Beginners Guide To Power Zones - 9 Using Power Zones To Find Out What Sort Of Rider You Are

Power meters have been in widespread use for a while now and so there is lots of data from lots of different types of riders. As a result we know the wattages typical for every type of rider from a grand tour winner to complete beginner.

This means you can easily compare your test results with those of other riders as in the table below. It adds four additional, imaginary, riders (all the same weight as me) to my data showing their wattages by zone and rating them according to how they compare with the population as a whole

	Duration	Alex	Bernie	Chris	Don	Me
Endurance	5 hrs	259W Very Good	180W Moderate	175W Moderate	245W Very Good	212 Good
Tempo	2.5 hrs	280W Very Good	238W Good	210W Moderate	273W Very Good	269 Very Good
Lactate Threshold	1 hour	335W Excellent	269W Good	231W Moderate	295W Very Good	301 Very Good
VO2Max	5 mins	370W Very Good	340W Good	340W Good	362W Very Good	373 Very Good
Anaerobic	1 mins	592W Good	657W Excellent	641W Very Good	608W Very Good	485 Fair
Neuromuscular	5 secs	1080W Moderate	1042W Moderate	1530W Excellent	1233W Very Good	748 Novice

Each rider is clearly very different.

• Alex is a typical “time triallist” not particularly good at short efforts but getting stronger as the going gets longer.
• Bernie is a “pursuiter” with a huge turbo so would make a great 1k rider or short hill climber.
• Chris is a “sprinter” very much stronger in Zone 7 but finding long distances tough.
• Don is an “all rounder” very good at everything but not best at anything
• Lastly, like Alex I am a time triallist but even more so.

The four categories above are known as “power profiles”. A useful first step after testing yourself and getting your personal numbers by zones is to find out what sort of rider you are and how you match up against others.  

The link below gives more on the subject along with some sample tables

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/power-profiling/

My earlier post below is also based on power profiles, specifically for masters riders

https://bahzobsblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/world-class.html


The result can stack nicely with setting targets. You may find that you are just a few watts away from the next classification upwards. It can be rewarding to set yourself the challenge of moving up a level and then succeeding.