Here's a quote from the Ride the Rockies web site:
The steepest sustained grade on Ride The Rockies is typically 6 to 7 percent. You can expect to climb grades of this ilk for ten uninterrupted miles. (Occasionally a route includes 15, or even 20 miles of continuous climbing.) Also occasionally, a route will include a short (i.e. 1/4 mile) stretch of road as steep as 10 percent.
This got me thinking (rare, but always dangerous). I began to wonder how CFC stacks up in comparison to some real mountain riding. Here is some data from the RtR site:
- Day 1: 98m - 4,700 feet of climbing
- Day 2: 44m - 700 ft.
- Day 3: 89m - 4,400 ft.
- Day 4: 36m - 2,200ft.
- Day 5: 43m - 2,800ft.
- Day 6: 61m - 5,700ft.
- Day 7: 51m - 3,700ft.
- Total: 422m - 24,200ft.
Clearly one of the challenges for any rider in these mountain events is the altitude, or lack of oxygen as it were. A cycling group called Club Hypoxia has a motto... "Oxygen or Altitude... Pick One!" Apparently you can't have both. Putting the altitude challenge aside for the moment, I started thinking about CFC again.
All this pondering got me searching for an e-mail that Al had sent me back in October after he did CFC 2006. It contained data regarding the 2004 CFC. At left is an elevation profile from the Sunday ride of that year (click on graph to enlarge).On this particular day, it looks like the route was 111 miles long with just over 10,000 feet of climbing. Al assured me the first day was just as tough. When thinking about this information in relation to what I had found about Ride the Rockies and Triple Bypass, I began to feel a little sick (in the best possible way). This "adventure" that is CFC includes 200+ miles and over 20,000 ft. of climbing in two days.
What is wrong with me??? (don't answer that)
One thing is becoming clear... The pain is coming. In the meantime, I'll continue to push and punish myself on the Five Mile Hill, Dixboro Hill, Kensington Loop and any other local hills I can find that can get my legs to burn. (That and order a new 12-27 cassette for the rear to go with my 50-36 compact crankset.)
ad augusta per angusta ~through trial to triumph,
J
3 comments:
The Columbus Fall Challenge looks like twisted fun, and I know you'll both enjoy it and do well at it. There is a big difference between continuous climbing and intermittent climbing (duh).
The kind of exhaustive climbs you hear about out west are of the exhaustive, relentless type, and the grades don't often exceed 6%. Of course, when they do, watch out!
Based on the elevation profile you posted, it looks like most of the CFC consists of rolling hills with a few longer, steep ascents and descents -- practically no flat stretches. At least with rolling terrain, you get a short breather in between fairly short climbs.
As the experienced climbers always say -- and this climber is no different -- "ride your own pace. Don't try to keep up with someone else if it's unsustainable for you for you will surely blow up." So how does one discover that sustainable pace? Lots of practice, paying attention to how the legs feel at all times, and using a heart rate monitor so you can see how hard your heart works in comparison to the power output/lactic acid burn of your legs. Find that threshold between sustainable pace and blowing up and learn to live there for long periods of time. And if you should wander into unsustainability, ease up a little bit. That little bit makes all the difference. My best girl slows waaaay down, and I've tried to tell her not to take such huge incremental steps up or down, but does she listen? Noooooooo.
Maybe you will though. You look like a fairly smart boy.
Also, I'd get a different cassette. 12-17 isn't much range (unless you mistyped 27), and the 17 doesn't pair up with the 36 in front very well if you're climbing anything steeper than 5%. It's good to have a granny gear, and your setup doesn't give you that happy option. Just a suggestion.
Now what are you doing reading this?! Get out there and train you lazybones!
Yeah, I meant 12-27. I priced them out yesterday. About a hundred bucks for a Shimano 105. Currently I'm grinding a 53/39 in the front with a 12-25 in the rear. About a month before DALMAC I plan on putting the 50/36 on with a 12-27. I figure this will give me about eight weeks to get used to the different gearing before CFC.
We have a few (short) 6-8% hills around here and I can get up them with the current configuration. I just know that I'd blow up spectacularly without making the changes though on the hard courses.
CFC (and maybe DALMAC just before) will be my first exposure to any real climbing. Most hills around here don't last very long. I have a loop at Kensington Metropark that has two hills on it that go about 6-8%. The loop is 3.5 miles.
I've seen a huge improvement in my riding since I started riding this loop a couple times per month. When I started timing my laps (early April) I was around 13+ minutes per lap. Last time I went (May 22) I averaged about 11:30 per lap.
Your advice will likely be just the ticket when the pain hits (and won't go away). As you said, knowing how to approach the threshold of tolerability will be key to surviving these rides.
Ok, now I must go work. So that I may go ride.
Out.
J
Glad to hear it's a 27-tooth instead of a 17! The 36-27 matchup will get you up and over 6% and 7% grades without grinding your knees too badly. I have a triple chainring (52-40-30) and a cassette (11-32) that allows me a 30-32 ultimate granny gear combination! I really only use it on the long 10% or steeper grades where the biggest concern is keeping my balance since I'm only going 5 mph!
One thing that helps me is to breath in cadence with my pedaling cadence, especially when I'm climbing hard. I breath all the way in with every two pedal strokes, then out the same. It works well with an 80-90 rpm cadence too. Doing this helps me breath very deeply and keeps me focused on that effort rather than all that lactic acid buildup and pressure points "down there".
Also, with the rolling hills -- and you surely know this by now -- pedal hard during the transitions between descent and climbs to get your momentum up. If the climb is short and sweet, I use that as an opportunity to stand up on my pedals, air those pressure points out, and keep my forward velocity up as I go over the top of each hill. Also, it looks and feels kinda cool!
Now, one more thing: Since this is an organized ride with aid stations and such likely spaced about 15 to 20 miles apart, use those five minute rest stops to not only refuel and rehydrate (duh!), but also find a place to lay down for a couple of minutes. "What?" you ask. "But I've been sitting and need to stretch my legs." That's true, but legs stretch quickly. Lay down and really rest at the rest stops! Don't be like all those other drones and dweebs who are wandering around trying to look cool in form-fitting spandex. Can't be done. Take a load off! Look at the clouds. It really helps.
When you're victorious, post your pictures and narrative about your manly experiences to your blog and to BikeJournal for careful scrutiny and enthusiastic approval!
We'll be kind, I promise!
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