bikerjp

I am doing my first group tour next month and the day one climb has me a bit worried. I'm not afraid of hills and do them nearly every ride, but most are short with steepish sections - like 1 mile climbs averaging 6ish% and maxing out around 10-14%. I'm heavy but can spin okay up the 6% stuff but never tried it for nearly 19 miles. My longest sustained climb was Vail Pass which is around 11 miles and a 4-4.5% average. I made it but it took me about 75 minutes and I stopped once to "take pictures".

Grand Mesa is longer and a bit steeper. Is there a way to gauge how long this is going to take me? Based on my Vail climb I'm guessing I'll be lucky to average 8mph. So maybe somewhere in the 2.5 hour range? Seem reasonable?

hamster

The hard part is the stretch from 6400' to 9600', 9 miles averaging 7%. Before and after that stretch it's milder (4-6%). Based on your numbers, I'd put you at 6 mph average through the steep section and 3 hours to do the full climb. What's your cadence at 6 mph in the lowest gear?

bikerjp

Thanks for the feedback. I guess my goal might be to break 3 hours. I have a compact with an 11/28. At 6mph in the 34/28 it's around 60-65rpm.

hamster

It's probably going to be painful. I'd try to get a 11/32.

RollCNY

I can't answer this specifically, but if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.

kenji666

Wow, what does Day Two look like?

bikerjp

Not sure that's an option with my deraileur but I don't think I need it. It will just mean maybe an extra break or two. I was more concerned about being caught out and swept up. 3 hours might put me on the outside of the range but I've got some time still to build a bit more conditioning and maybe drop a few more pounds.

Actually, day two looks fairly easy by comparison. It's a gradual uphill most of the day but I suspect it will still be felt.

You can check out the full ride if you want and I think they are still taking registrations if you are interested. Looks like it's going to be a really small ride (I've heard maybe only 30 riders with some additional day riders for certain days) but will hopefully grow in the coming years.

https://109west.com/route_01.html

merlinextraligh

^ You can play with this and it may give you some idea:

https://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

Use your data from Vail pass to give you a rough estimate of your sustainable power.

Then use that power number to plug in for the grades you'll be doing, and it will give you some idea of how fast you can be on the climbs on the ride you're traing for.

It will be a very rough estimate ,however, given the number of confounders you can't fully account for without pwoer meter data.

merlinextraligh

FWIW, I've ridden a fair amount in Colorado, including around Durango and Telluride.

Very little in Colorado is all that steep, the climbs are just long. You are going to be doing climbing that's steeper than Vail Pass, which is pretty gradual. But if you can climb Vail Pass, you can do these climbs, albeit a bit slower, and perhaps in one or 2 lower gears.

gc3

First day...your legs will be fresh...you can do it with 34-28. Just pace yourself...weave back and forth if it gets really steep. Won't hurt to find some other short climbs to train on beforehand, so you get comfortable with powering through the steep sections if you have to.

Phantoj

You've got a month! Get yourself into top form, pace yourself, and you'll be fine.

squatchy

You'll be all right. That climb is not to long or steep and it doesn't top off very high either. I don't know where you ride in the front range but this might help. Divide the climb in half as well as the gain. So now,,,, with that in mind, youre climbing just a little more than Lookout MNt and you have 10 miles to get it done rather than 4.

You should be trainning on rides like Deer Creek, City View, Lookout Mnt, Golden Gate Park or some of the Boulder stuff to be getting ready for this tour.

I just did a 3 day event down in that area and it's the Lizardhead Pass day that would have my attention That was a 110 mile day and it was very hot that day. Start earlier than the tour orginizers say to if you can. You'll avoid more wind and heat if you get started earlier.

merlinextraligh

Do a couple of repeats up Flagstaff, and you'll be good to go.

Good thing is that it's all downhill from Lizardhead to the finish in Telluride.

bikerjp

Thanks for the link and the info. I don't doubt that I can make it, I'm just not sure how long it will take and how cooked I'll be. Vail was last summer but pretty sure I was already using my lowest gear much of the time. Maybe I'm in a bit better shape now (hopefully).

I live in FC so Boulder isn't an easy option. Might drive down in July and do a ride or two. Around FC I ride west over to Masonville and down to Carter Lake quite often. Lots of short, steeper hills and the climb up to Carter Lake (north side) is a bit of a beast. I need to find time to ride Rist a few times too but since the fire I've been reluctant to go over there. Maybe it's not too bad now. I heard last year the locals were not too friendly to cyclists (and tourist in general).

asgelle

Ophir (2 miles @ 4%).

Brian Ratliff

2.5 hours might or might not be reasonable, however, when you say 2.5 hours, realize that you need to pace for 2.5 hours. You cannot climb a 2.5 hour hill the same way you can a 40 minute hill. You need to back way off your usual pace.

I only say this because I made the mistake of riding the first half of a 2 hour climb like it was a 1 hour climb. I was really hurting come the second hour. For some reason my brain did not process that it would be a 2 hour climb and what that meant. It meant I have to pace myself way more than usual. If you find yourself anywhere close to your 1 hour threshold effort, you need to back way the hell off.

bikerjp

Thanks for the tip. I was planning to ride it easier than normal but given that it's a downhill run to the finish after the climb if I empty the tank I can just cost.

merlinextraligh

Well it felt like downhill once you were over Lizardhead. I guess the mind forgets pain.

asgelle

I just did it twice over the weekend. It's too soon to forget (I also remember the one big and one small roller I had to pedal over on the way down.)

Brian Ratliff

Unless you are cramping from the effort. There was a long downhill at the end of my climb as well. Didn't enjoy it one bit; spent the whole way down trying to keep my legs turning. Dehydration played a role though.

bikerjp

Point taken. Was planning to take some pics and maybe do a ride report so I'll include info on how badly I sucked

valygrl

X=Vail Pass
Y=Grand Mesa

Grand Mesa is a very steady continuous climb. There are no very hard parts and there are no very easy parts. It's OK to stop and take a break.

You'll be fine. It will take however long it takes, it's a tour, not a race. Eat and drink early and often, but not a lot at once.

I climbed it on an 85 pound tour bike.

bikerjp

Cool. I carry my extra 85 pounds on a different frame

It may not be a race but I don't want to be last. No red lantern prize.

aramis

Good advice. For me the pace I choose to do a long 2+ hour climb requires me to feel like I'm barely even working at the bottom, which allows me to push hard at the end. Think putting it in the 28 rear sprocket and going a normal cadence (80-90 rpm). Better to have energy to finish hard then to blow yourself up halfway and crawl up the 2nd half.

Hermes

OP, Calculate your VAM for Vail Pass. You can probably do a similar VAM for Grand Mesa. Google VAM for the formulas. VAM is vertical feet per hour in meters.