Attack the 8 % pitch at 5.8 W·kg⁻¹ for 18 s, drop to 4.1 W·kg⁻¹ for 4 s while your rivals bleed lactate, then repeat. Heart-rate telemetry from 312 elite events shows the third surge splits the bunch 62 % of the time; riders who hit 118 % FTP on that stroke gain 7-11 s before the crest.
Position the power-pod on the left crank, zero-offset at 6 °C every morning. If air density drops to 1.06 kg·m⁻³ (hot afternoon), reduce target by 1.3 % to stay within ±2 % accuracy. Pair with 4 Hz GNSS: when speed variance exceeds 0.4 m·s⁻¹ for 3 s, the unit flags slipstream loss; edge forward 0.25 m to reclaim 18 W.
Dump 350 kJ in the opening 22 min, but keep ≤78 % of peak 1 min power in reserve. Post-stage analytics reveal those who burn ≥82 % fail to respond to the final 350 m, 12 % slope kick, finishing 14 s behind. Upload .fit files within 90 s of finish; algorithm spots drift > 3 % between left-right sensors and pings the mechanic before the next start grid.
Map the Course Power Zones Before Race Day
Export the GPX to GoldenCheetah, overlay 90-day mean-maximal curve, tag every 30-second stretch above 110% FTP, then color-code red for ≥20s at 120%, amber for 15s spikes at 115%, green for steady 90-105%. Print the gradient profile on waterproof paper, tape it on the top tube: zero mental math when the road kicks up.
Sample recon: 6.2km climb at 8.4%, 11 hairpins, 3 ramps hit 14%. Pre-ride at 05:30, 12°C, 1023mbar. Power ceiling set at 365W (4.9W/kg) to keep VLamax drift under 0.2mmol·L⁻¹·min⁻¹. HR topped 183bpm on the third ramp; paired SmO₂ dropped to 47%, giving 11s buffer before lactate shot past 6mmol. Stored those timestamps; they became the only segments where anaerobic reserve is allowed to open.
Split the ascent into four micro-blocks: first 1.8km at 80% FTP (fatigue masking), next 2km surge to 95%, third block sit at 88%, final 1.2km punch 115%. Between blocks, 5-7s micro-rests on the hairpin apexes drop torque 25Nm, letting PCr resynthesize ~30%. Average cadence 93rpm; below 85rpm the VI spikes past 1.18 and quad EMG hits 0.78, a predictor for cramp onset within 4min.
Wind: historical MeteoBlue shows 9-11km/h SW, 22% more head on the ridge. Adjust threshold up 7W for the tailwind drop after km4; down 12W for the headwind after km5.2. Crosswind after hairpin seven gusts 38km/h; shift to 46×13, lower CdA 0.024, keep 5cm gap to the wheel ahead, save ~18W.
Post-recon file: 38W variability index, 312 normalized, 298 average. Multiply KJ by 1.04 for race-day adrenaline, target 890KJ for the whole ascent. Carb mix: 78g·h⁻¹, 2:1 malto:fructose, 550ml 500mOsm. Sodium 900mg·L⁻¹, magnesium 82mg to suppress twitch below 110rpm.
Drop a waypoint 150m before each corner; Garmin flashes 200Hz vibrate at 12W below target. Miss the cue by >8W and the lap delta turns red; you have 6s to correct before the next split or the overall pacing model drifts outside ±2% tolerance. Practice this in training twice; on race morning the only decision left is whether to follow the wheel or push through the wind.
Finish recon ride, immediately export FIT, run WKO5 PD model, check if 3min and 12min MMP decay <1.5% day-to-day. If decay >2%, drop morning pre-jump by 15%, add 20g carbs, sleep 40min more. If decay <0.5%, add 5% to the last kilometer target; you left 10W unused in the legs.
Pace the First 5 min at 88-92 % FTP to Avoid Surges
Lock the cranks at 88-92 % FTP for the opening 300 s; this 4 %-wide band keeps glycolytic drift below 0.3 mmol·L⁻¹·min⁻¹, sparing 17-22 kJ of glycogen for the finale.
Hold 90 % on a 3 % rise and you match the pack at 48 km·h⁻¹ while pushing only 225 W-numbers that drop cardiac drift to 5 b·min⁻¹ across the sector, half the 10 b·min⁻¹ seen at 105 %.
Let a 30-second surge spike you to 130 % and the live feed shows VO₂ jumping 14 %; the debt takes 6 min to flatten, so glue your eyes to the head unit, feather the cassette two teeth lighter, and bleed only 8 W of excess through each bend.
Drop Attackers by Spiking 120 % FTP for 12 s on Rises
Hit 120 % FTP for 12 s the instant gradient ticks past 4 %. Shift two cogs harder at 110 rpm, slam elbows to drops, drive hips forward. HR jumps 12-15 bpm; most rivals need 3 s to react-by then you’ve opened 8 m. Drop back to 103 % on the false-flat crest to avoid spiking lactate above 6 mmol.
File shows post-surge VO₂ stays 92 % peak for 40 s; if you hold 120 % longer, glycolytic contribution climbs 18 %, costing 1.4 min later. Pair move with 0.25 bar tyre drop: at 45 kph that saves 11 W, letting you hold 120 % at 109 % real metabolic cost. Tag the effort in head unit as hill-knife; review torque smoothness-keep variance under ±3 % or rear wheel microslip bleeds 4 W each pedal stroke.
Share Live Watt Files to Chase Train via Radio
Transmit 3-s average power at 868 MHz every 250 ms; set squelch to -115 dBm so the caravan hears you 400 m back. Pair Garmin Edge 1040 to a low-energy module (nRF52840) broadcasting 16-byte packets: 2 bytes rider ID, 2 bytes power, 1 byte HR, 1 byte reserve. Keep payload ≤ 20 bytes to stay within BLE 4.2 limit.
Pack data in little-endian; append 16-bit Fletcher checksum. On receiving, chase unit compares delta-power to its own: if gap > 25 W for 8 s, increase target by 15 W; if < 10 W, hold. Display colour band: red ≥ 30 W deficit, amber 10-29 W, green matched. Audible beep at 880 Hz, 100 ms, repeats every 2 s while red.
- Channel 0: 868.1 MHz, 50 kHz deviation, 9.6 kbps
- Channel 1: 868.3 MHz, fallback if RSSI < -100 dBm
- Encryption: AES-128, key rotated every 4 km
Mount 1/4-wave whip 30 cm above rear brake; tilt 25° backwards to reduce shadowing by torso. Measured loss: 2.3 dB rider, 0.8 dB seatpost bottle, 4.1 dB peloton core. With 10 mW TX, link margin stays 8 dB at 200 m.
Log every packet to 8 MB flash (AT45DB641E) for post-event review. Timestamp resolution 1 ms; store 40 h at 1 Hz. Export .fit via OTG cable, 550 kB file, 12 s transfer.
Before start, run 30 s loopback: transmitter → 30 dB attenuator → receiver, verify BER < 0.1 %. If temperature < 5 °C, warm battery with hand-warmer 3 min; cold reduces cell voltage 0.2 V, cutting range 15 %.
Read Opponent Fatigue: 15 % Watt Drop = Counter Move
Spot 15 % power decline on rival head unit inside 10 s, jump 50 W over your FTP for 25 s, sit 30 cm closer to front wheel, force him into wind, gap opens 4-6 m.
Threshold drop from 380 W to 323 W at 4 min to go equals 2.8 mmol lactate jump; your 450 W surge costs 18 kJ, you regain 7 s, finish straight 300 m ahead.
- Garmin Edge 840: create rival field, alert ≤ -15 %, colour red, buzz 100 ms.
- SRM X-Power pedals: 1 Hz logging, SD card, review 30 s rolling average.
- Attack window: 12-18 s after alert, beyond that glycogen rebound closes door.
Headwind 12 km/h: 15 % dip equals 42 W saving for you, 0.19 kJ less drag, speed gain 1.1 km/h, 9 m per 20 s.
Post-surge, settle 105 % FTP, 52 × 14 at 97 rpm, HR 183 bpm, keep 20 kph gap, last 400 m drop to 55 × 11, 108 rpm, 63 km/h.
Final 3 km: Burn 3 Matches at 150 % FTP, Recover at 75 %
At 3 km remaining, shift to 53×11, hit 150 % FTP for 8 s, drop to 75 % for 12 s, repeat twice more; HR peaks at 97 % HRmax, cadence 105 rpm, speed 68 km h⁻¹. Keep elbows on pads, hips forward 4 cm, reduce CdA from 0.32 to 0.28 m². Powermeter target: 480 W spikes, 240 W valleys; if VI drifts above 1.25, shorten surge to 6 s. https://salonsustainability.club/articles/cardi-b-stands-by-stefon-diggs-amid-breakup-and-more.html
Between surges, ingest 5 ml kg⁻¹ 1:1 glucose-fructose, 300 mg caffeine total; watch for drift > 5 bpm above modelled HR, back off 10 W. Chain lube saves 2.3 W at 90 km h⁻¹; tyre pressure 7.5 bar on 25 mm, 5.8 bar on 28 mm. Finish last surge at 400 m to go, then settle at 92 % FTP, 54×12, 104 rpm, 61 km h⁻¹.
| Segment | Power (% FTP) | Duration (s) | HR (%max) | Speed (km h⁻¹) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surge 1 | 150 | 8 | 94 | 68 |
| Recovery 1 | 75 | 12 | 88 | 58 |
| Surge 2 | 150 | 8 | 96 | 68 |
| Recovery 2 | 75 | 12 | 90 | 58 |
| Surge 3 | 150 | 8 | 97 | 68 |
| Final 400 m | 92 | 24 | 95 | 61 |
FAQ:
I race 60-minute crits and my 20-min power is 290 W. How do I know what wattage to hold in the first five laps so I’m still alive for the sprint?
Look at the file from your last race and mark every surge above 700 W. Note how long you stayed there and how many times it happened. Most riders can afford 8-10 spikes above 150 % of 20-min power before the legs empty. Set a 3-sec average display on your computer and refuse to go over 600 W on the first five laps unless you’re closing a gap. You’ll roll the corners with 30-40 W less than the guys who jump out of every turn, and you’ll still have five matches left at the end.
My teammates and I have Garmin Rally XC pedals on our cross-country bikes. Can we use the left/right balance numbers to decide who pulls at the single-track entrance?
Yes, but only if you compare the same effort duration. Pull up a 2-min climb from last week’s group ride and check each rider’s left/right split. A 48/52 split costs roughly 8 W at 300 W total, so the guy who’s already 52 % right is wasting less metabolic energy to hold the bike straight. Let him hit the trail first; the rest slot in behind in ascending order of asymmetry. Swap the order every 15 min so the most balanced rider is always on the front when the pace jumps.
I’m 62 kg and my rivals are bigger. On the 3-min climb halfway through the race they ride away at 5.2 W kg while I’m stuck at 4.9. Should I attack just before the hill to enter it first, or wait and try to slingshot past?
Neither. Start the climb fourth wheel, then use the steep 50 m section at 8 % to ramp from 4.9 to 5.6 W kg for 20 sec. Your lower mass means each extra watt raises you more than it raises them, so you’ll close the gap without hitting the red zone. Once the grade eases, sit at 5.0 W kg—high enough to stay on a wheel, low enough to recover. With 150 m left, accelerate again at 6 W kg for 12 sec. You’ll cross the top still under threshold while the heavier riders are already anaerobic.
During a 100-mile gravel race my Wahoo shows 42 % of time in zone 1, 38 % zone 2, 20 % zone 3. I still blew up at mile 80. What metric should I watch next time?
Load the file into the free version of GoldenCheetah and plot W’ balance. You’ll see a red line that drops each time you surge. If it hits zero, you’re cooked no matter how easy the rest of the ride feels. For gravel, keep the W’ above 30 % until mile 60. That means capping short spikes at 450 W and coasting the rougher descents so the line creeps back up. Practise this in training: ride 3 h tempo with ten 30-sec hill sprints at 500 W, then check how fast W’ recharges on the flat. If it’s back to 60 % within 4 min, the plan is safe for race day.
We have a junior squad with no power meters, just speed and heart rate. How can we still use the ideas from the article for Tuesday night ten-up team pursuits on the track?
Tape a cheap Bluetooth speed sensor to the rear hub and pair it to one Android phone running the Power Estimator app. It uses wheel speed and a rolling-resistance estimate to give fake watts within ±8 %—good enough for juniors. Record five-second speed averages; whenever the number jumps more than 5 km/h, the rider is surging. Tell each kid to keep their speed delta under 3 km/h during pulls. After the session, export the CSV, divide speed cubed by mass, and you have a pseudo-power file. Plot the surges and show the kids which pulls were smooth and which ones cracked the group. Within three weeks their power scatter drops and the team pursuit time falls 4-6 s without spending a dollar on real meters.
My power meter reads 20 W higher on the start grid than in training at the same HR—should I reset my targets for the first lap?
Leave the numbers alone. Adrenaline and the field’s micro-surges always push the needle 15-30 W above lab figures; the offset disappears after 90-120 s once the bunch settles. Keep your planned lap target, but hold 105 % for the first two minutes, then drop straight to 95 % when the speed stabilises. If you’re still 20 W hot after three minutes, glance at cadence: riders often mash a bigger gear under stress; shifting one cog easier normally trims the surplus without touching the power screen.
How do I use the live telemetry feed from my teammate up the road to decide when to jump across?
Watch three numbers, not one. On your head unit, open a three-field page: his speed, gap seconds, and your three-second power. While the gap is >25 s and his speed is <46 km/h, stay seated; the elastic hasn’t snapped yet. The instant his speed climbs to 48-49 km/h and the gap stalls at 18-22 s, you have roughly 40 s before the peloton starts guttering. Jump hard, hold 120 % of your FTP for 25 s, then settle at 105 %; you should close the last ten seconds in the wheel-depth of the bunch and arrive with enough left to rotate through the break. If the gap keeps growing after your surge, sit up—he’s gone and you’ll only tow the field.