Average Power Number

[jscotth]

I must admit I am a little perplexed at times re: the numbers I get for average power over long rides, especially on hilly courses. When I do a TT ride on my computrainer I can generally hit a given average watts goal, I assume because I am generating watts on downhills as well as uphills. With my iAero I get zero or very low readings on the downhills, and this causes my average power for a ride to be well below what I would expect given the workout that I have down. Should I not be concerned with average power except on flat courses when evaluating a ride performance but instead focus on power obtained during specific segments, climbs, etc?

[iodaniell]

Does the computrainer have a wind and gravity option?

Are TTs done on computrainers or on real bikes (with "real world" environmental conditions to overcome)?

[coachboyd]

If you have an iPro or an iAero you can show Normalized Power for the rides. This is a fairly complicated algorithm, but it basically gives you a power number that is a better reflection of your workload. For example if you do a lot of climbs and then coast a lot your Normalized Power will be much higher than your average power.

Looking at average power for specific intervals is very helpful. This is where the "user intervals" come in very handy. This will show you your average watts for an interval of any time or distance, depending on when you start and stop it.

[benlane]

I'm with Boyd on this one. Normalized Power is a better indication of your effort

[rruff]

With my iAero I get zero or very low readings on the downhills

Is this even when you are pushing hard on the downhills? If so, then you need to check your wind scaling and/or CdA.