If you haven’t read Part One already, you can do so here. Basically, I’m trying to puzzle out why I was getting such different time splits for the same wattage outputs. Let’s pick up the story:
Specifically – take a look at the efforts that recorded wattage. Here’s a screenshot….
Now, the first thing to look at and consider are the average speeds. Mountain biking in Texas is so twisty and TRUE SINGLETRACK CYCLING, that it’s hard to get a good speed. By the way – if you look at that Strava segment, you’ll see that my fastest time this weekend, was about SIX MINUTES SLOWER than the fastest times ever, and about FOUR MINUTES SLOWER than some of the athletes I’ve coached (using Xert, interestingly enough).
But look at the correlation, or otherwise, between average power (with zeroes), and time. Specifically, look at my fifth-best time, and my 2nd-best time. The average power output was different by just ONE WATT, but the time split was OVER SEVEN MINUTES. Why? I can think of just one thing, and that’s BIKE HANDLING. And I think my bike handling was improved by the tweaking I was performing on the suspension, front and rear.
But I think there’s something else going on that is important, and I think Xert is the system to use so we can understand it, and improve.
Here’s a screenshot of roughly the same area covered as the Strava Segment, only on Xert. I’ve included:
- Wattage
- Difficulty
- Heart Rate, and
- Peak Power
Now, let’s look at the same lap, the next day.
Now, on the surface, you can see some differences, but they’re still just a bit vague, because they’re still general. They’re useful, but we still need to tease out some things to figure out just why this interval was faster than the previous one.
Enter the Xert Highlight Bar!
This unique bar slides left and right, and it will highlight efforts that were near the value you set on the slider. Out on the trail this weekend, I noticed a couple of times that while my MPA wasn’t dropping all that much, several times, my wattage would spike up in to the 500’s, 600’s, 700’s, or higher. This was usually on short, steep, punchy terrain that required a LOT of watts for a short period of time, but also, A LOT of finesse, so that I could conquer the terrain.
In fact, I’m willing to bet that the top cyclists on that Strava segment may not have a threshold that’s much higher than mine, or an MPA or HIE that is much different…. but they have A LOT more singletrack skills, which may mean they actually work less over the same terrain than I do.
But let’s look at the two laps, with the Highlight Bar set at 800 watts. First, I’ll show the ride from the 29th.
Now, the lap from the 30th of July.
Now think about it; this was ONE LAP that I was doing OVER and OVER (6 times in 2 days). The temps were roughly the same, the time of day was more or less the same, and the suspension changes were pretty minimal—they probably didn’t affect the power output all that much.
I believe the important lesson here is that, for myself and my North Texas clients, it’s probably important to set our Xert Profiles at “Pursuiter”, or even “Road Sprinter”, and really work on developing the ability to hit MULTIPLE, HIGHLY INTENSE, SHORT Intervals, over and over again. In many ways, it confirms what I suspected with clients Randy Gibson, Jason Johnson, Patrick Moneymaker, and others. I had them on rollers, with high drag, and I had them attempt Tabatas, 15-15’s, and no more than 30-30’s, all pre-season, to build up their anaerobic capacity. They responded with State Cups and wins.
Gains in Texas Mountain Biking, specifically, come from developing a high HIE, and a solid MPA. The threshold may or may not rise (it usually does), but it’s that high HIE, and the body’s ability to recover from it, while also maneuvering a mountain bike on rugged, twisting terrain, that separates more accomplished mountain bikers from the rest of us.
Here’s an example, using Xert’s Workout Builder, of a workout that a North Texas mountain biker might employ, to build HIE and MPA. I’m not going to use Tabata’s, or 1:1 ratio workouts, but will instead focus on hard intervals with long recoveries, so that the quality of the interval can be achieved. These are done using my signature, so your values may be different.
The first set was established using the “MMP” setting, and the second set was built using the “XSS/Hr” setting. If this effort were followed perfectly, the Strain Score would be acceptable, and the total Strain would also translate in to a quality hour of training. Furthermore, if the individual riding this wanted to attempt a breakthrough, you can see that the first interval of the second set is higher than the rest, and this might be the place to attempt it.
I’m going to keep mountain biking when I can, and I really want to master the whole “Fitness/Suspension/Wattage/Bike Handling” medley, so I can become a more confident, competent, and yes, faster mountain biker. I was a pioneer in the study of wattage and mountain biking way back in the mid 1990’s, but out west, the climbs were longer and less technical, and the descents were also longer and a bit crazier. My “Focus” would have been in the “Breakaway Specialist” or “Rouleur” area, and my gains would definitely have been made on the climbs, as I never could achieve the descending skills of the masters. I think the real goal of this effort for myself might be to gain some fitness, some skills, and some comfort, so that the need for incredible, tricky skills, may be less necessary.
I’ll finish this with a comment from my wife, who was frustrated that her own ride, and her inability to “get a good workout” out of a mountain bike ride. Unfortunately, I think the only way to learn more about mountain biking and fitness is to spend the money and slap on a power meter (something good and reliable and robust), and start studying the information that it provides. Then, we’ll make the gains where we can, 10 meter segments, bit by bit.
Stand by for a link to a GoPro of one lap of this loop, and we’ll revisit the mtb data on a regular basis.
If you have questions, or want to inquire about coaching, please send an email to: coachwharton@onlinebikecoach.com, and we’ll set up a correspondence! Thanks for reading!
