Weeknotes 24-07

I have never really considered getting an indoor cycling trainer. It's not so much the monotonous side of indoor cardio, I kind of don’t mind being on a rowing machine, at least not with some entertainment on the side. But given I’m heading to Norway later in the year with what looks like days after days of more than 1000 meters elevation gain. I thought I’d better be training for this a bit, because living in the flat north of Germany, there’s hardly a hill in sight. So I got myself a Wahoo Kickr Core from a local bike shop (that experience tops getting one delivered from an online store), loaned my partner’s cheap-ish road bike that was mostly just sitting in the basement, and off I went cycling on Zwift.

Turns out my love for cycling doesn't just come from being outside in the fresh air, I just love spinning my legs, anywhere, even indoors in front of a computer screen and a fan blasting air in my face (it gets so sweaty without the airflow on a moving bicycle).

I set up the trainer, the bike, and put on a brand new chain on Tuesday night and already racked up 223km of virtual cycling in the last six days. Riding in Watopia or Makuri Islands, some virtual worlds in Zwift, the climbing portal with a ever-changing roaster of climbs mimicking their real-world counterparts in profile, or joining robot-pacer-led group rides. I’m starting Zwift’s Gran Fondo eight-week training plan tomorrow, and in preparation I did a functional threshold power (FTP) test today. FTP measures the maximum power one can sustain over an hour, and oh my lord was this hard. After a warm up the test started at 100 watts relentlessly adding 20 watts every minute, all while cycling along a futuristic verson of New York's high line. It feels super easy for the first three quarters, but then gets incredibly hard incredibly fast. I still managed to hold on at 320 watts aiming for a cadence of around 85 rpm, but both cadence and power went haywire with 340 watts, at which point I stopped. The test theoretically continues until 600 watts, but I don't think any human can actually finish this test. Zwift estimated my FTP at 242 watts, and I’m curious to see how that will change after the eight weeks.

And for something non-cycling related; this week my partner and I finished rewatching the American version of The Office. It’s funny, every time I start watching this show it’s usually that at the same time I’m irritated by various levels of management at my job. Maybe me starting to rewatch The Office is a foretelling that I will be handing in my resignation in the weeks to come. It happened twice so far.