ancker

I raced the Tour of Galena Road Race this weekend (tourofgalena.com). The climbs were brutal. Before this race I'd never ridden anything with more than maybe 5-10% grade. And VERY short at that.

I intend to do MUCH better next year. My problem is that it's a four hour drive and there are no real hills to speak of within a reasonable driving distance near me. (Champaign, IL)

My question is how do I train for climbing when I don't have any hills to ride? I'm only about 5'6" - 150lbs so I'm not fighting a ton of weight. I could probably lose another 10lbs. That will be my winter goal. I'm sure this will help some, but it certainly won't be a replacement for training. What can I do?

Garmin Data from the race: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/91721664

aham23

you just need a bigger base. 25 miles and 1500 feet of climbing isnt that much. with a bigger base of fitness you "should" be able to power over those short steep hills. plenty of flatlanders from Chicago went up to Galena and did very well. good luck. later.

TheKillerPenguin

You've got wind in the midwest, no? Do intervals into the wind. Power is power.

mollusk

+1

And do the riding on the tops or standing.

I has been over 30 years since I used to ride around Champaign, but I seem to recall some small hills riding on the west side of the Sangamon River between Monticello and Mahomet. They weren't much, but it is really flat around there.

ancker

Indeed. I've been doing 70-100miles a week since about November. I realize this isn't enough to have a large amount of fitness yet, but it's not like I've been slacking either. My goal isn't to just simply make it over the hills. I want to make it over with the group and possibly contend for top 10s. Also, I realize these hills aren't exactly mountains, but they feel like it compared to what I'm used to riding. I plan on getting closer to 150 miles/week but I want to throw in some hill training to get me used to that type of riding.

I'm doing SufferFest intervals. Maybe not as many as I should. It's a lot harder to do Intervals outside, but I'll work on it.

The_Cretin

Assuming you have a 700C front, get a 650C rear wheel to simulate climbing.

echappist

No offense, but unless if you made a typo in entering your height, 5'6" at 150lbs is actually quite a bit. While strong cyclists come in all shapes and sizes, having a lb:inches ratio of 2.40 will mean that you won't be climbing well unless you are exceptionally strong (read, former national level rider who now has a belly).

If i were you i'd forget about all the climbing races this season. We all like to climb well, but given your physique, you have quite a ways to go. If you want to make it in the top 10 in a Cat4/5 race, you better have a FTP close to 3.8w/kg. I was at 3.9x at 5'8.5" and 152lbs when i finished 5th out of 60 plus in a climbing intensive stage.

While getting to 3.8w/kg may be doable (read, genetic freaks like waterrockets) on 8hrs/week, this is simply not enough to build a decent base for most. For the rest of the season, race for fun and learn how to move through the pack (something i'm still working on). When the season's over, build your base and cut weight during base.

caloso

Flatlander here. In my best climbing shape I was about 4.0w/kg. It took a lot of intervals into the wind and cutting every last gram of crap out of my diet. For 6 weeks before the event: no chips, no pretzels, no candy, no cookies, no fries. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it, and it's doable.

ancker

No offense taken. I'm probably closer to 5'7" but that doesn't make the ratio much better. I'm working out (riding) on a limit amount of time and realize I'm not going to be fighting for podiums unless the field all crashes out in front of me. This sort of thing is what I need to hear to help motivate me to drop even more weight than I planned. I'm not looking to be a great climber as a result of this, I just don't want to suffer as much.

Luckily (I guess) that was probably my last race for the season. I drove four hours to get to it and I can't find any other road races within 5 hours. I like racing but that's a lot of driving for a 1-2hour Cat 5 race. I've done one crit and had fun but don't think they are my cup of tea. I enjoy being able to finish a race instead of being pulled out because the Cat 4 (that should be a 3) is getting close to lapping me.

Calculating FTP and w/kg is going to be a bit difficult for me. I don't have a PowerMeter. I would love to get a PowerTap but I'd have a hard time deciding whether to put it on my 'trainer' bike or the bike I ride on the road. Swapping cassettes day to day would be a pain. The quarq look awesome but are expensive and would only work on one bike. Maybe some day.

I guess I'll just train hard and try to lose some weight.

STP

I live on the Great Plains and you're right, wind is our mountains. The only problem is that they don't have downhills! An interval workout on flat ground against a 25 mph headwind is staggeringly hard. I remember an interview in the 80's with Scott Moninger (Wichita, Kansas native) and, I believe, Steve Tilford (Topeka, Kansas native) and they were asked why flatlanders made good climbers and they said it was because of the endless hills...wind!

I also remember a more recent question posed to Lance Armstrong about how to become a better climber and he said, "...lose ten pounds!"

So, there you go.

echappist

that's as useless a "tip" as the "ride lots" that Merckx quipped.
in my opinion, a PM is the best training investment you can make when you don't have much time to train. A big problem with HR is cardiac drift, which for a long endurance ride can be 10 bpm higher than what the top of your Z2 HR is, despite putting out the same power. Furthermore, few hours necessarily means that you want to get in tempo and subthreshold rides when not doing weekend long rides, and those are more effectively monitored with a PM. A PM tells you that you are hitting your target, and there will be less "filler" time. If it makes things easier, just train on your carbon bike while on the trainer. Most of us have only one bike to train.

As for getting your threshold power up despite the limited hours, i'm a firm believer in doing a long base ride on the weekend and a few tempo/subthreshold rides during the week; this is basically my scenario, albeit i probably have a few more hours at my disposal. This will tune up your aerobic capabilities so that you can take full advantages of threshold intervals. Obviously, the limited hours won't be ideal, but if you maximize it, you can still gain quite a bit. I would personally not do any Z2 rides shorter than three hours as they probably won't be providing much adaptation, and i'd make sure to do the long rides solo to get maximal benefit. If you are concerned about climbing, you can always simulate the demands by grinding it out at a larger gear but a slower cadence when doing threshold intervals.

aham23

like i said, you need a bigger base followed up with some interval training. you dont need "hills" to be successful in a race like TOG, Hillsboro, O'Fallon, Spring Prairie (WI), or any other alleged hilly IL road race.

also, there are several crit races coming up this summer much closer than 5 hours to you. kankakee, morton, edwardsville, ect... this is the midwest and crit racing is what you get. as a CAT5 racing as much as possible is a good thing. good luck. later.

rbart4506

Listen to mcj...

I've got a Powertap and 2 bikes....In the winter it's easy since I'm stuck on the trainer, for that I use the back up bike...Once spring comes around and I'm outdoors, if I'm forced back to the trainer, then I just put the race bike on the trainer...

At my size and low power numbers there is very little risk to the bike....Cripes I race, so the bike has a way better chance of getting wrecked every Sunday

Also at 5'-9" and 135lbs I look like a climber, but I have not done any hill repeats since the spring...Races around here have limited climbing and the coach knows raising FTP and my anemic 1min power is the key to success...Once that comes the climbing will come along as well...

merlinextraligh

My 2cents on climbing for flat landers

https://everestchallengex2.blogspot.c...t-landers.html

caloso

Good post. It reminded me that when I was doing FTP intervals for Mt. Diablo I would push a bigger gear than normal to mimic the increased pedal force.

SalsaPodio

+1

I've raced against Tilford, and that guy can climb.

STP

I have both a single speed cross bike and a single speed 29er and I use both against the wind on gravel roads to build strength for climbing. My sprint and interval training are on the road, but there's nothing like only have one gear to keep you motivated to save momentum!