CompuTrainer Ride of the Week: Felog’s False Flats

Every race has got ’em. Those infuriating patches where we stare in wonder at our bike computers as they report decreasing speed despite maintaining power and effort.

False Flats.

Just the phrase is enough to conjure another F-word.

False flats remind us that not all elevation change comes in big leaps. Sometimes, we climb a hill 1-2% at a time.

After two years competing in Ironman Lake Placid, I’ve learned quite a bit about how false flats will try to get the best of you.

But–and this is a really important “but”– false flats represent an opportunity if we train for them. While the competition succumbs to the demoralizing defeat that these sections of barely perceptible elevation change can deliver, those of us who are physically and mentally prepared can cheerfully proclaim as we zing by: “On your left!”

Since the beginning of October, I’ve been working with coach Vince Matteo (a.k.a. @Felog ), and he has introduced a variety of different cycling sessions. Within the past month, I’ve twice completed a false flat-specific workout,  and I think it’s worth sharing here.

Aptly titled “false flats,” this workout calls for a 10 minute warm-up followed by several sets of 5 minutes on a slight incline and 5 minutes flat.  Cool down is 10 minutes.

I created a special CT course (links to download these courses can be found at the end of this post) for this workout as I find that the CompuTrainer’s load generator mimics the natural feel of elevation change much better than using my bike’s gears to simulate the hills. It also gives me a much more accurate accounting of my performance on such terrain.

If you have a standard trainer, you can still complete this workout. Simply use your bike’s gears. Shift to a slightly harder gear for the “slight” incline and shift back for the “flat” portion.

For me, the key to this workout is to keep my heart rate within a steady, aerobic range and practice keeping both my power and my cadence as steady as possible. I’m not perfect, but I’ve noticed an improvement from the first attempt as compared to the second attempt. Here is a visual overview of the data from my latest false flat ride, which I did on Wednesday.

This gives me a clear overview of how false flats affect my performance in terms of watts, heart rate, cadence and speed. Clearly, the changing terrain affects my ability to keep nice straight lines – but that’s part of the training. This data gives me something to work with. I could be more consistent across the ride for sure. But, IMHO, I’m doing a decent job at keeping my watts and my heart rate at a nice steady burn – exactly the strategy I want for a little 112 mile jaunt on my bike as a warm up before I go and run a marathon ;). (Note: there’s a weird blip in the HR line when the monitor went wonky which is why it spikes up and then down in the middle.)

I hope you’ll find this workout to be a useful one to incorporate–especially during base building. If you try it, I’m interested in hearing your feedback. And, if you have other great ride ideas, please share them in the comments.

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For those of you with a  CompuTrainer, here are two options (26 miles or 19 miles) saved for use in the 3D software. The grade for each incline section shifts from 1.0% to 1.5%. And each false flat section lasts for about 1.5 miles, while the flat sections are about 1.25 miles.