Training for Winnats, without Winnats

ugo.santalucia

The HC section is cattle grid to cattle grid. I don't have a lot of opportunities (might be none) to try, so it would be nice to have a smaller gear, just in case I grind to a halt... on the other hand the road should be closed to traffic, so a bit of zig zag might be an option.

As a matter of fact, I don't even know how easy it's going to be to get a spot. Last year it was "free for all", but this time they have fewer places for grabs and they will inevitably prioritise women*

* not that I have anything against the idea, but they seem to go look out for them among club riders who wouldn't even think about doing that, rather than actually prioritising entries

DeVlaeminck

Looking at your power to weight pretty sure you'd be fine with the 25 unless you are a very spinny climber. You'd be in the small ring so chain line should be ok I'd have thought ? I've only ever done club hill climbs so you'd know more than me.

ugo.santalucia

DeVlaeminck said:

Looking at your power to weight pretty sure you'd be fine with the 25 unless you are a very spinny climber. You'd be in the small ring so chain line should be ok I'd have thought ? I've only ever done club hill climbs so you'd know more than me.

Yeah, I'll be fine... in a race I am always one or two sprockets harder than on a normal try run... plus you make do with what you've got.

Need to get there though... :-)

bobmcstuff

ugo.santalucia said:

The HC section is cattle grid to cattle grid. I don't have a lot of opportunities (might be none) to try, so it would be nice to have a smaller gear, just in case I grind to a halt... on the other hand the road should be closed to traffic, so a bit of zig zag might be an option.

As a matter of fact, I don't even know how easy it's going to be to get a spot. Last year it was "free for all", but this time they have fewer places for grabs and they will inevitably prioritise women*

* not that I have anything against the idea, but they seem to go look out for them among club riders who wouldn't even think about doing that, rather than actually prioritising entries

I think entries will be hard to come by - they were all oversubscribed at the end of last year too weren't they. Couple of guys in the club are hoping to ride it too (I'm not!).

I've always ridden it with a 34:32, and I do use the 32 on the steep bit but I guess it depends on context as I have never tried to race up it in a one off climb, only on longer rides from south Manchester.

legendary_27

I think that rather than worry about getting up climbs, you probably need to try to build up time in the saddle. You are probably going to be spending 10 hours plus on the bike, so you want to make sure that your contact points are up to it. Anything you can do to spend extra time in the saddle will definitely be beneficial. This may be stating the obvious, but if you haven't spent time on it already, work on your fuelling strategy and consider your gloves, shoes and bibs (+ chamois cream).

Apologies if this is all stuff that you are well aware of !

ugo.santalucia

bobmcstuff said:

ugo.santalucia said:

The HC section is cattle grid to cattle grid. I don't have a lot of opportunities (might be none) to try, so it would be nice to have a smaller gear, just in case I grind to a halt... on the other hand the road should be closed to traffic, so a bit of zig zag might be an option.

As a matter of fact, I don't even know how easy it's going to be to get a spot. Last year it was "free for all", but this time they have fewer places for grabs and they will inevitably prioritise women*

* not that I have anything against the idea, but they seem to go look out for them among club riders who wouldn't even think about doing that, rather than actually prioritising entries

I think entries will be hard to come by - they were all oversubscribed at the end of last year too weren't they. Couple of guys in the club are hoping to ride it too (I'm not!).

I've always ridden it with a 34:32, and I do use the 32 on the steep bit but I guess it depends on context as I have never tried to race up it in a one off climb, only on longer rides from south Manchester.

In the end they had places left last year... and then when you add those who couldn't travel because they were in tier 3, it turns out there were plenty of places.
Always worth ticking the "reserve" box, there will be many who can't turn up on the day.
I have signed up for 3 Open qualifying events, might end up doing 4 maybe, but I am not going to travel the length of the country co race every weekend. If it doesn't happen ,it's not the end of the world. It's nice to be there, but I pretty much make up numbers, I'd do very well to be outside the bottom 20% in the mens' race. As race goes, I got more buzz out of other events where I was beaten by seconds, rather than minutes.

bobmcstuff

Well, I'll cheer you on if you're there - I'm going to be riding out and watching for sure.