# Century Rides - FTP Target?



## Tin Pot (26 Jul 2017)

Hi all,

Anyone know a good target percentage of FTP for century rides?

My Google fu is drawing nothing authoritative with people claiming anything from 60-90% FTP normalised power over five hours.

I had a big fail in keeping my power within the 60-70% range at IRonman Uk, one notable sprint at over 600W for example . I want to improve on that this weekend.

I _will_ have my power meter on, I _will_ be looking at it, and I'm _not_ racing because Ride London is a Sportive


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## S-Express (26 Jul 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> Anyone know a good target percentage of FTP for century rides?



Having a target % is not the same as having one you can maintain. Which is probably why you can't find anything on google. Everyone is different and other factors like the wind and whether you are in a group or not will also affect it.


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## Tin Pot (26 Jul 2017)

S-Express said:


> Having a target % is not the same as having one you can maintain.



It could be, and ideally it would be.


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## Milkfloat (26 Jul 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> I _will_ have my power meter on, I _will_ be looking at it, and I'm _not_ racing because Ride London is a Sportive



If my experience of Ride London is anything to go by, you won't have much time to be looking at your power meter, you will be too busy trying not to be taken out by others around you.


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## zizou (26 Jul 2017)

Its not going to be a steady effort like a tt or a bike leg in a triathlon there will be big groups so your power is going to be fluctuating riding with them as well as the course itself. Your biggest power zone should be zone 1 in these groups but there will be spikes above your ftp too - dont worry about that unless you find yourself sitting above it for an extended time.

Use your power meter to pace the climbs and avoid going into the red there. But other than that dont fixate on the numbers


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## Beebo (27 Jul 2017)

You cant pace the climbs on ride london, you have to go with the flow, too many bikes.
I rode it on a single speed bike last year, i wanted to keep a much higher speed on the hills just to keep the pedals moving, but had to resort to a very slow grind as everyone around me was spinning in a granny gear.


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## Tin Pot (27 Jul 2017)

I have received a target from TrainerRoad 70-85%, I'll go with that.

Cheers for your thoughts.


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## S-Express (27 Jul 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> I have received a target from TrainerRoad 70-85%, I'll go with that.



'70-85%' is not really a target FTP, is it. The difference between maintaining 70% and maintaining 85% for 100 miles is huge.


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## Tin Pot (27 Jul 2017)

S-Express said:


> '70-85%' is not really a target FTP, is it. The difference between maintaining 70% and maintaining 85% for 100 miles is huge.



It is for me. I will try to avoid going above or below these limits - I can't maintain a single steady number unless on the turbo.


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## S-Express (27 Jul 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> My Google fu is drawing nothing authoritative with people claiming anything from 60-90% FTP normalised power over five hours.


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## Tin Pot (27 Jul 2017)

And now I have numbers from an authoritative source.

Problem?


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## S-Express (27 Jul 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> And now I have numbers from an authoritative source.
> 
> Problem?



The problem (as pointed out previously) is you still don't have a target. You have quite a large % range - which most people probably ride within anyway. So I don't really think you're any further forward.


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## mattobrien (27 Jul 2017)

I had a chat last night to the chap who had recently set our club record for 100 miles and asked what power he was putting out - his reply was around 85%.


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## huwsparky (5 Aug 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Anyone know a good target percentage of FTP for century rides?
> 
> ...



So, what you should have learned from that Ironman leg is that you're not able to hold that percentage of FTP for the duration of the effort. No point asking anyone else, this is what you have already learned from what you're able to hold.

A power meter really is the Holly grail for long distance TT type efforts but I always hear people locally asking others what power they ride to, totally bizarre as there is nothing of any importance you can take from anyone else's powerfigures.

If I were you, I'd try and pre determine how long roughly your effort will be and have a look through your training peaks or whatever you use to get a base power figure to work off for the duration. If you've held say 200w for 5 and a half hours(and that's roughly how long your bike leg will take), use that figure in training and play about with it.

Basically, you've got a power meter and still turn up to race with no idea what you're doing. Nail down your numbers in training and you'll avoid falling on your arse when it counts. To be honest, if I didn't know what I was riding to I'd rather go off feel and would be pretty confident of being faster to boot.

BTW my power for ironman split is about 65% FTP. I can hold more but it costs me too much on the run so I don't.

Good luck


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## Tin Pot (6 Aug 2017)

huwsparky said:


> So, what you should have learned from that Ironman leg is that you're not able to hold that percentage of FTP for the duration of the effort. No point asking anyone else, this is what you have already learned from what you're able to hold.



Not really, no.



> A power meter really is the Holly grail for long distance TT type efforts but I always hear people locally asking others what power they ride to, totally bizarre as there is nothing of any importance you can take from anyone else's powerfigures.



I haven't. There absolutely is something of importance to learn from talking FTP% with others, that is what makes power information comparable.



> If I were you, I'd try and pre determine how long roughly your effort will be and have a look through your training peaks or whatever you use to get a base power figure to work off for the duration. If you've held say 200w for 5 and a half hours(and that's roughly how long your bike leg will take), use that figure in training and play about with it.



Yep, done that.



> Basically, you've got a power meter and still turn up to race with no idea what you're doing.


Almost no idea, yes.



> Nail down your numbers in training and you'll avoid falling on your arse when it counts. To be honest, if I didn't know what I was riding to I'd rather go off feel and would be pretty confident of being faster to boot.


Not as easy as it sounds. I've done rides off feel, not going to learn anything about riding to power by doing that again.



> BTW my power for ironman split is about 65% FTP. I can hold more but it costs me too much on the run so I don't.
> 
> Good luck



What FTP% do you do for century rides?


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## huwsparky (6 Aug 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> Not really, no.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


65% for ironman split. Have held over 70% for a 100 TT but the TT was obviously shorter and I didn't have to think about being in any shape for running after so it didn't really bother me pretty much falling off the bike in a heap after.

The part your not grasping here is that you can't compare your power to anyone else's. As someone further up the list eluded to, a guy he knows rides off 85%, don't know weather to believe that but fair play to him if he can, he has the ability to do it. By your logic if you try doing the same it'll make you better? It won't, I'm sorry, it just won't.

For me the difference in riding at 65% and 70% is massive over that time frame. It's pretty much 15w for say 4 - 5+ hours. That's enough of a percentage to take a ride from comfortable to very hard and sometimes maybe even impossible if not feeling it for me personally.

Like I said above, take your own power from a 5.5 to 6hour effort and work from there. It's ho everyone does it. You have to know your numbers and what you can hold.


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## Tin Pot (6 Aug 2017)

huwsparky said:


> 65% for ironman split. Have held over 70% for a 100 TT but the TT was obviously shorter and I didn't have to think about being in any shape for running after so it didn't really bother me pretty much falling off the bike in a heap after.
> 
> The part your not grasping here is that you can't compare your power to anyone else's. As someone further up the list eluded to, a guy he knows rides off 85%, don't know weather to believe that but fair play to him if he can, he has the ability to do it. By your logic if you try doing the same it'll make you better? It won't, I'm sorry, it just won't.
> 
> ...



Yeah, everyone does four or five six hour rides to figure out how much effort to do the first one.

Effort is comparable.

Your second paragraph has some weird straw man in. Sorry it just doesn't make sense.


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## S-Express (6 Aug 2017)

Tin Pot said:


> Your second paragraph has some weird straw man in. Sorry it just doesn't make sense.



If you mean the bit about not using anyone else's FTP as a guide to your own, then that is an unassailable fact.


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