What the hell are all those numbers? Are you making shit up?

One of the things I’m going to try to do this year is post stats every time I go out for a ride.

Here is what today looked like for instance. Let’s look at what it says, because I’ll bet some/a lot/most of you don’t have a clue what any of it means and looked at it and went “Yeah, WTF. Nerd.”

Ride w/Rocky&Gail Goldstream Valley trails.1h40 Avg 94W TSS=73.7 IF=.663 12.3 miles. Still very much recovering. Graph:http://tpks.ws/6zIZ

Ride w/Rocky&;Gail Goldstream Valley trails.
Pretty self explanatory, I think. Who and where.

1h40
Again, pretty easy, how long I was out.

Avg 94W
First WTF! number. Watts are a measurement of work. Wiki says you use about 125 watts to climb a flight of stairs, although I think that number is a little bit high. Back to cycling: a 30 second long very hard sprint for short time might be 1000 watts. A 12 hour long ride might be 145 watts. Today my average production of power was 94 watts. That’s very low. Zip it. I had my knee scoped 17 days ago. Early in the season, I can put down about 250 watts for 20 minutes. Pro cyclists can do 250 watts for 6 hours. Yes, I suck much.

IF=.663
Yeah, another WTF! number. Intensity Factor. Intensity Factor is a percentage of how hard I’m able to ride. It’s impossible for me to have an hour long ride with an IF of more than 1.00 (100%).

TSS=73.7
Yup.  WTF number. Training Stress Score. This number is a result of a formula that takes into account intensity, mileage, time, and the power produced during the ride. This is they key number for figuring out and relating a ride to another ride, or another rider.

12.3 miles.
Yay! Not a WTF number! Distance. Duh.

Still very much recovering.
Another easily decipherable item, just a comment on the ride.

Graph:http://tpks.ws/6zIZ
This is a total WTF! I’m sure.
It’s just a graph, don’t panic.
Time along the X axis.

Heartrate is in red. My max heart rate is roughly 190bpm. The highest I’ll ever really see on the bike is 186-187. I can’t go much harder than that or I start to black out.
Or puke.

Speed is in blue. Pretty easy. This is how fast I’m going.  Fastest I’ve ever gone on a bike is 61MPH.  Don’t try to do that.  It’s stupid. You’ll combust. You’ll burn up. You’ll die. Or…not. Regardless, it’s not bright. (Where?)

Cadence is in this ugly yellowish color. Cadence is how fast I’m spinning the pedals.  Supposedly, the body is most efficient at somewhere between 80 and 100 RPM.  I’m normally in the 60-80 range. Ish.

Which leaves us with this pretty pink for power, expressed in watts. Again, watts is a measurement of how much power I’m putting out.  The more you push the gas pedal down, the more power you create. Basically.

So, if you’re not already, follow me on twitter and watch for those updates. You’ll also be able to read about how to prepare for the inevitable Zompoc, too.

I hope this helped you understand a bit more of my world, me, life, and the universe in general.
Or not. Whatever. The point is you learned something.
Word.