Chilly Hilly Clyde - 3000ft over 33 miles....thoughts?
 

As winter peeks from under the covers I need a challenge to keep in the saddle and stay on the weight-loss journey. I have made the decision to sign-up for the Seattle area "Chilly Hilly" in February. I presently weigh 289lbs (down from 316lbs) and want to be at around 260lbs by February in time for this ride. Thoughts:

Is this ride suitable for a clyde at my weight? The route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...land/114105661

I intend switching my regular riding to three nights a week of 8 mile rides of a 600-800ft climbing route. Along with a weekend 30 mile ride with climbs (TBD). Good start?

I ride a 2010 Roubaix Comp - stock. Should I change anything out for the climbing?

Thanks all - Im excited :)

There's 2 people who ride it on 36" unicycles. You'll be fine. The course is mostly rolling, and the BIG BAD HILL that everyone warns about is only an 8 or 9% grade for around a half mile. For a couple years in a row, I rode from Redmond Ridge down to Wilmot Gateway and took the trail down to the U District and headed into downtown for the ride. The ride home made it a century.

Piece of cake!:thumb: If Gina can do 2200 ft in 8 miles, you should be able to easily do 3000 in 33. Elevaion graph looks like gentle rollers and nothingt long or steep.

Believe me, Gina is no climber and she "Just Do"'s it!:D

The Chilly Hilly definitely isn't too difficult for a Clyde, and you'll enjoy some of the food there. :D

That's a start. You'll want to be going further and doing more climbing before Feb, though. And you'll find it easy to push your mileage ( and ascent ) up by then, if you keep riding. Obviously, the number of miles on Bainbridge doesn't make this a long ride; people mostly complain about the rollers, and of course about the weather. If you find hills not taking so much out of you, it's really not a terribly challenging ride.

You can always take the ferry one day in advance and check out the course. :D

Thanks all for your words of wisdom. "2200ft in 8 miles" - I didnt know that was even possible :)

Sounds like it is a very doable ride - it will be a challenge for me as hills are my achilles heel.

Got home last night and rode the following:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/49889985

Not earth-shattering but over 500ft, 7 miles in 45 minutes. Heavy rain and nasty conditions - it was great! :)

Only 9mph average as I took my 2005 Blur out as (like Sam Malone and his "Vette"), I dont ride the Roubaix in the rain....that Blur sure is one heavy bike on a hill.

I should add that I have been riding regular "non-hilly" nightly runs for some time now. This "more-hilly" ride left me rummaging through the pantry like a mouse. I need to control it but I was so hungry for the rest of the night - not normal behavior!

That's pretty typical for a lengthy mountain pass road. Highway regulations state that you can't have a grade steeper than 7% (IIRC), and 2200' over 8 miles is a 5.2% grade. Look at Snoqualmie, Stevens, Blewitt, Washington, Cayuse, and Chinook Passes for some rides around here with that sort of climbing. The Stevens Pass Summit from Index to the top is a nice ride on SR-2. Wide shoulder, great views, 16 mile progressively steeper climb to the summit from Skykomish.

As a goal oriented person and clydesdale myself, I say "GO FOR IT!" These's nothing like dangling a carrot out in front of yourself for motivation.

I've done Chilly Hilly, STP (in one day), RAMROD and the Vancouver to Whistler GranFondo. We're blessed with a number of hills in the Seattle area that can whip you into shape. A training partner and I have a short loop of about 20 miles that has approximately 4000 feet of climbing (Somerset, Lakemont, the Zoo Hill up to the top of Cougar Mountain and Newcastle Golf course) and after doing it once a week for a few months really helps to put things in perspective. Also, hill repeats work! They're not easy, but really effective.

Here's a test for you: If you can ride the loop around Mercer Island 2x in a row, going counter-clockwise, you are more than ready. The Mercer Island loop is easier than Chilly Hilly, but if you can do it twice (which would be about 28 miles) you can easily "stretch" to do the Chilly Hilly, which is a bit hillier.

You should really work on getting a lot more miles in and I think your weight loss goal between now and then is a bit underwhelming unless you are 6'10" its 5 months away, you can probably drop a lot more than what your planning.g too. It will help a lot with climbing.

I rode the 204 mile STP in July so Im not too worried about getting in miles as I have stuck to my regular training since then - its hills I want to hit. Also, seeing as I was 315lbs+ for the last 15 yrs (started biking in March), I will be thrilled to leave my present weight of 280's and enter the 260's :) Im very easily pleased!

okay, i'm on my computer not on my phone screen so i can elaborate more. Even if you do 8miles with 800 feet of elevation, thats not a killer of a ride. I do a 6 mile lap in central park that has one big hill and a bunch of rollers and it works out to 100ft a mile easily. I do one 6 mile lap in 20minutes. You still need to do longer rides with hills to improve. The volume of work, even if it is 3 days a week isn't that high. I think your better served mixing it up more. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just giving you honest feedback. I'm 235 and I do 30 mile rides with 3000 feet of climbing all the time. yesterday I did 40 miles with 5500 feet of climbing to get prepared for my first century on saturday.

Finally, the fact that you have already done a 204 mile event makes this ride sound like a joke to me. You've got this one in the bag as is. I like your attitude of setting a goal to stay motivated but it sounds like your goal should be to do this ride twice!

It will be a piece of cake if you keep riding through the winter.

What I can't figure out is how to find total elevation. Looking at the link above I see 1181 ft ascent and 1191 descent. I one of my last rides I had 1873 ascent and 1445 descent (I missed recording part of the ride). I've done a loop before and it still shows a difference of ascent and descent even though my driveway hasn't risen since I left.

In 5 months, that's about 2.5 pounds a week which is a reasonable, if not above average, goal.
Underwhelming? Horsepucky. This is a perfectly healthy goal. Even 1 pound per week less is a healthy goal.

2200 ft in 8 miles, actually close to 2300 in 8.9 miles. If you've seen my climbing videos, this is the road Gina has been climbing in the videos. Glendora Mountain Road in Glendora Ca. coutesy of mapmyride.:D

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5900/capturevzj.jpg

Did you really need others to help you decide to do this? I don't think so. Your heart said Yes I Can before your fingers hit the keyboard. :-)

I agree - but I am still at the "am I biting of more than I can chew" stage. Sounds like its a go :)

I rode another 12 miles of hills last night in 60 degree weather. By the time I got home I was like a sponge - I sure do overheat easily :)

Well ... it's not the world's most difficult ride. But it's really not fair to call it a joke. You should come out in February and join us.

"Everybody says don't,
Everybody says can't,
Everybody says wait around for miracles,
That's the way the world is made!
I insist on
Miracles, if you do them,
Miracles - nothing to them!
I say don't,
Don't be afraid!"

- "Everybody Says Don't", Stephen Sondheim.

I'll be there - However, I will overtrain. Ive seen some pics of "Baker Road Hill" - yikes ! My goal is to not walk any of the hills :)

Your math is WAY off. He weighs 289 now. Wants to get to 260 by february which is 5 months away. Thats 29lbs/ 5 months =6lbs per month. That is a shade over 1lb per week. Don't get me wrong, it would be great if he gets that. I'm simply stating that if he's really going to aggressively train, he would do himself a greater service to spend 4 months not even riding a bike and focusing on losing weight and then get back on the bike one month before the event. Training will certainly help him, but shedding lbs will get bigger bang for the buck a lot faster than training hard.

For someone who is close to 300 lbs, unless they are WELL over 6 feet tall, they can probably easily lose 2lbs/week if they stay focused which is easier said then done when you are talking about a time period that includes the holiday's and the heart of winter.

Long day and low comprehension moment. I was calculating off the 315 and totally missed the 289. D'oh!

Wahoo! Its over. I completed the 2011 Chilly Hilly..... ;)
It was so cold with rain, snow, wind and a little ice. I did complete the ride and had to stop on the two big hills - to me, they were HUGE. Took me a little over 3 hours as I was holding back a little to make sure I did not burn out prematurely.
Great ride -but I did find it challenging :)

Congratulations:thumb: Those would be hibernation conditions for me.

Did you get video? Sounds like those were perfect conditions to test the waterproof feature of the Playsport:)

Great! I told ya it was possible. A little patience on the hills, you got it!:thumb:

We didn't see much in the way of snow or rain during our ride. The first ferry left at 7:55-ish, and we were at the finish line around 11:15. There were some light sprinkles the second half of the ride, and at the top of the taller hills is was almost snow, but the worst part of anything was just the wind. Holy cow, it was windy and the wind was cold!
Good on ya for finishing the ride and knowing well enough how to pace yourself to finish strong. I saw a lot of people zip past me on the flats and downhills, pedaling like mad, only to burn out halfway up the next hill!