Originally Posted by
carpediemracing
If you're skinny/light then you'll probably be (relatively) okay in the hills, depending on your fitness etc. If you're heavy/not-skinny or have low aerobic capacities or both (like me) then all the training in the world won't help you climb with the big boys.
Yea, I am in no way expecting or trying to win this race at all. I'm doing it for fun and the experience since I have never even ridden anywhere out of my city. I'm just more concerned of actually being able to do the stage at my own pace before the clean up van decides to scoop me up.
Edit: Also I'm not very skinny or light. My goal weight is 180 (current 186.5, officially 60 lbs lost
) but don't want to get much less than that. I'll look even skinnier than the top pro climbers.
Originally Posted by
TrojanHorse
I'd drive up to Georgia some weekend and find a big long hill to ride up... you can certainly be fit enough to ride up any hills you'd encounter in the Dominican but hills are a mental challenge too, and it would be nice to just go do some and prove to yourself that you have what it takes. You probably have flatlander gears too, you might want to think about swapping those out if you have a really hilly event.
I thought about going to NC since I have relatives over there. But my other thought would be how many training rides would prepare me for the climb? Doing a couple of big climbing rides will help I'm sure, since I already have a good base fitness. And also for the pacing/mental aspect of climbs. I have been riding for a year now but taken it pretty seriously. I train often at pretty high sustained efforts with many of the racers in the area. But once the road points up, the problem I imagine having is pacing. I've gotten the bad habit of just sprinting up the bridge just to get it over with since I know it won't be long.
Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
Also living in Florida, and having done a number of races and events with serious climbing, I put together my take on it here:
http://everestchallengex2.blogspot.c...t-landers.html
Basically, climbing is a mtter of sustained power to weight ratio. So, you need to train to raise your sustained power output, which means lots of long intervals, such as 2x20.
I'm going to read up on that a little later. Seems like it'll help me the most since you can relate to my Florida problems. I haven't done 2x20's in a while, going to start interval work again once this semester is over.
Originally Posted by
Ferrous Bueller
No trainer work will prepare you properly for 19%.
Are there any parkades/garages near you with ramps? You could sneak in or bribe the booth attendant.
If that's not feasible, I'd advise intervals while applying the brakes. It's a far better hill simulation than just pushing a big gear. Try it (best if you don't have carbon rims, though).
There are some university campuses with parking garages, I can try and sneak in late at night and do some, but these are even shorter than the bridge I'm referring to and merlin stated it won't help much. If anything I'll just train on the bridge since it's legal and safer.