I followed the ride up with an easy 1:15 while watching the Red Wings beat Columbus. 1 win down, 15 to go. Stats for that ride are 125 W average at 117 bpm average. Hmm...seems like a low W/bpm ratio, but the ride was only an hour or so after the run. (Post script: I looked at the file and realized the 10 minutes of one-legged drills really kill the average W, which otherwise appear to be around 160 W.)
Today started with an hour of secret activity during which I kept the HR around 135 bpm - nothing too tough.
I followed that up with an outdoor ride this evening. A whole lot of time spent in the 12-14 gear range, as the main set was 1 hour @ 145 bpm and 75 rpm. My averages were 223 W at 139 bpm with an average cadence of 72. However, as can be seen from an image of the main set interval below, my levels were all over the place:
I wonder how much coasting and what not affect my average. I don't really want to pay $100 for the WKO software, but it'd be interested to play around with their metrics. I can see how average W would be somewhat misleading, and why the variability thing and normalized power would be more useful.
Also, I've still got to get used to the power meter in many instances. It's useful when climbing, as I can see what gear I should be in what my watts start getting too high. When I approach 280 or so I should definitely get in an easier gear, unless the end of the hill is close.
Average power is really only good indoors or on flat to (slightly) rolling course, where interruption is non-existent, but those are precisely the types of courses that most triathlons take place on. Of course, on LP's undulating course, average power can be (and would be) misleading. If you purchase the WKO software, let me know and we'll learn it together! In the meantime keep building that motor, regardless of what the numbers say. They're just numbers and the one we're after is 8:59:59 or better, on 7-26-09.
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