Training & Nutrition - how to train for hills in the flatlands?

a 50 mile ride I'm planning on doing this summer has a 17 mile long, 2% grade climb, going from 1500 feet above sea level to 3500ish feet above sea level (it's not an organized ride, just something I want to do).

i live on the texas gulf coast- there aren't any hills around here to train on... What would be the best way for me to train myself to attack (and survive!) this hill?

Thanks in advance

I wouldn't stress about it that much. That's only about 118 ft. of elevation gain per mile or 11 ft. for every one tenth of a mile. But to practice for it, try riding into the wind more often. They say 5 mph headwind is roughly equivalent to a 1 percent grade. Good luck.

They say 5 mph headwind is roughly equivalent to a 1 percent grade.

That's a nice little bit of information. Never heard that.

I got it off of this site: http://cptips.com/windrde.htm
Not sure how true it is, but the site does have some good info.

a 50 mile ride I'm planning on doing this summer has a 17 mile long, 2% grade climb, going from 1500 feet above sea level to 3500ish feet above sea level (it's not an organized ride, just something I want to do).

i live on the texas gulf coast- there aren't any hills around here to train on... What would be the best way for me to train myself to attack (and survive!) this hill?

Thanks in advance

If its not going to be this ride, it will be another ride and the one after that. You will always want to do the hills because that's part of cycling. There simply isn't a good equivalent to the hills. So you will have to get on the Amtrak and head for the hills.

Just think of that ride as a training ride for other hills. :)

I wouldn't stress about it that much. That's only about 118 ft. of elevation gain per mile or 11 ft. for every one tenth of a mile. But to practice for it, try riding into the wind more often. They say 5 mph headwind is roughly equivalent to a 1 percent grade. Good luck.

Being a cyclist who often rides grades of 8 - 9% in the Appalachians, I can tell you that a 2% grade is really nothing to get too excited about. If your goal is to try to maintain the same speed rather than the same amount of effort, then simply try gearing up slightly and going on the flats at a higher speed. This would be equivalent to riding at the same speed on a grade.

Also, if the ride starts and finishes in the same location, rather than a point-to-point, then there must be some downhill in there somewhere. You can go at a faster speed with the same effort on the downhill. Calculations in different studies have shown that you won't end up with the same average speed as if you had not had the hill (because you don't spend the same amount of time going down the other side) but with only a 2% grade, this won't have a very large effect.

a 50 mile ride I'm planning on doing this summer has a 17 mile long, 2% grade climb, going from 1500 feet above sea level to 3500ish feet above sea level (it's not an organized ride, just something I want to do).

i live on the texas gulf coast- there aren't any hills around here to train on... What would be the best way for me to train myself to attack (and survive!) this hill?

Thanks in advance

Howdy neighbor. I have the same thoughts on hills. I'll be doing the MS150 this year, and day 2 is looking intimidating. I am planning to do some riding up in Austin prior to the MS150. So I can get some experience with hills. Prior to that there is always the Kemah bridge for me.

Overpass ramps, car parkades, river valleys... repeat over and over.

ride above your LT level for extended periods of time.

this is a 50 mile one way ride from Medford Oregon to a resort in the hills... a friend is giving me a ride back to the airport a few days later.

There's very little downhill riding on this one- maybe 20 feet total

Howdy neighbor. I have the same thoughts on hills. I'll be doing the MS150 this year, and day 2 is looking intimidating. I am planning to do some riding up in Austin prior to the MS150. So I can get some experience with hills. Prior to that there is always the Kemah bridge for me.

hmmm.. i can try the overpasses on the Grand Parkway- those are 4% grades

Trainer--do high resistance intervals.

CTS (Carmichael Training Systems) has a climbing workout DVD for use on trainers which I would highly recommend.

In addition to the other posters' ideas (bridge repeats, into-the-wind efforts), I rode for hours on my trainer to prepare for the 6-Gap century (10,700 feet of climbing) last September. I wouldn't have survived the ride without the workouts.

Bob (a Florida "Flatlander").

Now thats a real climbing ride and if you have heat to go with it you can really see what kind of overall shape you are in.

Where was this ride located? I would like to add it to my century list for this year. Do you have a web address (or even the old-fashioned kind)?:)

Now thats a real climbing ride and if you have heat to go with it you can really see what kind of overall shape you are in.

Where was this ride located? I would like to add it to my century list for this year. Do you have a web address (or even the old-fashioned kind)?:)

Do a Google for the Dahlonega (Georgia) Chamber of Commerce. The ride is held on the last Sunday of September each year.

Warning: There is a Category 1 climb (Hogpen gap, featured in the Tour de Georgia) at mile 65, which is 7 miles of 7--15% vertical madness, immediately followed by a Category 2 climb (Wolfpen Gap) which I found to be as hard as Hogpen. Overall there are 6 major climbs of Category 2 and above. This ride will make you suffer.

Bob

Can't be any worse than the Blue Ridge Extreme in Waynesboro, VA. This one really kicked my butt. Six major climbs in that one too. This year I hope to be ten pounds lighter, though. Thanks for the info.

I'll check them out.

-Lillypad

Howdy neighbor. I have the same thoughts on hills. I'll be doing the MS150 this year, and day 2 is looking intimidating. I am planning to do some riding up in Austin prior to the MS150. So I can get some experience with hills. Prior to that there is always the Kemah bridge for me.

SpiderMike,

Except for the Bastrop/Buecher State Parks, which you can bypass, day one of the BPMS150
has more difficult climbs in my opinion. The stretch after lunch from Bellville to Fayetteville can be brutal for us flatlanders. I learned that the hard way my 1st year riding the MS150. The Kemah bridge is similar to the hills in the state parks, steep up and steep down, only there are several of them in a row.

cool... many HBC rides go through Bellville, so there's opportunity for hill training.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to do the MS150 this year... something that is actually more important for me is that weekend (and my Dad has MS- i'd love to ride for the charity)

SpiderMike,

Except for the Bastrop/Buecher State Parks, which you can bypass, day one of the BPMS150
has more difficult climbs in my opinion. The stretch after lunch from Bellville to Fayetteville can be brutal for us flatlanders. I learned that the hard way my 1st year riding the MS150. The Kemah bridge is similar to the hills in the state parks, steep up and steep down, only there are several of them in a row.

This is my first your for riding the MS150, your input is appreciated. Looks like I'll be getting a geared road bike after all.... dang. This should be added to the "flatlander training" rides for the MS150 - http://www.kingofjester.com/

This is my first your for riding the MS150, your input is appreciated. Looks like I'll be getting a geared road bike after all.... dang. This should be added to the "flatlander training" rides for the MS150 - http://www.kingofjester.com/

Holy cow!!! Take a look at the profile on that link. I guess if you climbed that a few times a day for a few weeks the MS150 would be pretty easy.

They say 5 mph headwind is roughly equivalent to a 1 percent grade.

Interesting formula. Since wind resistance in exponential, might we infer that 10mph is 4% and 20mph is 16% ? Anyone charted this? Just a thought.

Interesting formula. Since wind resistance in exponential, might we infer that 10mph is 4% and 20mph is 16% ? Anyone charted this? Just a thought.

The force needed to ride up steeper and steeper grades also increases exponentially. :)