This is my first year when I can see (given my ‘season’ and graph setup) what a new season looks like on the Power vs HR comparison chart as the data builds up. See below.
At first glance I was a bit thrown off by the fact that based on the graph, I am producing very much more power at lower heart rates than in the last 2 years! I can tell you, my off season wasn’t that good, and I’m just getting back on the bike (starting my Base phase) after 3 months of running that I normally do in the off season.
I figured it out however. It’s not my fitness gains, I’m sorry to say, but it’s reflective of the fact that this graph takes into account all of the work done at those HR/power data points regardless of where it falls in a ride. Right now, I’m doing easy base rides that are still less than 2 hours in length. I am not fatigued or tired at all during my rides right now (I will be eventually).
However, my usually weekend rides ‘in-season’ which make up the bulk of my time on the bike are long, often hard efforts of 4 - 7 hours, usually gravel outings where the grades are steep and you get pretty beat up by the terrain going up or down. When I am well into those long hard rides any time spent at the lower power will be at a higher HR, given fatigue and other factors and thus reflected on this chart.
I can see that my performance this past year was pretty similar to the year before. If I add in years before that I can see a definite progression. I could be more targeted and compare this January to last to get a better picture of my fitness during the early season …
Anyway, I just thought it was interesting and worth sharing.
I had the same observation like you and can only agree.
If you ride in endurance for longer time on lower power your HR will also be steady (low), however if you do mountain biking or HIIT training and then getting down to the same power level as on your endurance ride the HR will be far off.
To make a more detailed use of the data David recommended to add some Keywords or Tags in the name of your activity and in the chart you can set a filter on them. For example I tag the endurance ride as #end# in the name and filter them on the chart. So do I with HIT.
Already highlighted that it would be cool to have not only inserting search for filtering but at least also a “Not in” search so that you can exclude certain types of rides.
Thanks Alex. I tried just comparing this January to previous Januaries (is that a word?) when the training was similar and got a better picture of the progress I have made. I seem to have made quite good improvements, but I’m wondering if at least some of it doesn’t come down to me now self-selecting a lower cadence than before (~85 now vs. ~90+ before). That change has largely come about as I moved from predominantly road cycling to gravel. Dunno.
I’ve been using the Power vs HR comparison chart on the ‘compare’ page … it doesn’t have the option to filter by activity name. I’m assuming you add that chart to your ‘Fitness’ page? That sorta precludes doing comparisons of two time periods, doesn’t it?
