Hi Armando. I had a breakthrough on Saturday during a long(ish) endurance ride when I pushed on a hill early in the ride - but specifically not intending to get a breakthrough. My calculated FTP before that was 262w, and after the breakthrough it is now 251w. I can guess the reason is because I haven’t had a breakthrough for 4+ months (Oct 5) and maybe that’s too long for the Fitness Signature calculator to figure out actual FTP? The reason I ask is because I have been able to handle most of the workouts or XSS requirements set at 262w FTP lately, and I think dropping down to 251w will be too easy.
Background: I was out of the country on a bike without a PM for all of November & December. My last breakthrough was just before that trip on Oct 5 @ 296w. I did a 200k race in mid-November in South Africa, then started transitioning to off-season riding without structure - but still riding almost every day (beautiful places for it around Cape Town BTW). I used your FAQ page to manually add rides guesstimating XSS during that time.
The big drop came when I got home an d got the Flu, which affected me hard for 2 weeks and then a bit less for 2 more, but I feel I have been healthy for 2 weeks now. The drop in FTP to 262w I feel is accurate, but after yesterday’s breakthrough, I’m not sure why it dropped a further 10 points. Sorry for the long question. I appreciate any insight from you. Thanks, Kevin