ibooij
Über Member
- Location
- the Netherlands
Interesting ideas about flagging ERG mode rides. I agree that on flatter rides ERG mode might give an advantage, because of the way it helps to keep resistance. You still need to push the pedals of course. Mentally, it can help as well when going uphill. If you know that you should be able to hold some power, but often just let go a bit, ERG mode will punish you very hard. Knowing this, it might be easier (for some masochistic definition of easier) to keep the power up.
There are many ways to "cheat" like this of course. When using a dumb trainer, you can always just pick the gear you want to be in and have the simulation just use your power, which has the same kind of effect as using ERG mode to keep resistance high(er).
Using a smart trainer, you can also set the maximum downhill to 0%, making it easier to put the power down in the downhills.
And another possibility is to use the trainer as a power meter and have it controlled by another app at a steady incline at which you're capable of generating the most power, for instance at 6%.
So many ways to "cheat".. I don't know if it is very useful to try to control for all that. For me, but that just for me so your opinions might differ, the biggest thing is testing and improving myself, which makes it a lot easier to control all these variables, as it is no use cheating on yourself.
As for the challenges and the league. I need to catch up. My neck and back are slowly getting better after my crash from 1 1/2 months ago. Cycling in France didn't go too well, because it hurt a bit too much. The last day I had a good ride, which was helped by the decision to just do an easy climb even if I had the feeling I was going slow. Temperatures are finally back to normal in the Netherlands, so now I can ride in the shed without losing buckets of sweat. It's down to a single (fairly large) bucket now :-)
There are many ways to "cheat" like this of course. When using a dumb trainer, you can always just pick the gear you want to be in and have the simulation just use your power, which has the same kind of effect as using ERG mode to keep resistance high(er).
Using a smart trainer, you can also set the maximum downhill to 0%, making it easier to put the power down in the downhills.
And another possibility is to use the trainer as a power meter and have it controlled by another app at a steady incline at which you're capable of generating the most power, for instance at 6%.
So many ways to "cheat".. I don't know if it is very useful to try to control for all that. For me, but that just for me so your opinions might differ, the biggest thing is testing and improving myself, which makes it a lot easier to control all these variables, as it is no use cheating on yourself.
As for the challenges and the league. I need to catch up. My neck and back are slowly getting better after my crash from 1 1/2 months ago. Cycling in France didn't go too well, because it hurt a bit too much. The last day I had a good ride, which was helped by the decision to just do an easy climb even if I had the feeling I was going slow. Temperatures are finally back to normal in the Netherlands, so now I can ride in the shed without losing buckets of sweat. It's down to a single (fairly large) bucket now :-)