FTP Testing....to a new level

There are many times in life when I wish a camera did not catch me doing something. Yesterday was not one of those days. I only wish a camera was present to watch my FTP test unfold.

I headed up to Columns yesterday to take on another series of bike tests to determine my training zones. This was the first real test of the year. The only other time I have taken my power numbers for zones was from the Tundra Time Trial. I was certainly hoping to see a nice 10% bump in power from all the training the last two months.

The protocol is simple, warm up for about 20 minutes, 10 more riding a bit harder and then 20 minutes all out and finally a cool down. The difficulty is sustaining maximum effort for 20 minutes. You have to make sure you don't go out too fast but you can't sand bag the effort. The moniker that best describes it is that you need to have snot flying and tongue hanging out type effort.

Well I think I took that to the next level.

Yesterday was sunny but still a bit chilly. The radio reported 58 degrees so I may have been a bit under dressed for the ride. I got through my warm up just fine and began to mentally prepare for gutting out 20 minutes of 100% effort. A few minutes in, I was feeling the burn and it felt so good.

The thing about 100% effort is that you bypass taking in water. You stick in aero position and just grind. As for the snot...it was flying. It really amazes me how much mucus builds when you are going really hard. And then it happened. I guess a capillary or blood vessel burst in my nose when I cleared it.

I thought people were looking at me funny because I was going so hard out there. Nope. I thought my nose was running just a bit. Nope. It was bleeding. Not quite a river of blood but a small tributary running from my right nostril down to my mouth. I refused to acknowledge it and wait until the next turnaround.

When I reach turnaround, I wipe my nose and realize that it is a bit more blood than I originally thought. And wiping it only smeared it on my hands and face. Still no time to stop, I began pushing even more. I tend to clinch my teeth/jaw when I push hard on the bike. And wouldn't you know, I bite my lip. Now I have blood in my mouth. My spit is red too.

I finish my 20 minutes and began to cool down. A cyclists asks if I am ok. I can just laugh about it at this point. I can only imagine what it looked like to other people. So I am adopting a new moniker....no more pushing until the snot is flying. Push until you make yourself bleed. Now...if only there was a camera out there.