Archives for February 2016

Last year I set a club record for the 24h TT with 368.33 miles, this year I aim to improve that to 400+. A far more challenging target is the club 12h record which stands at 240 miles.

In order to beat 240 miles I need to improve on the 200 miles I managed in the first 12 hours of last years 24h. How can I do this?

1. Aero benefits of wheels and helmet should increase speed by up to 1 mph. 200 -> 212

2. A faster course could add another 0.5 mph. 212 -> 218

3. Not stop. I stopped for a total of 30′ last year in the first 12h, that will give me 9 miles. 218 – 227

So that leaves 13 miles to find from increased fitness, which is approximately 1mph extra. Putting some guesstimate data into www.cyclingpowerlab.com suggests that I need to find an extra 20W to go from 19mph to the 20mph I need for 240miles.

Is it reasonable to assume that if I can increase my FTP by 20W, my cruising power will also increase by the same?

Also, I don’t know what my FTP was last July. It was 200W at the end of November and is 207W today…

Since I did only endurance work last year and no sustained power training I would guess 200W is close to what it was in July, however to be conservative let’s say my current value is nearer the mark, and round that up to 210W while we’re at it. Therefore I need to increase FTP to 230W before the end of August, that sounds very achievable.