After a couple of days doing leg speed workouts, it was time for me to go on a recovery ride. My coach laid it out pretty simply for me – ride for an hour and a half maintaining a cadence between 90 – 100 rpms while keeping the wattage under 180 watts. Sounds easy, right? Not for me.
I’ve always had trouble with this workout. As I told my coach when I sent in my data, “These recovery rides are the hardest ones to execute! Seems like when I have the cadence right, the wattage is wrong. When the wattage is where it is supposed to be, the cadence is off.”
I headed out on a loop that takes me about 30 minutes to complete. The first loop I kept my eye on the computer adjusting as the cadence would slip too high… then the wattage would start climbing… then the cadence dipped below 90… then the wattage peaked above 200… It was a constant battle to try to keep in under control. That first 30 minutes had me putting out: 185 watts at 100 rpm.
Just for the fun of it, I started the second loop determined not to look at the computer. I was going to find what I thought was a good cadence and wattage be hanged! What would the numbers look like if I just went by perception? Interesting… the second 30 minutes had me coming in at: 174 watts at 95 rpm. It appears that my perception was more in line with the workout than watching the computer.
During the last 30 minutes I kept the cadence about the same, but let the wattage drop a bit on purpose. I was told to do a “sub-180″ ride. I’m never told how low I can go. Since I wanted to come home easy, so I finished the last loop at: 158 watts and 96 rpm.
The ride finished right on the money with the overall data coming in at: 172 watts at 97 rpm. I ended up with an average heart rate of 143 bpm and never went over 156 bpm for the entire ride. Still, somehow it didn’t seem so much like a recovery ride. I kept finding myself wanting to slip back into the comfort of a mid-80s cadence. I was glad to finish and finally stop worrying about cadence.
Then I took a look at my WKO+ Quadrant Analysis Graph for the ride. It left me with some more questions that I hope can be answered by my coach. I’m wondering if perhaps my recovery rides aren’t really focused on recovery.
Quadrant Analysis Graph (click to enlarge)
You will notice that the majority of the data points land in Quadrant IV. According to TrainingPeaks this is evidence of Low Force and High Cadence- An example would be a Criterium or fast pedaling drills. It points out that Quadrant III would be the section of the graph where you would find most data points for Low Force and Low Cadence- An example would be a recovery ride or just an easy ride around town. Only 32% of my ride fell in to the “Recovery Ride” quadrant of the graph.
The quadrants can adjust by changing the variables in the drop down boxes to the right of the graph. In this case Threshold is what it should be based on my last FTP test. The next two entries are pretty much automatic based on the first number. They represent 20 – 30% under and over Threshold. They are used for comparison.
The crank arm choice is a known constant. My crank arms are 175 mm in length, so I know that is correct. So, that leaves just one number that I can play with to make the quadrant lines redraw. It is the Threshold Cadence. This number represents your normal self-selected cadence in which you would average when you do a threshold interval.
The default number when I opened the graph was 90 rpm. At that rate, I spent 92% of my ride in QIV. So, I looked at my average cadence for the ride and entered a number slightly lower – 95 rpm. That is what produced the graph you see above.
So, I have to wonder… for a recovery ride, should I have ridden at a much lower wattage? Am I missing something in this graph that would cause it to come out differently? Finally, I guess it could have something to do with my execution. Perhaps I should have focused more on the “sub” portion of the “sub-180 watt recovery ride.”
I’m sure Jim will have the answers to my questions. Ain’t this fun!?
