Originally Posted by HDTVKSS
is blood hill comparable to somthing like the 2nd (big)climb at akuna bay? is that the only major climb? is that the best place to attack on the course?
No. Blood hill is only 800m long and it hurts five times as much.
Guys will put in little attacks on the flat about 3km before Blood to sap the juice out of your legs. Then you dive down into a valley reaching about 60kmh before climbing 'Little Blood', a 400m pimple that you can grind over in a big gear if you are strong and silly. It pays NOT to be first over Little Blood if the pack is still all together.
Then you dive down into another little glen reaching 65kmh at the base of Blood Hill. Blood Hill is a 'creeper' at the bottom. The incline gets steeper gradually, and that makes it really hard to decide what gear to climb in. Once you are on the hill proper it is purely a tempo climb, but if you're in the wrong gear you will be out the back pretty quick. Serious lunges for the finish (which is 3.5km away) occur on the last 80m of Blood because it flattens out quickly at the top and you can make serious ground on anyone still climbing. Find a wheel and stick to it, no matter what happens, no matter what you legs are telling you. The pain will go away (sometime before June).