Hills suddenly blasting up

cheaperholidays

HI all

As part of my training for my first 100 miler at the autumn epic, and living in Wales i have a superb choice of hills to climb with a variety of routes to get there.

So today as the sun is shining and in the bloody wind, of i went to Port Talbot to then loop back over the Blwch a 60 mile round trip.

Riding in the wind does mean you need to pedal smoother, rather then hitting the pedals harder, as a way to fight the wind. Could do with a training partner as a wind block.

So i digress, after getting to Port Talbot and heading up the Valley heading towards Treorchy, i am doing my best to spin up the hill, middle chain ring front - 3rd 4th gear rear at around 75 rpm, when suddenly on the same incline i am dropping gears like crazy and blasting up 98 to 101 rpm.

This lasted for about 3 miles then a rest of say 4 miles and off again, is this normal as you get more bike fit or am i having a halcyon moment


Kev

Brian B

Are you sure it was the same incline as its hard to judge by eye as I usually find that my legs tell me that the gradient changes before its apparent to the eye and find myself going down the gears. Its usually takes a few practices on the same climb to judge which gears you should be in. I know many routes and know what gears I should be in if I am going good on certain hills and judge my fitness by this method. Factor in variants such as wind, be tired etc but you have a rough idea.

But you are right in the fact that with more practice you get better at climbing and you know your limits. I am not built for climbing hills but with practice and loss of weight I have became adequate. You might have just either went into the 'red' with too much effort or suffered from the 'bonk' due to lack of food.

Wish you well in your 'century' though.

cheaperholidays

Thats very true Brian

I did some big ring work today and that slight gradient change you can feel in the legs as you suddenly either start spinning faster or your feel it getting easier.

Never having ridden a 100 i may be over training a bit, 26 Monday 60 Wednesday - break - 60 today but flater no monster hills.

On the run today i decided to use just the big ring for most of it only dropping when i really had to.

DO i need to do more long runs or should that be sufficient, bearing in mind i am on my own so on a windy day i am fighting it.

On the day i intend to draught as much as i can, a sort of train hard fight easy approach..

Brian B

CH - I have done many sportives and personal routes over the 100mile mark over the years but when training mostly I only do 30mile training routes when cycling local. When nearing a sportive I usually stop riding a few days before hand to rest the legs. I seem to be able to easily go over 100+ miles even with my low mileage but high intensity training. This year apart from my local training routes at 30miles I only did one 80 mile and a fifty mile ride before doing the fred whitton challenge and got a decent time.

Dont think you are over doing it but if you are tired dont force yourself to do more miles than your comfortable with as you need to recover to get fitter.

I always solo ride on sportives/events and dont usually form groups but other people draught me but I dont mind but some others do if you dont contribute.

Not an expert on anything but sometimes I(and most other cyclists I speak to) can go through a 'bad patch' during the century ride and its usually between 60-80mile area.

cheaperholidays

what are the best things to eat on the food stops

guillaume

...yes, i'd be prepared for some solo riding on yr sportive if i were you. i always like the idea of riding in a bunch but rarely find one where i'm comfortable with the speed for any great length of time. in my experience they either flash past me...or i find they're a bit too slow. last century i did i was on my own for the last 50 miles, during which i only saw solo riders - i think most of the groups had got split up by then.
good thing about longer training rides is that you can be confident that you are capable of the full distance...and you can work out what you need to eat/drink.
fwiw i seem to need 1 bottle water & 1 energy bar every 30 miles or so.

cheaperholidays

Thanks Guillaume

i have tried using carb gels every hour which were ok but the last 20 miles you tend to have that empty stomach feeling.

So i was wondering do those energy bars fill you up or can you recommend something, to actualy eat.

Garz

Banana's, flapjacks or jaffa cake bars go down well for me.

guillaume

bear in mind that whatever you take is going to end up unpleasantly warm, squashed & a bit sweaty. couple of energy bars usually do the trick for me. peanuts too for the salt, but they can be a bit hard to eat quickly.

cheaperholidays

Thanks every one much appreciated

Bananas and flapjacks look favorite

Garz

Oh and it's good to carb load the day before or even two days before depending on if you train upto the event day.

I found out the hard way going for a brisk 30 miler the day before one tough ride and paid the price.

ColinJ

I've had that happen to me twice. I thought I'd suddenly become a climbing god but when I stopped at the summits of the climbs I realised that a strong tailwind had picked up...

cheaperholidays

ColinJ wrote:

I've had that happen to me twice. I thought I'd suddenly become a climbing god but when I stopped at the summits of the climbs I realised that a strong tailwind had picked up...

Funny you should say that it was Windy on that day, for the first 26 miles it was like peddling uphill must be some sort of record that a 26 mile climb

Surprising how much a tail wind can help..

Does anyone think i should take in a few longer riders say 70 or 80 milers?

Brian B

A few 70/80 milers wont do any harm and will give you an idea how you will feel on the day.

I also use use flapjacks/energy bars on sportives and only use gels to top up the carbs but dont even count them towards my calories more just a pick me up. Soreen is also great cycling food and I use it when cycling big miles on my own.

If you suffer from cramp adding Nuun tablets or similar to your drink will help.

vs

cheaperholidays wrote:

ColinJ wrote:

peddling uphill must be some sort of record that a 26 mile climb]

Reminds me of the day in 2006 when I rode the Mount Evans Hill Climb in Colorado, 28 miles long, climbing 7000 feet from 7000 feet above sea level to the very dizzy heights of 14,000 feet high in the Rocky Mountains.

cheaperholidays

vs wrote:

Reminds me of the day in 2006 when I rode the Mount Evans Hill Climb in Colorado, 28 miles long, climbing 7000 feet from 7000 feet above sea level to the very dizzy heights of 14,000 feet high in the Rocky Mountains.

Blimey :shock: