PowerTap...First Thoughts..

Well I have had my Cycleops PowerTap G3 Hub and wheel for two ride now, and just wanted to quickly write down my thoughts.  The catalyst for making take the leap to power was using www.trainerroad.com with virtual power during The Tour of Sufferlandia (www.thesufferfest.com ).  I recognized the benefits of training with power over heart rate right away.  Power provides you a more accurate means of determining Intensity during training sessions.  This translates into a more precise way of developing consistent efforts at or around threshold leading to better pacing on the bike.  With HR you end up using perceived exertion more often to determine how hard to work to get to your heart rate zones often leading to overworking and under working during work/rest intervals.  Power provides instant feedback of intensity.

PowerTap and Garmin Edge 800 Pairing and Settings

The PowerTap pairing to the Garmin Edge 800 was quick and easy.  On the Garmin 800 you go to Menu, Settings, Bike Settings, Bike Profiles, Bike, Ant + Power, PowerMeter (set to ON), then Rescan while spinning the wheel. This will par the PowerTap to the Garmin 800.
Big Mike for Cycling Concepts gave me a tip about calibrating.  Each time you turn on the Garmin to use with the PowerTap, you bring up the light dimmer page by clicking the on/off button once, and then select the top far right icon (Power) and tap the Recalibrate button on the screen before pedaling.  Once Calibrated you can then start riding. Mike said that this should be done prior to each ride.
Second, that when place power on your main training page, you need to select Power - 3s Avg. instead of just Power.  My first ride I had just Power on the screen and the reading was to up and down for me to use, as it read instant power fluctuations.  This would be great if working on pedaling technique on rollers/trainer, but for intervals I found Power with 3 second average to be a more consistent predictor of power use.  Last night ride was done with this setting and more closely resemble the trainer road workouts I have enjoyed. 

First Take

After riding with power on both trainer road and now on my G3 PowerTap, I am a believer in training with power.  I have use Hear Rate for Decades (people who know me would say Centuries), but for cycling Power will provide a better platform for building consistently strong efforts, which will lead to better on road riding.  Maybe for me it will not mean faster, but more enjoyable and consistent leading to more miles.  NICE! 

For this year to date I have surpassed 500 miles.  Last year at this time I only had 333 miles, that is a significant improvement, as I felt I road a lot indoors in the beginning of last season.  I guess not!