Paracycling | PB Performance Intro Day!

January 2025 was very different to January 2024. Mainly because I was sick most of January last year and this year I’m doing the most cycling I’ve ever done. That said, I’m still not at full capacity due to a combination of tapering relating to PB Performance Team Introduction Day and the PB Performance Team Training Camp in Girona! (I also had enforced rest relating to re-classification day for paracycling - which confirmed me as C5).

Having two clear goals for January provided both the motivation, but also the enforced rest to ensure that I turn up with my best legs. With the team intro ride being on the 18th, I had two weeks to get as fit as I could. The other part of this is that I need to get ready for the track Nat Champs at end of February. Finding the balance between training for daily 3-4 hour rides for the training camp vs training for 5minute efforts for the IP. In the end, I came to a compromise of if I do Zwift races, then I will have VO2 efforts within them and also still put some endurance in the legs by doing warm-up and cooldown. 

January 1st was 2x 30min sweet spot efforts where a combination of blob power in Zwift and legs suffering from the day before meant that it was a steady effort for both efforts. The first effort was 27minutes long, but the first 26minutes were 259w (269w NP) with a final sprint effort lasting 43 seconds at 512w. 30minutes at Z1/Z2 followed by 24minutes at 273w (279w NP) and a “sprint” which summed up how my legs felt of 419w for 28seconds! Or in other words, my 5minute power is all I had.

A couple of days rest before going to the track for the first time on pursuit bars! A lot of the time was spent learning how to use them efficiently - especially in terms of getting on-off safely but also how to corner. Before getting into the efforts, I was quite relaxed in the pursuit position, but it made me realise how tense I am when normally riding. There were two main efforts on the ride and that was a longer effort and a flying Kilo. The longer effort was 6minutes20seconds where I just upped the pace to somewhere around threshold (333w / 336w NP). Something to note is how un-smooth the effort was - given it’s my first time I’m not going over analyse, but it might be something to look into if it repeats.

This was followed by doing the KISS100 Zwift race on the Sunday. Having raced B Cat and been destroyed, I joined my actual Zwift ZRS Category (C) and having looked at the fellow competitors  I was one of the favourites but wouldn’t have said I was the overall favourite. I took on the role as one of the favourites and closed down a dangerous break with a 3minute 332w effort, but I gapped the rest of the group by accident. This is when I switched mentalities from “I’m closing it because it’s uphill so matters less” to “I need to close any gap because I’m probably the strongest”. While others might have been cautious, I had been consistent in my effort. Having decided by the middle of the second lap with another 50km to go that I was the favourite, I knew that I had to go from “Chaos” approach, that I default to, to “Risk-Adverse” and what that meant was I had to ensure that the pace was high from further out. The plan was to split the 13 rider group into perhaps 3-5 riders. I was hoping someone would attack, but when no one did I decided to up the pace myself. Once again, it wasn’t an outrageous pace but just consistently high, but no one else reacted. The gap just slowly grew out and I think they underestimated me as I knew I was never close to the limit. The gap just grew and grew which was always good as I kept at the same pace for the whole hour. The 62minute effort being 290w and 294w NP with the flat efforts being between 280-285w and the uphill sections being around 4w/kg depending on the gradient. 

The thing that surprises me the most is that I would have been competitive in the B race. The power curve on ZwiftPower showing that I didn’t have the explosivity compared to the other riders but that was mainly down to race scenario as shown by how much higher my 1 hour power is compared to everyone else. 

The only thing to note was I actually broke a lot of my average power bests from 39minutes to 63minutes! I also essentially matched the power records until 72minutes. Once again, my average power bests more reflect the efforts I do rather than the capability - that said, it’s always good to break personal bests!

This was followed by up my first ever double back-to-back session where I do PT and then do a Zwift race in the same evening. The legs didn’t feel great going into the race, but felt better than I expected. While I set a new one hour power the day before, I hadn’t mentally worked out what that meant for me so I presumed that I would be dropped anyway on the climb so I thought let’s have some fun. The fun being VO2 efforts off Z2/Z3 repeated efforts over a 37minute effort. Part of something I struggle with is keeping the power when it’s not predictable, for example if you told me that it’s a 4km IP effort I tend to be fine because I can pace it. If it’s a unknown effort length then I tend to do worse. This could be related to recovery and fitness as well as finding it easier to mentally survive the efforts - there is also the opt-out of “if I slow down slightly, I get caught and the effort is over”. To counter the persuasive elements of the final point, I do another effort as soon as I recover. I also let race situations dictate my attacks so if the group randomly slow down and I’m going through the bunch, I attack.

I could have probably podiumed the race if I didn’t turn into a VO2 interval session - but I didn’t know that until after. A group of four, (including me), had a few second lead going into the climb but I was already spent. I just wanted to go as long as I could ahead of the pack before recovering and finding a group that I could keep up with. The chart isn’t perfect (as the FTP number is incorrect), but the general idea is. You can see how as soon as I recovered a reasonable amount, then I attacked again. 

Tuesday was about pursuit position practice and I probably joined the wrong ride, but it was quite interesting to see how I would do. The ride started with 4minutes at 359w (358w NP) to just get into the lead group before eventually settling down to around 275w (276w NP) before the attacks came and I just didn’t have anything in the legs to follow. The combination of a few hard days and first time doing a longer effort in the pursuit position on the rollers meant my legs were cooked. That said, while the power wasn’t super impressive, it was still a 25minute effort at 301w (307w NP) and the first 22minutes of the effort were in the pursuit position! The ankle was in pieces and so was the left shoulder but it felt good to be able to hold it for so long.

Zwift has a lot of different races, and one of them is Team Time Trial (TTT). I was around the 3rd or 4th strongest rider and therefore my job was to either sacrifice myself or ensure I survived to the end - in the end, I did neither as my rear wheel spoke broke. That said the effort was feeling surprisingly comfortable. There were 6 of us taking turns (of different lengths) and my efforts were 30seconds at 400w. It was also a rolling course so it wasn’t great for TTTs, but it meant that most of my efforts were uphill so I didn’t really take a “proper” turn and just as I was about to, the spoke went. The effort being 33minutes at 291w (307w NP) which meant that I had some fatigue but nothing close to the limit. 

The road bike being broken meant that I couldn’t ride it, but luckily I have a track bike that I can ride on the rollers. Now, this was something that was properly stupid but I was quite annoyed so I decided to enter another race and do it in the pursuit position for as long as I could. That race being the Tour de Zwift Stage 1 Short with the estimated effort being around 18minutes. The idea was to go flat out until I couldn’t keep up in the pursuit position and I felt great for the first 9minutes! The 9minutes being at 355w (355w NP) with three big spikes in the middle. The mindset switched from survival (done) to 12minute effort! (12minute effort being the test for Critical Power). I actually messed up slightly as I only did 11mins41secs at all out with the 12min power being 354w! The numbers if for a CP test would not be great, but the numbers considering all the additional factors of fatigue, the TTT, the TT bike, the spikes etc. I was delighted. 

This was followed by 3minutes of questioning what I should do. I was in a duo in the Zwift race with one person just sitting in. The lead group was up the road and the group behind was unlikely to catch. I pondered around for about 3minutes doing around 300w (310w NP) before deciding that I should just go flat out until the end of the race (and likely the 20minutes). So the mentality switched and I finished off with just over 5mins30secs at 338w (334w NP) and it hurt. 

Given all the factors which impacted the output, it left me wondering what I think my FTP/CP is. The power for 20mins finished at 342w (344w NP) and I think that I can do that for an hour on fresh legs for sure. Being on the track bike will impact it even if it’s just from a cadence perspective (74rpm compared to the usual 85-90 range). The 342w aligns with the targets for the CP test I had to stop on the 27th December.

I finished the week off by doing 12x VO2 efforts over the weekend - not recommended, but really interesting to see the comparisons. The Saturday continued two sets of four efforts using Zwift Insider’s Mini Race Series as my motivation. I found out I was racing with a teammate for the first four so I played domestique which meant that I essentially was the leadout man and ensured the group finished in a mass sprint.

First effort was 1minute at 426w with recovery at 313w (327w NP) for 5minutes followed by 58seconds at 490w to leadout and finish the race in the main group. Which combined for 7mins3secs at 347w (357w NP).

Second effort was more like 3x 30seconds with 30seconds at 425w, 30seconds at 373w before leadout (and maintaining) at 434w for 51seconds to finish the race. Combining for 8mins1sec at 330w (343w NP).

The third effort was always going to be the tough one. 4minutes50seconds at 292w (287w NP) leading into a final 2minute effort and my job was to control the climb and keep the pace up for the leadout. 90seconds at 400w before 30seconds “rest” at 325w and then the leadout/sprint at 421w for 33seconds. Combining for 7mins30secs at 327w (349w NP).

The final effort was as intense, if not more so. The nature of the course meant that it would be hard to control at the start and the race could split. So my role was to keep the pace up so that no early attacks went. That lead to a 1minute effort at 361w where I made the split leading to an actual rest for 72secs at 275w, followed by 3minutes at 340w (339w NP). Another rest period before doing leadout/sprint at 397w for 45seconds. 

All in all, I spent 18minutes at or above FTP level with an additional 8minutes at sweet spot.

This was followed by the same races at 9pm at night and therefore in theory similar efforts, other than no domestique duties. The first race started with 2 minutes at 389w and finished with an effort of 493w for 57seconds. The time in-between being at 304w (306w NP) for just over 4mins. Combining for 7mins4secs at 353w (365w NP).

The second race (and effort) had a similar approach but the efforts were longer than the first set of races. 1minute50seconds at 363w (347w NP) with 46seconds at 362w with a final effort of 52seconds at 435w. Race 2 took just under 8minutes (7mins58secs) at 335w (337w NP).

Similar to the first set of racing again, the third race had the same approach with just under 5minutes at 292w (287w NP) followed by the final 2minutes30seconds at 388w (380w NP). 7mins19 seconds at 325w (328w NP) being the overall effort.

The final race (and effort) of the day was so painful and I was clearly on my limit. The first minute was at 361w before a small rest period and then a 2minute effort at 350w (343w NP) with the final effort being an all in effort but it was only at 400w for 43seconds! 

With two workouts left of the block, it was time to do even more VO2 efforts, but this time on the track at Derby. The main goal of the session was to continue to get use to holding the black line while on the pursuit set up, with a secondary objective to understand if 106 gearing was the right gear (it wasn’t). 

The first effort felt rough, there was no warm up because I didn’t bring the rollers and the legs were feeling the previous day - the power meter also didn’t really work. I can assume I started around 350w from the small amount of data and settled around the 330w range. 

However, the second effort did work properly, which is good. The effort wasn’t flat out but it wasn’t threshold either. That said it felt hard and the line was good. The flying 4km (which will include some extra distance) effort was 5mins33secs at 360w (361w NP). The cadence felt good, but the power was limited by the gearing. 

The third effort was when the legs were starting to feel it so I decided to add some extra motivation of being a leadout for someone who didn’t bring pursuit bars. The idea for me was essentially to do a flying kilo on fatigue. 16seconds to get up to speed (407w) followed by just under 5minutes at 345w (348w NP) before the proper leadout began. That effort being 1minute5seconds at 397w. 

The final effort of the day was where I was on my limit but the additional motivation (of leading out) pushed me to the limit. The effort being a consistent effort for the flying 4km which saw the effort of 5mins30secs at 376w (376w NP). 

Unfortunately (or fortunately), I had one more day of my training block before resting for the weekend. This was a back-to-back gym session followed by a Zwift race. Having spent a lot of time building a base (especially focusing on ankle stability), it was time to do some proper lifting. In the end, I hit a PB for deadlifts (mainly through never doing them before with big weights) of 75kg and I felt it during the Zwift race.

The purpose of the Zwift race was to hold the pursuit position at around Z3 before doing one final VO2 effort at the end. The course (and my legs) meant it was slightly easier than I thought it would be but I managed to hold the pursuit position for 25minutes! The course ended on a power climb, but no one really attacked it - which was odd. Either my expectations are too high for the Bs or they were all waiting for the sprint. The VO2 section was 9minutes at 362w (367w NP) which is impressive anyway. However, there were three main efforts within it. Just under 4minutes at 383w (384w NP), 1minute at 388w and 100 seconds at 404w. The final effort was to win the race and I got caught within the final 100m. I just didn’t have anything more I could give given the gym session before it - but Zwift racing is a training tool so while it would have been nice, it’s not the end of the world. 

Perhaps I gave too much as I cramped immediately after stopping and had end my workout short by 45minutes.

The block was finished ahead of PB Performance Team Intro Day and it felt good. The power plateau had been smashed with new PBs almost every ride - even with more and more fatigue. It was also interesting to hear a different perspective about my power plateau in that most people lose power as they gain fatigue so just keeping the same power numbers was a big thing. 

The 17 day block was just over 21 hours, but with the 73minutes missing happening in the final days based on warm up / cooldown and then cramp on the final workout. This also doesn't include gym time. The TSS is also really high especially for someone who just reached 50 CTL. The intensity was very high, but the focus is on peaking for end of February as opposed to it being offseason build up (even if I don't exactly because in Z2 build up for non-pros).

Ahead of the team intro, I did some leg activation work

The big focus for this blog was to be in a “competitive” place for the team intro ride which contained a chaingang and a sprint - but I had punctured long before the sprint. Lots of admin and meeting everyone, but the first big surprise and maybe it shouldn’t be but the social part of the ride was actually at a social pace - outside of a random sprint.

Even the chaingang effort wasn’t too bad due to the size of the group it was quite easy to stay on. There was one hiccup in the ride and that’s when a few of us missed a left turn and that was an effort to get back. The only time I felt in trouble of being dropped was when there was a car coming the other way and we all slowed down and then everyone sprinted and I just knew I was going to have to pace myself back. This put me in the last wheel and it was an odd one because I was feeling relatively comfortable, but also knew that I probably wasn’t quick enough to move up the group and take turns at the front. That didn’t matter in the end because I punctured at the top of the downhill section. Not the most fun but I stopped safely and that’s the main thing. (Wheel all okay which is good) 

This is where the chart shows how “spike-y” the ride was with the orange representing hard efforts and the blue representing zone 1. In the end, because I missed the sprint and the ride was generally slower than I thought, I did 70TSS lower than I thought I’d do which means catch up during the following week!

While normally I would talk about my FTP gains in relation to the goal I set, I honestly don’t know what my FTP is. I know I can do 345w for 20mins on the track bike on fatigued legs but that’s it. The rough estimation is somewhere around 335-340w and I should probably look to get a more accurate representation at some point. That said, I’ve hit a level where an individual effort matters less and the repeatability of the efforts starts to matter more. 

My next blog will be after my first ever training camp in the beginning of February!