I just did a smart workout, body movin,which includes a number of sprints using slope mode (auto is actually selected).
When i hit these sprints, a slope of 4% is selected and and i start ramping up the power. The issue i find is that despite hitting my target, im doing over 120+ cadence in 50x12 and the registered power starts dropping. Consequently, the mpa graph doesn’t dip as much as it should.
For reference, i run 50x17 during the erg intervals, i assume that that doesnt cause an issue. During the erg parts i am hitting 75% of the nominal target of the sprint intervals.
Am i doing anything wrong as I’m confused and im concerned it adversely affects my power curve.
If your trainer has a substantial flywheel try riding with inner chainring to keep the flywheel rpm down. That will make a difference when you shift to a higher gear to reach targets on short bursts.
Did you determine 75% for the sprint intervals by viewing the activity details chart with Target Power enabled?
The pre-ride chart reflects the pattern of MPA drawdown with your signature applied, but it’s not exactly what the results will be.
If I preview that workout with my signature applied it’s rated Mixed Pursuiter. 3-1/2 diamonfd Difficulty (101 score) and XSS: 150 ( 129 | 13.5 | 7.2 ).
How did your workout end up score-wise compared to the preview?
My XSS preview for that is 147 ( 131 | 10.9 | 5.2 ), a difficulty of 97, and I achieved 141 (129 | 8.5 | 3.4) with a difficulty of 90. The low XSS was pretty much on the money, but the other 2 were a way away.
Clearly I don’t understand the slope mode. The workout says it’s a 4% slope so I put it in an appropriate gear to generate the require power (and hopefully more), but I ended up going down my cassette very quickly to the 12. I thought, that a 4% slope was equivalent to riding that level of incline, for which I wouldn’t use the inner ring.
Maybe I should experiment with the slope mode before I do a big workout our
If so, that indicates a trainer transition-response issue that will short you on high/peak strain pts.
Next zoom in on the section where sprints were performed in Slope mode. How does that section compare?
Slope mode should allow you to hit the intended target (or exceed it) along with closely matching the duration.
For example:
You can experiment by riding an entire workout in Slope mode and see how it works.
You should be able to dial in a Slope % that allows you quickly shift up/down and hit work and rest intervals targets coupled with changes in cadence.
The only discrepancies will be deliberate (couldn’t hold a target) or flywheel spin-down dips like these.
Another advantage to Slope mode during a workout is you can make up for any missed intervals or gaps.
For example, had you added another interval or two to the workout (on your own) you could have boosted your high and peak scores. Switching to Slope mode allows you to do that.
For example, here’s me inserting “ghost intervals” into a workout when I saw I was coming up short on target durations for the three sets defined in the workout.
In an ideal world you’d be able to complete most workouts in AUTO mode at 100% intensity with close to 100% compliance. But if that’s not happening for any reason Slope mode is the solution which you can slip in/out of at any time.
