If it’s a cool day (below 16°C) you might want to consider knee warmers. It might not feel cold, but there are little to no temperature receptors around the knee joint, which is why it doesn’t feel cold. It’s all about performance and not feel.
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12 degrees and rain all day forecast Gerald, so yes. I’ll be in over the knee shorts or tights.
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Suggested sprints im not going to do them absolute max effort (30 seconds), im planning to do 150% FTP for those 30 seconds, what do you guys think? And starting today i feel better, but im going to stick with all the great advices. Today 1.5h LOW Z2, some of those sprints at the end, recovery ride 45 mins Z1 and another 1.5hr LOW Z2 on sunday.
Then for next week is 1.5h Z2 tuesday, and 45 mins Z1 Wednesday. Event on Saturday.
Thats the plan but its not written in stone, im going to listen to my body after every ride and go from there
Keeping with the theme of listening, don’t write the sprint watts in stone. Sprints, pickups, openers should never be done at Max effort. Instead, think of them as a wind up in cadence that naturally increases the watts and stimulates circulation. You’re not trying to squeeze out power; you’re inviting and exploring with perfect form.
I’ve tried to explain the same thing on another thread. During a taper, if one only does recovery rides, the form will drop too quickly and the person will be too fresh come race day.
To maintain fitness, and keep form close to neutral (0), some short hard efforts (sprint work) is needed. The balance between HIT and LIT is what keeps the fitness up.
TSS is made up of high intensity and low volume or low intensity and high volume. High volume is not advised in the taper period, so that’s why there is some high intensity.
Couple of comments on this good info…
Keep in mind that freshness is, to a certain extent, relative to the person. Some need more, i.e. me. Some need less, i.e. a friend of mine.
This is, of course, relative. What is high volume for another may be low volume for me.
Of course, the usual response from a coach is “it depends”.
High volume in this case is equal to, or close to, the peak in volume during the final mesocycle before the peak and race period (competition phase). Some call it Build2 or Speciality Phase depending). It’s just before the taper starts, which is why it’s calls taper (a reduction in volume and intensity).
I’m not going to share my study material as it’s copyrighted by the owner, and I can’t share it without their permission. I did find this on the Interwebs that explains a lot on the subject and more. The red bars under the orange Peak (-2.0) is where I am referring to the reduction in load.
Load = volume * intensity, and volume = duration * frequency.
To keep the fitness (CTL) from dive-bombing too quick, you maintain it by doing a mix of lower volume (shorter rides and/or less frequently) and lower high intensity (short hard sprints, or slightly longer wind-ups).
image source: https://zwiftinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/image4.png
Here is how I plan the hours (in an ideal world) for the peak/race period - this would be someone close to 400 hours per annum (annual TSS would be about 20k, +/-2.5k, but this is dangerous to box an athlete into x-number of TSS).
Week 27 is the A-race, for the first half of the season. Volume drops from peak (10-11 hours) down to 5.5 (recovery week) then 8.5 (peak1) and finally 6.5 (race at end of this week). Then 5.5 hours (recovery week) before returning to base/build depending on the second peak in the season, or 2 weeks off it it’s the end of season…
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Just to finish off my part in this interesting and I must admit somewhat complicated subject, I have just completed the Sportive I was getting ready for. Despite losing track of time and peaking to early followed by fatigue, I think I managed to get rid of the fatigue in time albeit losing a bit of form, but I am pleased with the result…for a wrinkly 
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That’s good going; well done.
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Nice ride, well done 
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Bamm! 
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Congrats @Stephen_Humlen-Grins ! Nice Ride!
To keep this topic going lol, i did a 1h30 ride yesterday, it was really hot even i started at 7 PM (32ºC), my HR was higher than usual but i guess its the hot, i was doing Low Z2 for 1h30 mins (HR around 130-135 which is a bit higher than at cooler temps), after 1 hour i started doing some 30 seconds sprints to see how body responded, didnt aim for specific Watts, but i did 6 or 7 cant remember now, and they were between 250-300W Average all of them acording to Garmin (217 FTP).
I felt activated and ready, so i guess plan going well i guess. My TSS was low (57) for the day, as my NP was 130W or so
This week i only ride for 1h and yesterday 1h30, im planning to do two more 1h30 rides (Saturday and sunday) with the same philosophy (Z2 and some sprints). Im going to finish in around 250 TSS this week which is less than expected but i dont want to push to 350 or 400 because this would mean to ride Z3 most of time or make longer rides and i prefer not to
This is probably for another topic but i was focusing also on pedalling technique which i think its not the best, my torque efficiency is around 73% acording to Garmin on my left foot (i have ONLY one crank, the left one, with powermeter). And it drops more when i dont push hard like yesterday, when it was around 60 something %…Its something i know i have to work on, damn, i thought this would be a natural thing, i guess not
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Most of us have a dominant leg, usually the opposite of which hand you use or leg you use eg. to kick a ball. Many of us also have one leg shorter by some millimeters than the other, its normal so don’t worry about it. One way to train pedalling techniques which I have used fairly successfully is to train “one leg pedalling”. Clip out a one foot and do something like 10 revolutions or so, then change to the other leg. Do about 3 reps, preferably on a slight gradient. You can perhaps concentrate a little more on the less dominant leg as I did. I’ve managed to get my left/right leg to 51/49% and the power phase to 210/221 degrees and its gradually improving.
As far as leg length is concerned this can be balanced if needs be with wedges under you cleats. I have forefoot varus so I use them to achieve a constant and even pressure on the pedals.
Yes im left handed, but acording to the biomechanics studio i did i put more weight on my right foot. Makes sense cause i also surf waves with a paddleboard and do kitesurfing, and my preferred foot forward is my right one (im goofy). So probably im doing more power with the right one? Im not sure as i only have powermeter on my left foot, but that left foot says my torque efficiency is around 73%, i read about it and its because i still have weight on that foot on the way up so i guess i have to work on that
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Btw it amazes me u can get 33,5 kmh avg with only 125W, how much do you weight, ive done solo rides where i avg 175W and around that same climbing (600m aprox over 80 kms) and can only get 28,5 kmh (74 kgs myself). I wonder if my bike is holding me back, i guess not
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I’m not really sure about why I have low power David. We were in a chain gang so drafting helps. But I have always been a proponent of my own theory that surely it is far more effective to get the highest possible speed with the lowest possible outlay of effort so I do try to find the right gear in order that I put the least amount of pressure on the pedals.
PS: If you can, try and get double sided power it will give even better information about your peddling.
PPS: Yesterday I weighed 72kgs
Im actively searching for a right crank powermeter as we speak. Yes i guess being on a group really helps, most my rides are on my own, i feel like i can really stick to the training intervals better
I prefer pedals PM…
when on a group ride, it most certainly will be tough to follow your planned workouts.
Most (of my) Group rides end up as testosterone fueled rides (towards the end)
Assioma’s are a great alternative. Reasonable price, reliable and easy to charge. 
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