Latest test after a week of LSD training in the warmth of Cuba

FTP: 4.85 w/kg
5min: 5.7 w/kg

Hope I reach the mytical 5w/kg this season. Will mostly ride xc events

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FTP: 3.6w/kg
5min: 4.7w/kg
1min: 7.2w/kg
5sec: 15w/kg

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My Ridley Helium
My Scott Plasma 2

FTP 4.9
5' 6.0
2' 6.94
5" ... less than my wife.

I did a new power pb for 5 mins on Saturday 6.05 wkg

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Scott spark LTD,Kinesis -crosslight PRO 5,kinesis evo,TK,Orbea alma,Canyon Ultimate cf

5 second power - 1210w - 16.13w/kg
1 minute power - 605w -8.06w/kg
5 minute power - 377watts - 5W/kg
20 minute power - 338watts - 4.5w/kg
FTP - 300W - 4W/kg

haven't had my power meter long, I think i could hit higher numbers for all these but these are what I've got so far.
the first 4 are from golden cheetah, the FTP is from doing a 20minute time trial and multiplying the watts from that by .95
golden cheetah has my CP at 321 which is likely to be more accurate?

also, I've looked at the Training and racing with a power meter book and these all fall in the middle to top of the cat 2 group. how does the american cat 2 group compare to cat2 riders in the uk?

I'm 24 years old, 75kg and have been riding about a year. had my first race 2 days ago.
was a cat 4 crit and i felt like i had the legs to compete but couldn't get my positioning right to move up on the last few laps corners so i finished in the middle of the bunch

Beardking, you are racing cat 4 with those 5seconds power?!

yeah, you have to start in cat 4 till you get enough points to move up

well then you've got some good potential. get a good coach.

one thing to consider with these numbers is that the gap between, say, cat 3 and cat 2 or cat 2 and cat 1 is not just better power, but the ability to repeat better power over and over - being fit and gifted enough to be strong at the end of a race, and of course savvy enough to save those bursts until it really matters.

Beardking with those numbers you'll be winning Cat 4 races in no time once you sort out your race strategy and positioning. Just be patient and remember to learn from your mistakes in your races. You should be thinking to yourself at any point in the race you are making an effort 'is this going to help me win', if the answer is no then stop doing it.

As you may or may not have found, the power profile isn't too relevant to actually racing with success. A local racer is a Cat 1 that gets about half dozen wins a season and has about a half dozen national titles under his belt. His FTP is a whopping 320 at 155-160lbs...

I have a higher w/kg and I don't have nearly as much success as he does.

yeah, I realise I need to work on my race craft/tactics and that will take time and experience.
I don't really expect anything this season other than to do as many races as possible and learn as much from them as I can.
I've entered a 2/3/4 for this weekend so that should be a nice tough ride

We know KWalker. As mentioned beardking those are good numbers to start out with. Make sure you can capitalise on it and move up the grades. Also to improve on it, since you say you just started out, there is a lot of potential to tap, I can see you doing well in road races. I think you can still lose some weight, I am the same age but I weight 68kg and 178cm with a tested 318 FTP last month. Not that the FTP result matters as everyone that post theirs here tested with different devices differently. Most important is we have to improve and work with our number.

This.

So, so much this.

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So, what kind of "tactics" do you think could be the key to his success?

Besides drafting whenever possible, and avoid pulls at all costs. The only thing I can think of (with a low FTP like that by cat 1 standards), is they have a wicked sprint.

A good sprint is way down on the list of things which make a good racer. Avoiding pulls/efforts at all costs, or putting your nose in the wind, is also a fallacy. You have to make the right effort at the right time. I am sure there are those who have either done this themselves or seen it - breakaway after breakaway tries to get away then all of a sudden one goes with several guys who had nothing to do with the earlier breaks or closing gaps. And when they go there is no half-arsed effort. Many more anecdotes along these lines.

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