"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Awesome Training Ride

A buddy and myself took the day off from work and went on a great training ride today. It was a 37 mile out and back with 3 or 4 major climbs both ways, I define a major climb as anything that is above 12% that last longer than a mile.

There was a 12 mile warm up, before we hit any real climbs, but after that it was climbing non-stop. The first climb was called a "little tester" but ended up being a very tuff little climb. It was about 17% for about a 1/2 mile, we both went up it too hard and I thought that I was in trouble. All the other climbs for the day were not going to be as steep, but there were for sure going to be a lot longer! The next climb came and we took it easy up the climb and made it to the top together, that was the last time that would happen! The next climb I decided I was going to test myself and see what would happen if I really tried to push it up these mini-mountains, I surprised myself and my buddy by makiing it to the top averaging right around 10mph, not the greatest but not too shabby either. We had one more climb and 15 miles until the rest stop that unfolded the same way, the decents were great, twice we both clocked 51mph! :eek:

On the way back I got a little crazy and decided to climb the last two climbs in the big ring (53x23), that was the hardest I have ever worked on the bike, but it felt great when I crested the hills in big ring still. I also managed to do all my climbing in the saddle, which was also a great feeling. We ended up with 74 miles and aprox. 5700 feet of climbing, it was a great day and I am already looking forward to doing it again. There was some talk of doing this ride once a month, if I started to do that I would truly be able to rule the Cat5's with a iron fist!!!!:D

Here is the elevation map of the ride, the two climbs circled are the ones that I did in 53x23:
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4172/vanderpoolridenz3.jpg

Yeah, that looks to be quite a ride. Where was it?

Good job pushing yourself.

Sounds like a good time :D

Just FYI - 53-23 has essentially the same gear inches as 39-17...so you'll get the same workout without stressing your equipment as badly as you do cross-chaining.

thats a long tempo ride for a cat5 racer, do that once a week.

anyways 12% for more than a mile i think makes as a catgory1 climb.

thats a long tempo ride for a cat5 racer, do that once a week.

Uh... WHAT??!! I don't know a single cat 5 (or 4, for that matter) who does 74-mile tempo rides with 5700 feet of climbing.

Those look like some great hills.

--Steve

Uh... WHAT??!! I don't know a single cat 5 (or 4, for that matter) who does 74-mile tempo rides with 5700 feet of climbing.

Well we don't know that it was a tempo ride. It might have been an endurance ride. But still that's a great course for training.

--Steve

Well we don't know that it was a tempo ride. It might have been an endurance ride. But still that's a great course for training.

--Steve

Maybe my terminology is way off, but there's nothing "endurance" or even "tempo" about 12% grades.

But whatever, it looks like a great ride, and congrats on the accomplishment!

Uh... WHAT??!! I don't know a single cat 5 (or 4, for that matter) who does 74-mile tempo rides with 5700 feet of climbing.


Come to reno for a week :D. Sat. team ride is up geiger grade(6% 8 miles 2000ft) down the other side, out to a small town, some small hills and back over six mile(actually 8 with 12% for the last 1/2 mile)

Or you can come to Japan. We have an endless supply of climbing. Last Thursday:

Cat 5 rider, 113 km, 2517 meters of climbing, avg spd 29.5 kph

A buddy and myself took the day off from work and went on a great training ride today. It was a 37 mile out and back with 3 or 4 major climbs both ways, I define a major climb as anything that is above 12% that last longer than a mile.

There was a 12 mile warm up, before we hit any real climbs, but after that it was climbing non-stop. The first climb was called a "little tester" but ended up being a very tuff little climb. It was about 17% for about a 1/2 mile, we both went up it too hard and I thought that I was in trouble. All the other climbs for the day were not going to be as steep, but there were for sure going to be a lot longer! The next climb came and we took it easy up the climb and made it to the top together, that was the last time that would happen! The next climb I decided I was going to test myself and see what would happen if I really tried to push it up these mini-mountains, I surprised myself and my buddy by makiing it to the top averaging right around 10mph, not the greatest but not too shabby either. We had one more climb and 15 miles until the rest stop that unfolded the same way, the decents were great, twice we both clocked 51mph! :eek:

On the way back I got a little crazy and decided to climb the last two climbs in the big ring (53x23), that was the hardest I have ever worked on the bike, but it felt great when I crested the hills in big ring still. I also managed to do all my climbing in the saddle, which was also a great feeling. We ended up with 74 miles and aprox. 5700 feet of climbing, it was a great day and I am already looking forward to doing it again. There was some talk of doing this ride once a month, if I started to do that I would truly be able to rule the Cat5's with a iron fist!!!!:D


Mike could post the route? This looks like a great training ride for my prep for Ft Davis. Thanks!

EDR, that is exactly what I am using it for. This is out in Vanderpool starting from Medina:
http://toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=XJPKWITILWXBVYS

We took it fairly easy on the flats on the way out and ended up with an average of 16.6mph, those 50mph decents helped a lot with that number.

Come to reno for a week :D. Sat. team ride is up geiger grade(6% 8 miles 2000ft) down the other side, out to a small town, some small hills and back over six mile(actually 8 with 12% for the last 1/2 mile)

Maybe most of the folks I know are just a product of full-time jobs and the fact that 80% of the races around here are industrial park crits, so nobody really goes on a 4-hour training ride... It does sound like fun, though...

Maybe most of the folks I know are just a product of full-time jobs and the fact that 80% of the races around here are industrial park crits, so nobody really goes on a 4-hour training ride...

Interesting. I hear all the stories about the guys who do 15-20 hours of training per week but I think most normal working stiffs don't have time for that much riding. I have about as much job flexibility as I can imagine and it's still pretty hard for me to spend more than about 10 hours per week on the bike, partly because I need two recovery days per week. I do try to get in one 3+ hour ride per week with an average wattage in the low tempo zone, though.

--Steve

Interesting. I hear all the stories about the guys who do 15-20 hours of training per week but I think most normal working stiffs don't have time for that much riding. I have about as much job flexibility as I can imagine and it's still pretty hard for me to spend more than about 10 hours per week on the bike, partly because I need two recovery days per week. I do try to get in one 3+ hour ride per week with an average wattage in the low tempo zone, though.

--Steve

12 hours is a long week for me... Average is probably 8-10. The longest of those rides is usually 3-3 1/2 hours on the weekend with the team. The vast majority of my riding during the week is 1-1 1/2 hours tops, and usually some type of interval workout or just recovery riding. And that was enough to finish near the front of the pack in the local 3/4 race last weekend. I think the key is targeting the training to the type of racing you do and just being smart about it. Sure, I could ride 20 hours a week and eventually stumble upon the training that I actually need to do, but I just don't have time for that. As I learned in a painful way last night, the Powertap keeps me working like I need to so I can be more effective in less time.

Uh... WHAT??!! I don't know a single cat 5 (or 4, for that matter) who does 74-mile tempo rides with 5700 feet of climbing.

it was a joke.

it was a joke.

Sorry, sense of humor must've been turned off when I posted that. ;)

i tend to have a 4 - 5 hour ride once or twice a week. mainly its because of my work hours keeping me off the bike for 3-4 days a week.

EDR, that is exactly what I am using it for. This is out in Vanderpool starting from Medina:
http://toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=XJPKWITILWXBVYS

We took it fairly easy on the flats on the way out and ended up with an average of 16.6mph, those 50mph decents helped a lot with that number.

Well I'm starting my long ride training right after Belltera, maybe we can hook up one weekend and do this ride. Are you racing Fayetteville or Bellterra?

Well I'm starting my long ride training right after Belltera, maybe we can hook up one weekend and do this ride. Are you racing Fayetteville or Bellterra?

I am thinking that I may do both, but who knows. I will PM you the next I am going on this ride, if I do not do Fayetville next weekend I may even do it then.