How does ERG work?

New to Zwift events and workouts.

Did a workout with ERG mode on. My effort and output were real wonky. At certain points I was pedaling at 95+ RPM only generating 100 watts. At other points RPM was much lower (in the 70s), but watts were much higher. It didn’t really feel like the resistance on the pedals changed despite the workout zone changing. It was nearly impossible to get to watts up and sustained at 175+ lvl.

What am I doing wrong?

How are you connecting your trainer (ANT+ or Bluetooth)? What system are you running on? What trainer are you using?

ERG mode should keep your watts relatively consistent around the target amount, i.e. if your cadence is lower you will notice more resistance on the pedals, if you up your cadence the resistance on the pedals will go down but you will still hold at the prescribed wattage (i.e. 150W)

Connecting via Bluetooth and using the Kickr

If sometimes fast pedalling was putting out low power and slow pedalling was putting out high power that’s a definite indication that the resistance was changing.

Try to maintain the your preferred cadence throughout and don’t change gears, it will take 3 seconds or so for each change to occur so just keep pedalling.

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