To establish an objective frame of reference.

Training is for the most part a self-regulating process. Train too hard and your performance declines. Train too little and there is no performance. But what is too hard and what is too little?

At its core, a power meter is simply a way to measure what hard is — a way to quantify your training and racing load. From there each individual needs to make their own associations between that training load and their desired performance, whether it be feeling better about life or winning a national championship.

The interesting thing about a power meter is that I really do believe that it helps riders learn how to train more by feel — to understand what the demands of racing are and to learn if they are matching those demands in training. Power is a common language for riders, coaches, and scientists and the power meter should be thought of as a tool to help simplify the process, not complicate it.

Ultimately, you wouldn’t build a house without a tape measure or cook a turkey without a thermometer. The same goes with a power meter and training. That all said, keep the analysis and metrics simple — average power, total energy expended, duration, and a breakdown of time in three intensity zones (less than hard, hard to very hard, and very hard to max) should suffice. If you can consistently weight these metrics to your own story — where you rode, how you felt, and what you experienced — then you’re sure to grow and improve as a cyclist.

There is no off-season really!

The 'off-season' is the time to work on your weaknesses. That often means that instead of the long easy base or cross training that makes up most cyclists’ off season, you would be far better off doing intervals, threshold work, cadence drills, pedalling mechanics, or fine tuning your form on your time trial bike.

The off-season is a good time to establish a frame of reference — to train with power simply to create a baseline that can be used as a point of comparison throughout the year.

This is your chance to learn, experiment, and gather information without a lot of stress or pressure.

CycleOps PowerTap strain gauge power meters.

Accurate and consistent power measurement. These PowerTap units are the same as the ones built into the CycleOps 400Pro bikes that we use at Cadence CPC. This means that the wattage that you see in your indoor cycling class will be the precise wattage that is measured on the roads, and vice versa.

The CycleOps Powertap hub features 8 strain gauges that precisely measure the torque and resulting power being generated by the rider, accurate to +/- 1.5%

Now you can learn the value of training with power in the class and take this knowledge out with you during your road, MTB or time trial training.