This Saturday I underwent the Conconi test to determine my aerobic threshold and my anaerobic threshold. This was the first time I actually was tested for my cycling ability. This year I am actually on a racing team and want to see where I am in terms of fitness. I was in great shape going into 2005, but then the baby arrived and I gained back weight, and lost fitness. By September I was riding poorly. Hills I never knew existed now seems like tough climbs.
Gradually I worked to regain my fitness. Most of the motivation for being on the team is to get time to ride. Plus, I can learn training methods and racing tactics from other riders. All of this will help me improve my cycling and have much more fun racing.
The Conconi test can be done by anyone. All you need is a heart rate monitor, a stop watch, preferrably a trainer and a freind to observe you. The test is basically raises your heart rate as you pedaling faster to the point where you can longer increase your speed. During this process you can determine where specific thresholds are such as your anaerobic and aerobic thresholds.
My test started off at Syracuse Bicycle where Matt Howey (of spokepost.com) a Cat 3 on the Colavita Spokepost.com Team was conducting the test for interested team members. He owns a computrainer which was used to run the test. Once your bike is hooked up to the trainer you warm up for 10 minutes or so. Once wamred up, the test begins as you pedal to maintain a speed of 16 mph fr 30 seconds. Every 30 seconds thereafter you increase the speed .5 mph and report back your perceived level of extertion which is from a chart from 11 to 20.
Once the test was done (sorry, I won’t give any details on where I am. I don’t want this information falling into the wrong hands 
) I received a chart with my heart rate, level of exertion and speed. From these numbers Matt was able to locate my lactate threshold which was just below my max heart rate. I never really trained with a heart rate monitor or used things like lactate threshold to gauge my performance. This test helped me to realize what I should be doing for my training going into the season. Plus, this wil help me to determine when I should rest which is just as important as any training session.