Hello One and All
i have just started to train using my only bicycle, a Boardman MTB 10 speed, i want to be able to train for longer road distances and climbing some of the Northampton hills in the spring time, so feel i have enough time to train for this…
Today i did the 10/12 week FTP Builder, Day 1 and completed this quite easily, i had the FTP level at 91, something i put because i haven’t completed the FTP test and wanted to do the full training before i did it.
I did try the FTP test before but an old tendon issue, flared up, causing me to go into the training modules first, so i could come at it in a slow manner…
After finding that Day 1 to be extremely easy i changed the FTP number to 165 and then proceeded to attempt Day 2
The warm up was at 100w… a little quicker on the cadence but something that i was able to do until it began to rise above 120w, this is where i found that my gears were lacking. Due to it being on a flat surface, i continued to rise my cadence, until it started to rise towards 120w and 140w… my legs couldn’t go fast enough… on the flat surface, i was spinning the pedals to a point where it was like road runner
The general idea was that i had do the warm up, then return to 85w, then for 10 second periods hit 345w , i had one go and my cadence was just so fast and my highest wattage was 160w, i knew that i wouldn’t be getting 345w in my dreams.
it would seem that the gears are just to low…
How can i do the FTP training modules if i dont have high enough gears to get to 345w, or enough stress on my muscles to even get above 160w… im sure if i have another cog on the front or 2, i would have it within my reach but not in my wildest dreams to get 345w on a flat surface with a 10 speed MTB
My motivation for this are based in riding on roads and doing longer rides within the 40-50 mile range but predominantly on the roads, so not to far but to do this without bonking or taking most of the day i need to do the training , building muscle and stamina for at least an easy 50mile ride… even training for longer rides of 100 per day…
I cant really see myself riding cross country but if i had the training and ability, then i would be happy to have that in my tool box
So i dont know how to go about the training for roads, when i cant even get past the second day of a 12 week FTP Builder trainer
Any help or Advise would be appreciated
Phil