Okay, long story short: IM St.G last weekend was my first tri in five and a half years. In that time I've done a lot of bike racing (and had a kid, changed careers, etc, etc). This was my first triathlon with power, and in my post race analysis I've come to realize that I don't really know how to do ride a tri bike leg (in spite of the fact that I spent seven years, including 16 IMs (IM best bike split ~5:08), as basically a full time triathlete).
I guess I rode how I've always ridden: moderate effort, harder up the hills, I stop pedaling when I spin out or when I'm going too fast or when I'm cornering or when I'm going through an aid station. My NP was 200 watts, which is fine, okay, it's not what I was planning on, but that's not the issue. As far as I can tell, the issue is my variability index. My AP was 157 watts, giving me a VI of 1.28. I understand that keeping VI close to 1.0 seems to be at a premium, and that we want to restrict surges in power. But it also seems to me that NOT pedaling as much as possible (thus lowering your AP and raising your VI) is a GOOD thing in terms of saving your legs for running.
Please help me out: Do you minimize VI at all costs? How do you achieve that? Do you pedal at all costs as well to keep your AP closer to your NP? What numbers do you look at while riding, if any (30s average power, total NP, total AP, etc, etc)?
Thanks for any help. It's always disheartening to realize that you've been doing something fundamentally wrong for so long. Time to fix it.
------------------------------------------------------------
Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.
I guess I rode how I've always ridden: moderate effort, harder up the hills, I stop pedaling when I spin out or when I'm going too fast or when I'm cornering or when I'm going through an aid station. My NP was 200 watts, which is fine, okay, it's not what I was planning on, but that's not the issue. As far as I can tell, the issue is my variability index. My AP was 157 watts, giving me a VI of 1.28. I understand that keeping VI close to 1.0 seems to be at a premium, and that we want to restrict surges in power. But it also seems to me that NOT pedaling as much as possible (thus lowering your AP and raising your VI) is a GOOD thing in terms of saving your legs for running.
Please help me out: Do you minimize VI at all costs? How do you achieve that? Do you pedal at all costs as well to keep your AP closer to your NP? What numbers do you look at while riding, if any (30s average power, total NP, total AP, etc, etc)?
Thanks for any help. It's always disheartening to realize that you've been doing something fundamentally wrong for so long. Time to fix it.
------------------------------------------------------------
Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.