Thanks Tyson and RD

DesFlurane said:

The thanks is for inspiration, that's you Tyson, and for the 'method' that's you RD.
For some time I have been trying to work out how to get 'faster'. I completed a century last November in 6 hours 50 mins and felt pretty pleased with myself, only bought a bike in September.
But never figured how to go faster! So here I am in training for the same century when I came across 'THE' thread. You all know the one ;-)
What RD said just made sense and the fact that Tyson actually followed the advice and improved was fantastic.
So I went out bought a Tacx Flow and did my first 2x20 tonight.
Using the erg feature dialled 210w and went to work.
My legs are feeling it a little now but heart rate averaged 145, my observed max is 195. So plenty to come, but boy it's going to take some mental fortitude to get to a rough HR of 170 or there abouts.
So will keep increasing by 10w a session until I reach my limit and go from there.
Thanks again and I'll post as when I get some progress.

Nearly missed this post as you didn't post it in the "you know what thread"😄
Just one thing I'll say DF - as RD said in said thread. Forget about your HR, your heart will take anything you throw at it, and as has been said many times in these forums: your indicated HR is not a true indication of what is actually going on in your heart.😉 TYSON

DesFlurane said:

What RD said just made sense and the fact that Tyson actually followed the advice and improved was fantastic.

That 2nd part is huge, isn't it? There's lots of great advice in this forum and most of my advice is a direct synthesis of Andy Coggan's works. But, it's Tyson's self-described journey that gives it life and reality. Glad you got some value from the thread.

DesFlurane said:

So I went out bought a Tacx Flow and did my first 2x20 tonight. Using the erg feature dialled 210w and went to work.

Cool.😎 I didn't know the Tacx Flow had an ergo feature. I'm planning to get a Velodyne Pro this fall (my belated birthday present to myself), to take my much loved trainer sessions to the next level. The Velodyne has an ergo feature as well.

DesFlurane said:

So will keep increasing by 10w a session until I reach my limit and go from there.

If you mean increasing by 10W per session until you find the maximum power you can sustain and still complete the 2x20 sessions, I understand and agree that this is as good an approach as any to find one's current sustainable power. If you mean that you have a pre-determined plan for increasing power, I don't advocate that approach. You'll see repeated occasions in Tyson's thread where he wanted a week-by-week plan for increasing FTP and I always advised against this approach. The body doesn't respond on our schedule, it responds (adapts) on its own timetable and it isn't always linear.😄

RD,

The plan, such as it is, is to find my max 2x20 power and then review.
I intend to do 2 interval sessions a week and a long ride, as my time available is short due to 12hr days inc shift work/weekend work.
Once found, should I back off from the max slightly? ie 90% of max.
Thanks once again.

DesFlurane said:

The plan, such as it is, is to find my max 2x20 power and then review. I intend to do 2 interval sessions a week and a long ride, as my time available is short due to 12hr days inc shift work/weekend work.
Once found, should I back off from the max slightly? ie 90% of max.

That's what I figured you meant. You don't really need to back off if you are able to complete the 2x20 session with a short rest duration (e.g., 5mins). When I use my 90% rule, it is typically 90% of my max power for a given duration. So, that would be 90% of my max 1x20 power and not my max 2x20 power.

Thanks, that's clear.

Please give us regular updates.

Will do 😄