Originally Posted by
VegasJen
I like to think I'm in pretty decent shape for my age and condition. I seem to have this opinion despite continually being humbled. Some of you may recall my thread
HERE about taking my TT bike through the Red Rock scenic loop, which features about 5 miles of near continuous incline averaging about 4% with a peak over 10%. In that ride, I had to dismount and walk the bike up almost a mile of the route.
It was suggested that the TT bike was really the wrong kit to be riding that route, and that I would be better off with one of my road bikes with better gearing for climbing.
So today I was once again in Vegas and took in my Roubiax with 3x9 gearing. Starting off, before I even got into the scenic loop, I'm going up the road (probably only a 2-3% grade) and get passed by a guy on a Tarmac. I felt like I was cruising along pretty good, but this guy passed me like I was having a picnic.
We both got into the scenic loop and he took off but I just wanted to keep him in sight, use him to help pace me, but he bugged out and I just couldn't hang. Once again, around 3.5 to 4 miles into the loop I was really struggling to keep going. I never did dismount and walk, but honestly, the thought did cross my mind on several occasions. By the time I finally got to the summit of the loop, I was still on the bike, but probably not going much faster than a walking pace anyway.
This is distressing because I was considering trying my hand at the Mother Load 200 sometime in the next couple years, but there is a lot more elevation change in that ride. I guess I need to just come to terms with the fact that I'll never be at that level.
You need realistic expectations
A bike that weighs 5 pounds more is going to slow you down very little on a 3% climb. If you weigh 150 pounds working at 200 watts, adding 5 pounds to the bike will slow you down by about 0.2 mph oe around one linear foot every 3 seconds. So, you might lose 1/4 mile on a longer climb and sure, when you get to the top they are gone. I say good riddance. Ride at a pace that you can handle. This is your challenge.....pacing.
I would never pace myself against another rider, especially someone I did not know. For instance, I did 200km yesterday with nearly 10,000 feet of climbing. I enjoyed the first hour riding with a younger and much stronger rider. At the base of a very difficult climb, I thanked him for the chat and said I know my limits and rode the climb at a power level that worked for me. If I tried to keep up with him, I might have barely been able to stay in touch. If you do not have a power meter, a heart rate monitor works fairly well once you are really into the climb (slow component delay). If you want to go faster on climbs, increase power, lose weight, and master pacing and there will still be hundreds of riders faster than the new you.