WINTER MOTIVATION CW STAFF CHALLENGE

Three months in, here's how our three CW staffers are getting along in their four-month winter fitness challenge

- Steve Shrubsall

Dan Baines, group art editor

GOAL: 1,650 WATTS MAX POWER

I've come to quite like the one-hour sprint sessions. Rolling along on a turbo at a recovery pace and throwing in a sprint effort every three minutes doesn't hurt nearly as much as longer efforts, especially given I'm focusing on peak power rather than longer sprints. It's taking a good eight to 10 efforts, I'm finding, before getting the higher numbers.

I have been sprinting in a variety of gears, and the higher-cadence efforts feel faster, whereas the ones in top gear from standing starts feel more powerful. I'm looking forward to delving deeper into the figures to see where everything is happening, something that the online platform I'm using doesn't really allow.

Over the past month, I've recorded some seriously high readings - so high, in fact, that I've questioned their accuracy. Two weeks ago, I saw a peak wattage of just over 1,800 watts, and if that wasn't enough to make Harrie Lavreysen shuffle uncomfortably in his seat, the following week I hit 2,000 watts. So this week I doubled down and ran my Favero Assioma pedals at the same time as the Tacx Neo trainer.