Heart Rate on Long Endurance Rides

3hour ride, given different amounts of rest or temps, the same ride on a different day could be 10bpm higher than it was previously

question is: even if the perceived exertion is similar, physiologically does it make more sense to shoot for HR instead of power?

part 2, what about shooting for different targets within the zone, low or high zone 2? More on this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m1nT-4n99Q

I like this because he’s focused on not going too hard, and also staying within the proper zone.

this is a topic of contention between people. some will shoot more for HR but as you said, so many things can affect it: sleep stress caffeine TEMP etc....so it's better to use RPE in my opinion. are you SLUGGING IT OUT to hit zone 2 #s? If so, you're going too hard. dial it back. is the HR 10bpm higher but mainly because of heat and a long ass ride, but you feel fine, keep pedaling.

Power within zone: same thing. if you are dying trying to hit 75%, its too hard that day. chill and ride at 60%. you will get a better sense of this as u get more expefienced. some days endurance is hard, and thats okay.

for me, if I’m super fresh, I know my HR is going to be higher for z2 rides, but also really hard efforts.

so as I get fitter, the HR drops a bit and is stable across z2 rides, and if I go and do some z4-5, it’s not skyrocketing. To me, that is GOOD. I don’t want my HR beating out of my chest.I’ve had athletes that get fit and then say “I couldn’t get my HR up, I wonder if I’m tired”.

Well, are you? Do you feel tired? Are the watts suffering? If not, it’s just fitness! Lower HR is good

https://youtu.be/OcQXo_2yp7o