Originally Posted by
jeepseahawk
I am doing this charity ride and hoping I have not went over my abilities. I can ride 50 miles no problem but very little elevation gain on those. This one seems to have 3000 feet at the end for a total of one metric century. I have been putting in 75-100 miles a week and since started to attack this small, but steep hill for strength. This is the course below.
It goes from 3750 to 950 for half couse and slowly goes back up to 3750 the second half.
What's the name of the ride?
I think you can do this easily if you pace yourself.
My rough rule of thumb is that an elevation gain of 200 feet is like adding a mile to the ride, or about 15 miles here. But you'll also have the easy downhills on the first half. Some riders are going to hammer the downhill half, working as hard or harder as they would on level ground. Don't do that.
Of course, it all depends on the grades. I'm guessing the climb has some steeper parts and then flats or even short downhills. So you'll be able to recover during the climb.
If it is actually a straight 2% grade, that's easy for most riders, if you keep your pedal cadences up and your speed in check. I like having a heart rate monitor on long climbs. It helps to keep me in the heart rates that I know I can sustain for a long time, and not push too hard.
All my local hills are 350 feet tall or less. But I don't have any problems with long climbs on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I just pace myself and enjoy the scenery.