GSAstuto
Maximum Pace
- Oct 11, 2009
- 974
- 253
What can I say? I'm more of an SOP rider and the Power meters nag at you like a Japanese Judo coach or you-know-what. This is all "stuff we all know". But honestly, the more I use them, the more I hate them (in a good way). So, now I can discriminate my rides into various categories like:
1) No worries. I'll ride at whatever pace (or not) strikes my fancy.
2) Who says recovery? My heart IS beating, right? So that's recovery in itself.
3) Ugh. The day after a harder ride - but I still want some reasonable effort.
4) Sh*t. Ok - so we'll go up into the 'tempo zone' - which for me is more like the Twilight Zone.
5) Sh*tf$ckDam! - It's only positive that a pocket AED will fit... into my pocket!
But realistically these units are pretty cool. Ever since I made strain gauge 'hooks' for helicopters in the 80's I've been somewhat enamoured by data acquisition / monitors. in a Heli - if you lift too heavy a load (and you can) you will increase the ToT (Turbine Outlet Temp) and Transmission Torque above rated levels. Do it for too long a period and it means you get to tear down and inspect - or worse - an overhaul costing many thousands of dollars!
Well, almost the same applies to riders. If you 'over torque' you have the piper to pay. And the older you get, the dearer the payment! The SRM device like PowerTaps, etc - let you train in context and also keep the Piper at bay.
In old school riding, you just 'know' these levels inherently by how much you are puckering and paining. With the strain gauge data - you can put a number to it.
Pretty cool. Anyway, I'm having fun (or what you call it) -- and the correlation between functional training and non functional intervals is quite interesting.
1) No worries. I'll ride at whatever pace (or not) strikes my fancy.
2) Who says recovery? My heart IS beating, right? So that's recovery in itself.
3) Ugh. The day after a harder ride - but I still want some reasonable effort.
4) Sh*t. Ok - so we'll go up into the 'tempo zone' - which for me is more like the Twilight Zone.
5) Sh*tf$ckDam! - It's only positive that a pocket AED will fit... into my pocket!
But realistically these units are pretty cool. Ever since I made strain gauge 'hooks' for helicopters in the 80's I've been somewhat enamoured by data acquisition / monitors. in a Heli - if you lift too heavy a load (and you can) you will increase the ToT (Turbine Outlet Temp) and Transmission Torque above rated levels. Do it for too long a period and it means you get to tear down and inspect - or worse - an overhaul costing many thousands of dollars!
Well, almost the same applies to riders. If you 'over torque' you have the piper to pay. And the older you get, the dearer the payment! The SRM device like PowerTaps, etc - let you train in context and also keep the Piper at bay.
In old school riding, you just 'know' these levels inherently by how much you are puckering and paining. With the strain gauge data - you can put a number to it.
Pretty cool. Anyway, I'm having fun (or what you call it) -- and the correlation between functional training and non functional intervals is quite interesting.