Training for Climbing

[Maladict]

here you go folks - this is the plan. Will test-ride it this afternoon

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/hilly-60k-from-duxford

(it'd work well with a train to Audley End or Whittlesford, but if I was going to get a train to do hills I wouldnt head towards Cambridge!)

profile here: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a19/mikes99mail/profile.jpg

I might tweak it a bit to get nearer the 1000m climbing.   Lovely ride.

Isn't the route supposed to be circular? 

[Maladict]

I can do the top-of-a-col pic too:



That's the heaviest bike I own too.  Although on that particular day it was an optional rest day (or do the highest col of the tour, guess which I chose) so we were more lightly loaded as we could leave our clothes back at base.  I had two full decent sized panniers, probably about 12kg.

10% pyreneean climbs that go on for 10km+ don't bother me at all.  I got up them, though my back was sore from all the grimping at times.  The problem is going to be that I want to be able to get round the Fred Whitton which has much steeper gradients.  And I won't have as low gearing.

I've done another turbo session tonight.  Interestingly in regard to my HR query elsewhere, raising the front end of the bike a bit has helped (despite being on a support, it was too low I think).  I also used a fan.

[Maladict]

Here is the Powertap data from the Cheddar Gorge 300 last year.

5sec   577w
30sec   381w
1min   338w
5min   261w
10min   216w
30min   202w
60min   177w
120min   169w

Once it's fixed I will be interested to see where I stand now.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I'm escorting Maladict around 60k of the finest cambs / essex / herts hills on saturday morning.  I'll be taking bricks with me to fill his panniers to equalise the weight before we start

if anyone else fancies joining us..

You should make that a YACF ride sometime, Mike.

[Notsototalnewbie]

Thanks to Gonzo for reposting the hill climbing tips, I used them for the first time in Richmond Park the other day and they really do help.

My commute is pretty flat but I ride around with lots of heavy crap in my pannier to try and make it count a bit more!

[gonzo]

Thanks to Gonzo for reposting the hill climbing tips, I used them for the first time in Richmond Park the other day and they really do help.

The strange thing is that I like to reread them every so often because it reminds me how to do it properly too!

[Notsototalnewbie]

They are deceptively simple but effective. I didn't realise I was clenching my bars so tightly until I read them, for example. Or that gazing despairingly at all the tarmac in front of me was so unhelpful psychologically, but it is.

Really I should print them out and keep them in the map bit of my bar bag, like a mantra...or would that be going too far!

[Wendy]

Need to write a completely different version for fixed now!

 

[Wendy]

On this note, I was extremely chuffed to have made it all the way up Stock Hill in Biggin Hill without walking, on my fixed, on 66", as well as Downs Court Rd/Mitchley Ave off the A22 near Purley.

[Maladict]

I got back from the ride with Mike about 15 minutes ago - I've done 97km today, and his 60km "loop" (more like a random walk including some particularly unfair 'go down a hill turn round at the bottom and go back up' legs) was just over 1000m of climbing.  Of course the great thing about going out with someone else is that you end up working much harder on the hills to avoid being the slow one.  I had a hard ride out to the start as well into the wind (once I found the right place having initially gone to the wrong bridge over the M11  ).  Set the target of not using the granny ring and managed to stick to it throughout so that made my legs have to work hard a lot of the time.  By the time we finished the 60k I was pretty shot.  Didn't stop me taking advantage of the tail wind on the way back, going up Lime Kiln Hill at 20kph+, or sprinting up the high St just before I got home, at over 40kph (hitting 180bpm again) resulting in me now having a warm glow. 

Thanks very much Mike - that was a good morning's work.

[MSeries]

Now you need to do it again on Tuesday to have any benefit, then next Saturday. I don't think weekly is enough.

[Maladict]

Now you need to do it again on Tuesday to have any benefit, then next Saturday. I don't think weekly is enough.

The only downside with doing that is, it's a 24 mile round trip to the start at Ickleton and back from the end after finishing at Elmdon.  Add about 2-3 miles if I start from work.  It ends up being 100km and that's a long evening ride.  So I think it will be turbo sessions during the week (did two this week).

[MSeries]

Now you need to do it again on Tuesday to have any benefit, then next Saturday. I don't think weekly is enough.

The only downside with doing that is, it's a 24 mile round trip to the start at Ickleton and back from the end after finishing at Elmdon.  Add about 2-3 miles if I start from work.  It ends up being 100km and that's a long evening ride.  So I think it will be turbo sessions during the week (did two this week).

I appreciate that, it's not always easy. I suppose I am lucky having a 4km hill to climb each day. I shall think of your envy when I am struggling up on Monday evening

[mike]

Thanks very much Mike - that was a good morning's work.

an absolute pleasure, enjoyed it. Any time!!

I've been asleep on the sofa pretty much since I got home and just been woken up

[Hot Flatus]

Here is the Powertap data from the Cheddar Gorge 300 last year.

5sec   577w
30sec   381w
1min   338w
5min   261w
10min   216w
30min   202w
60min   177w
120min   169w

Once it's fixed I will be interested to see where I stand now.

Well I'm impressed.  It would take me a bit longer than 4h15 to do a 300K.  That Powertap training must really help!


 

[Maladict]

Here is the Powertap data from the Cheddar Gorge 300 last year.

5sec   577w
30sec   381w
1min   338w
5min   261w
10min   216w
30min   202w
60min   177w
120min   169w

Once it's fixed I will be interested to see where I stand now.

Well I'm impressed.  It would take me a bit longer than 4h15 to do a 300K.  That Powertap training must really help!


 

GIT. 

[Maladict]

Thanks very much Mike - that was a good morning's work.

an absolute pleasure, enjoyed it. Any time!!

I've been asleep on the sofa pretty much since I got home and just been woken up

I managed to stay awake long enough after my return ride to have a bath, sit in front of here for a bit, but about 4pm I went off and had a lie down and dozed for about an hour.  Still quite tired, early night tonight I think.