Training with a power meter

 I love fitness data. It motivates me.

Arguably, having a Forerunner 45 watch got me into running and kept me running. I still love to pore over the stats after each run over 6 years later - now on my Forerunner 745 - 3 to 4 times per week. During each run I set an internal, nebulous pace/strain level and go mostly by feel. Afterwards the data gives me the immediate feedback of how my heartrate and pace baseline changes over time, with the weather, periods of more/less training, and in the moment of each individual run. It helps me gauge how my body feels compared to measured data from the watch that I can review over time. The 7-day load range also keeps me honest as a bulk measure of my weekly effort and I LOVE to keep in the green.

For cycling, the 45/745 are also great tools especially when coupled with a cadence and speed sensor (more for indoor riding on the trainer), but to really dive in deeply and train with more purpose and direction you're talking about adding a power meter to your bag of tools.

Recently I received a power meter for Father's Day - the Favero Assioma MX-1 (left pedal only; a very affordable and quality piece of equipment - but still close to $450 with tariff and charger). It was great fun to take it out last week on a short ride at a very simple but fun local 2-mi MTB trail. But reviewing that kind of data, devoid of context and baseline really isn't why I wanted this thing.

I pedaled my first bike race this spring - the Barry Roubaix (BRX) 2026 36mi course in April. It was an interesting test to see how running fitness would translate to cycling fitness, not having spent much time training on the bike. My main discovery was that my cardiovascular fitness was far greater than what the muscles in my legs were able to harness to deliver speed (and power):

In the BRX race I placed 776/1796 overall (top 43%) and 70/147 M34-38 (top 48%) - definition of middle of the pack.

In 2026 spring (Mar-May) running races I'm closer to top 7%/14% (overall/age group) in 10km and 3%/14-22% (overall/age group) in 5km. Based on 750 miles running since August 2025 compared to 220 miles cycling.

That's where power data comes in - establishing an intuitive baseline for cycling efforts that connects to my heartrate and the feel of my muscles. And then improve my baseline over time!

I didn't really want to add more bulky, expensive, one-use equipment to the household. And I'm very happy to do some mental work and create a less sophisticated training system than pay the big bucks for a complex machine when I can get 80% of the way there in a cruder fashion:

1. 1. Buy a power meter to swap between my bikes: MTB, gravel/road, and the simple+cheap resistance trainer that I already have (CycleOps Fluid2).
   
   
2. 2. Start using the power meter on rides and just review the data afterwards - just for curiosity.
   
   
3. 3. Build a series of power curves on the trainer - cadence and gearing vs power!
   
   
4. 4. Use the power curves to train at different power thresholds for short/long periods to improve my baseline fitness and understand how that power feels to my muscles and cardiovascular system. Be my own personal Peloton/Wahoo/smart trainer control.

So far #1 and 2 have been the easy part. You just need to have the right hex keys, wrenches, and grease to smoothly swap the MX-1 pedal between bikes (I'm using a torque wrench to protect the pedal installation too, because I already had one for my car's oil drain plug).

I have the trainer set up the shop - just need to make the time to inflate tires to a consistent pressure and get pedaling to generate the baseline.

Initial plan for gathering data:

1. 1. Gear configuration (input)
2. 2. Cadence (60, 80, 100 rpm; input)
3. 3. Tire pressure (90 psi every time; assumption)
4. 4. 5-minute average power (primary output - function of the equipment setup)
5. 5. 5-minute average heartrate (secondary output - changes with fitness)
6. 6. 5-minute maximum heartrate (tertiary output - changes with fitness)

Parts 1-4 create the curves and parts 5-6 track fitness over time.

And as a final nerding out - compare to the Fluid2 published curves:

https://www.cycle-ops.com/graph.jpg

https://www.timslife.com/imgsbike/trainer/cyfl2ch2.jpg

 More to come!