Sunday ride data

The reason why so many people prefer to ride on thier own is the effects of the bunch and drafting. While it is good to talk (not on the phone) and get out with other like minded cyclists the impact as a source of training can be quite mixed.

Consider the effects on your HR and your power output as within a bunch the effects of drafting can make it quite easy at times as you end up getting pretty much sucked along and only have to put a bit of power out. That is until it goes up hill.

The effect of the bunch (majority have the competitive drive to burn themselves out on a Sunday given a group - me included) can be good or bad. During one of the climbs I gave it a go and you can see my HR maxing out and then the power slowly dissapearing away, along with my immune system and a fair few drops of sweat. Started off too hard due to being in a group and trying to keep pace with someone else, rather than go it at my own pace for the whole climb. This can be a good thing, as long as it's not done too frequently (every day).

The overall summary for the ride was interesting with peak power just over 1000W.

The power distribution shows the full effect of drafting where you end up not pedaling for quite a time as you would otherwise end up running up the back of someone, unless you choose to ride on the front for the whole time.

The heart rate distribution is also skewed further up and more broad as you have the easy times mixed in with the hill climbs at pace. For a training run I would have though you would be better of setting a couple of criteria for power zone and HR tone time and then riding to suit.

Then again for race training it is the only time you may get the urge and motivation to push yourself harder than you would on your own.

I would not tend to ride as far on my own and probably spend too much time at a higher pace than what I should be doing, so the group is good.