Whether you’re seasoned amateur racer or a keen rider who is just beginning to add more structure to your training, setting fitness baselines and keeping track of your progress is extremely important.

If you’re a cyclist who uses a training plan based on power or you’ve dabbled in a virtual training platform like Zwift, you’ve probably thought about increasing your functional threshold power (FTP).

For years I’ve chased my FTP like it was the single scoreboard that defined my fitness. But after another season of Zwift racing — full of violent surges, micro-attacks, and barely-manageable ...