looking at the IF, you know that it was not a recovery ride. So, two years down the road, without looking at your journal, if you looked back and saw a TSS of 119 and IF of 0.99, you know that you essentially did a TT effort and not a recovery ride. The intensity of the group ride was indeed lower, but still relatively high. If you do a mulitple hour ride with an IF of >.9, I would call that an intense ride. So, the TTIRD you recommend, is already in place simply by looking at the two numbers together. The TSS score tells you how much residual fatigue you should incur, and the IF tells you how intense the actual workout was.

The mean max chart, depending on how you have it set up, tells you the best max power you produce at given time intervals over a given time frame. For example, the default is 28 days, I believe, so, by looking at the default chart, can tell what you best 10 sec, 1 min, 5 min etc powers were for the last 28 days. There were likely obtained on different days, but one chart gives you the synopsis of your best performances.

Hope this helps.
Steve

Steve
got it! and thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!
Brad

grchester said:

The "Mean Maximal Power Curve Chart" is probably the best for keeping updated on personal bests that occur during all of your rides. After a season of use it will also give you insight into when you were peaking. So keep good records of your training plan and then you can go back and see what you did right prior to the peak.

I have a line chart which tracks avg. HR to avg. power. I wouldn't put stock in any one point, but I do see good general coorelation. For me personally, when I am sick or over-reached, my power line falls below my heart rate track. During early season the two lines fall almost on top of each other, and when I come on to form for racing, the power gaps noticably above the heart rate line.

That is exactly what I wanted, but can't figure out how to get it... which chart did you modify????