Originally Posted by
Barrettscv
When I lived in northeastern Illinois, a lack of hills made it difficult to climb more than 1500 ft in a day. My big climbing days were few and far between and required a road trip to Wisconsin or a vacation in Italy. There, I could climb more than 6000 ft on a long, hard, day.
Now that I can find a few local routes that can provide 6000 ft of climbing and I'm starting to wonder: How much climbing can a 50+ cyclist do? What is your one-day climbing maximum? How often do you climb several thousand ft in a day?
IMO, a 50+ cyclist can climb as much as he/she wants to and it is not age dependent. It depends on genetics, preparation and opportunity. Generally, lighter riders are better climbers but not always.
IMO, the accumulated climbing recorded by Garmin and other devices is interesting but may be misleading. For example, recently I was at a training camp in Tucson and climbed Mount Lemmon. The ride starts at 3,300 feet and the top is 9,100. We climbed to 8,500 with a climbing distance of 21.5 miles @5% average grade and 5,200 feet of elevation.
The first 7 miles was brutally hot 100 degrees. The next 7 miles was cooler with some shade and I felt better. The final 7 miles was much cooler but the oxygen was less and power production less. I really suffered the last couple miles.
If I ride rolling terrain with climbs and descents that total 5,200 feet of climbing at lower altitude with moderate temperature, it is much easier.
I moved to SoCal from NorCal last year. At my new location, I do not have the amount of climbing with longer climbs available so my opportunity for more climbing is limited.
IMO, an interesting discussion is why climbing is different from flat to rolling. I have found that I have to practice climbing to be better at climbing and practice flat terrain to be better at flat terrain.
This article discusses the difference riding on flat terrain and climbing and why some cyclists are better at one or the other.
https://cyclingtips.com/2013/09/clim...-are-affected/
The simplest way to think about this whole situation is that your muscles need to contract quicker in a high kinetic energy situation (i.e. time trial) than in a low kinetic energy situation (i.e. climbing). Time-trialling recruits more fast-twitch muscle fibres even though you may be at the exact same cadence and same power as when you’re climbing. Depending on your physiological make-up, you will likely be better at one than the other.