Please help...cycling query but there's maths involved.
blackpoolkev
Posts: 474
I've recently signed up to enter the "Lakeland Loop" sportive.The route includes Hardknott Pass from the west!
I live in a flat area,not ideal for recreating the type of challenge that I'm faced with.
How fast would I have to travel on a flat road to imitate the effort required to climb Hardknott Pass?
I'm 75kg.
I live in a flat area,not ideal for recreating the type of challenge that I'm faced with.
How fast would I have to travel on a flat road to imitate the effort required to climb Hardknott Pass?
I'm 75kg.
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Comments
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Climbing hardknott required you to stand and climb out of the saddle.
I reckon you should find a big hill near you, put it in a hrd gear and try and stand up all the way to the top.0 -
I'd recommend doing reps up the wall in your house.English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0
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Climbing hills is all about sustained hard effort (constant power) so just replicate that for the required duration.
Once you are happy with that increase the gears and do it standing.Yellow is the new Black.0 -
Going fast isn't the same at all as climbing.
Cav is brilliant at going fast but not as fast as others uphill.
You really need to find some hills - you need to be competent going up and down hills.
What gearing do you have on the bike ? And you might want to have shoes you can walk in ;-)0 -
cougie wrote:
What gearing do you have on the bike ? And you might want to have shoes you can walk in ;-)
34/29 SPD's 0 -
There is some good utube clips on hardknot pass and most seem to be walking.Looks an absolute pig of a climb so good luck.Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori0
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cougie wrote:Going fast isn't the same at all as climbing. You really need to find some hills - you need to be competent going up and down
Agreed but the OP already stated he has none, so he has to improvise.
Op - Add in intervals too as these will simulate going from steady effort to hard effort (as in up hills then not) and the recovery required in between.Yellow is the new Black.0 -
Cycle into a strong head wind. I would think your cadence up Hardknot will be low, so you need to do your hard efforts with that cadence so big gears required for training.0
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I know the OP has no hills but he would be better off making an effort to find some. You don't want the first time you see a steep hill to be the same time te roads are swarming with other cyclists.
The thought of Hardknott pass scares me and I've climbed the massive TdF mountains in the Alps.
STEEP !!0 -
Do reps of this segment:http://app.strava.com/segments/2941195
Don't try to blast up the first steep bit, instead hit it slow in a bigger gear and downshift accordingly. This still isn't close to the magnitude that is Hardknott but at least you'll get an idea of the gradients you'll be in for.English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0 -
cougie wrote:I know the OP has no hills but he would be better off making an effort to find some. You don't want the first time you see a steep hill to be the same time te roads are swarming with other cyclists.
The thought of Hardknott pass scares me and I've climbed the massive TdF mountains in the Alps.
STEEP !!
This would be my first thought and you may not need a 30% hill, 10% could be enough.
I'm off to the Hardknott this weekend (Coast to Coast in a day sportive) and live in Cambridge so I can sympathise with having no hills. However even around Cambridge you can find short hills of 10% so I put in an effort before the bottom to get my legs tired then hit the climb in a high gear to simulate a steeper slope.
For example take OP's lowest gear of 34/29. If you hit a 10% climb in a gear of 50/14 you'll be climbing roughly the same vertical distance per pedal revolution as a slope of 30% in a gear of 34/29. The disadvantage of this is that you'll be going faster and therefore have a more stable bike than on the Hardknott.0 -
blackpoolkev wrote:I've recently signed up to enter the "Lakeland Loop" sportive.The route includes Hardknott Pass from the west!
I live in a flat area,not ideal for recreating the type of challenge that I'm faced with.
How fast would I have to travel on a flat road to imitate the effort required to climb Hardknott Pass?
I'm 75kg.
You basically wouldn't, climbing is entirely different from flat and you can't really replicate it.
However you live in Blackpool, assuming you can drive that's not far at all from big hills.0 -
When I was a kid my gran had an exercise bike. To make it harder to cycle you had to turn a knob that was, in effect, a brake that was constantly on.
Would such a thing be replicable on a bike?0 -
Grill wrote:I'd recommend doing reps up the wall in your house.
About right!
I rode Hardknott and Wynrose for the first time this weekend, and they are a tough challenge for sure. I rode up both (walked around a 5-10 metre section around a corner of Hardknott as it was awash with oil and I didn't fancy my chances as I had seen a motorbike nearly lose it on the way down).
Hardknott starts steep, stays steep - Wynrose starts a little easier before ramping up.
Hardknott has some very challenging hairpins - keeping traction and keeping the front wheel down is very difficult, especially in the wet. The surface is very poor indeed, very corrugated and broken up. You MUST be on the outside of every hairpin - you will not make it up the inside. So keep an eye for cars and moderate your pace to let one down before you hit the hairpin.
The descent between Hardknott and Wynrose is very challenging as well - again, the surface is very poor indeed (probably worse than the ascent on the other side of it), so you will be hanging off the brakes as you bump over the corrugations, all whilst trying not to fall over the front of the bike.
There's then a little rest along the bottom of the dip before it starts to go up again - the climb of Wynrose is nowhere near as tough as Hardknott, but it still isn't easy and does get very steep again towards the top. Followed by another challenging descent.
Overall, very challenging pair of climbs. I have a triple, so it wasn't insane. But those on standards, or even compacts need to be in good shape to manage it.
There's a video of the weekend - go to about 12 minutes to see a rider, Ian, tacking beautifully - remember we had 500km in our legs when we reached Hardknott, so he is doing really well and climbed it far more elegantly than myself!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... HuM#at=8040 -
Ian climbs that like a champ.
Once again, well done on the Pendle. I'll ride the next one
English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0 -
What a great video thanks for sharing!
It looks particularly tough in the wet, might leave plans for an attempt for another year or two
Good luck to the OP0 -
Phil_D wrote:When I was a kid my gran had an exercise bike. To make it harder to cycle you had to turn a knob that was, in effect, a brake that was constantly on.
Would such a thing be replicable on a bike?
That's just what happens on a spin bike.
You could try spin classes and ask the teacher for lots of climbs, or get a turbo with variable resistance and ramp that up. But the OP really needs to find some half decent hills to play on.0 -
Wouldnt it be possible to get across to the dales or even the southern lakes for a day?Life isnt like a box of chocolates, its like a bag of pic n mix.0
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If you want to replicate a big hill without the necessary hills available, then use a turbo trainer and set it up as close as possible to replicate the hill.
Crank up the resistance – or select a harder gear – whichever is appropriate. Also, lift the front wheel up so that the bike is at an angle similar to the hill that you are to climb. This gives you the position on the bike to replicate the hill climb.
Make sure you have a turbo tyre though, as you could get through a normal tyre quite quickly
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Thanks for all the advice.There is a vicious little hill I know-http://app.strava.com/segments/624364-but it's a 42 mile ride there and back-two and a half hours of riding for a 100metre climb.
I could do hill repeats but I would still be spending lots of time cycling on flat roads there and back(I like riding my bike more than driving my car).I want to use that time on the flat productively.
Perhaps someone that has ridden up Hardknott or similar has some power output data and could compare that effort, to how fast a similar power output translates to flat roads.0 -
We've been trying to tell you that you can't translate riding flats to climbs, especially those as steep as Hardknott. Tony Martin is one of the best TTers in the world because of his ability to burying himself past threshold and ride through pain, but he is an absolutely shocking climber. You get better at hills by riding them, there is no replacement.English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0
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Solution is obvious. OP lives in Blackpool; hill reps up the tower! Faster than a tent.......0
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Superb video, thanks for sharing.marcusjb wrote:Grill wrote:I'd recommend doing reps up the wall in your house.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... HuM#at=8040 -
Wow! Great video,hats off to those guys in the video,,they are certainly not MAMILS!
@Blackpoolkev Good luck buddy on the ride,,,wish another Mucker all the best I do that hill at WREA GREEN on my 50 mile loop ,great little hill ,wish there was a few more round here? 0 -
Pumpkin Positive wrote:
Superb video, thanks for sharing.marcusjb wrote:Grill wrote:I'd recommend doing reps up the wall in your house.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... HuM#at=804
Great video............started watching and it made me late for work....oops.........
As an aside I saw a guy in the video riding with aero bars !! ..........have never seen it before on an audax, do many use these ?0 -
They are not common, but there are people that do use them (apart from PBP seasons as they are banned on PBP).
Partly for the aero side (particularly on flatter routes) and partly for comfort (for some people).0 -
After reading the overwhelming opinion that I should ride more hills, I put the bike in the car and headed toward somewhere a bit hillier.Seven hill repeats of "a vicious little hill I know" and a lazier loop to finish - 34miles/3100 feet.
The truth hurts and so do my thighs.0 -
Excellent0
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The Wrea Green link is definitely a GPS aberration, no steep hills round there! The steep side of Jeffrey Hill would be good for hill reps after a 20-odd mile ride at tempo.
http://app.strava.com/segments/11084980 -
Now been up the Hardknott and can honestly say that no other climb I've done even comes close. There was a climb within 10 miles of the end of the coast to coast sportive that I reckon was around 25% but even on that after 140 miles of riding I had no fear I would come to a halt and slowly topple over (forget being able to unclip in time, you're going down). On the Hardknott 10% gradient is a chance to recover.
Also don't underestimate the descent:12-15mph is the order of the day.0
