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Old 02-06-12, 12:38 AM
  #6  
Drew Eckhardt 
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Location: Mountain View, CA USA and Golden, CO USA
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Bikes: 97 Litespeed, 50-39-30x13-26 10 cogs, Campagnolo Ultrashift, retroreflective rims on SON28/PowerTap hubs

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Originally Posted by floatsinwater
I got the overall message that I should just stop whining and just climb more... I'm curious what you guys do to succeed in climbing long distances. Which of the above do you do, what cassette do you use, how much water do you bring, etc. Is there a more efficient climbing form for big guys compared to other riders?
Ultimately you're limited by your power to weight ratio at the time intervals of interest. By the time you get to a big highway overpass those limits are aerobic and different muscle recruitment/pulling up on the handle bars/etc. aren't going to help. By the time you get to half an hour of exertion you'll be limited by your ability to clear lactate from your blood stream.

Setting a sustainable pace and ignoring whatever anyone in front if you is doing will help a lot.

Beyond that fixes are to

1) Loose weight (many of us have more room for improvement here than with better fitness)

2) Gain power (get a training plan and follow it making your tough days hard and rest days/weeks/months easy enough to recover)

3) Get lower gears so that when power to weight ratio limits make you slow you can deliver the power you need at a cadence high enough to be non-fatiguing.

Last edited by Drew Eckhardt; 02-06-12 at 12:46 AM.
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