This profile does double duty. You can use it to do two 10:00 aerobic ceiling/threshold assessments for riders who are interested in knowing their power output (watts) at threshold (if you have power meters). Or, for riders who aren’t interested in “the numbers”, or if your bikes don’t have meters, use it as a profile with two sets of 10:00 progressively harder seated climbs.
I call this my Ramp Ride instead of Ramp Assessment because it’s not as formal as a pre-scheduled Ramp Assessment where all the riders know that’s what they’re going to do and want to fully participate. (Watch our video “How to Do a Ramp Test” for how-to details.)
Here’s a quick overview for the two 10:00 efforts for the Ramp Ride:
- During the warm-up, have riders make note of their preferred cadence, generally RPM in mid-80’s – 90’s.
- They will ride at that RPM (+/- a few) for the 10:00 effort while adding enough resistance each 2:00 to move noticeably from one RPEto another.
- I ask them to start the first 2:00 at moderate RPE.
- When they can no longer sustain good form, seated, at a sub-max effort, they have reached their threshold.
- At that point they should back off the effort and begin a working recovery.
- If you are using meters, riders will use the watts captured during the last properly completed 2:00 effort. For example, if during the 4thramp, the rider can’t sustain the pace and intensity with good form or they get out of the saddle for momentum or start sucking wind like a sprinter, then they should use the watts achieved for the 3rd
- Have riders take the average of the two 10:00 efforts to use as their threshold.
Wrap the ride by putting the RPE/watts into action with a below, at, and over threshold effort.
Enjoy and let us know if you have any questions.
Stay awesome!
I really appreciate the quick over views. They are very helpful for how by brain works. Thank you for all you do for this community!
So good to hear. Thanks for letting us know Erica!