Losoccer14

There is a relay duathlon in Oregon (Pacific Crest) at the end of June 2008. I am going to be doing the bike portion (56 Miles). Here is my problem, I live in Michigan, there are no mountains here, in fact there are no large hills. It is my assumption that the Pacific Crest ride is going to have some large climbs, and I am curious what the most effective way to train for these would be, without traveling every weekend to another state?

thanks

Mouserue

You should talk to Ryanf. He lives in Michigan and tears up some hidden hills that I think only he knows about. Maybe he'd be willing to share their location with you?

Losoccer14

thank you for the help.....

merlinextraligh

I'm going to save this answer somewhere so I can cut in paste it every time this comes up.

I have some experience with your problem living in Florida, and having done various events that require a lot of climbing with some success. (e.g.Brasstown Bald Buster, Le Etape de Tour, and this year going to do the Everest Challenge.)

It is absolutely possible to train to ride mountains while riding on the flats.

Climbing is predominantly about power to weight ratio, and climbing large climbs requires you to put out lots of power on a sustained basis. So when you're doing a long climb you're going to be working at your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) for a prolonged period. The way to prepare for this is to do a lot of steady state intervals (i.e., long 10-20 minute efforts at your FTP, or LTHR, if you're trianing by heart rate.)

It's pyschologically difficult to train for mountains on the flats. Training on hills, the hill naturally pushes you to the intensity level you need. On the flats, you've got to push yourself to get to that same intensity level and maintain it. (which is where a power meter or heart rate monitor really helps.) Riding hard into sustained headwinds helps.


Beyond just power, there are also issues of muscle groups used, and position on the bike that can't be completely addressed just riding on the flat. The first really long mountain rides I did after training in Florida, I found that small muscles in my back started to fatigue. There are several ways to deal with this:

1) ride a lot deep in the drops. (it tends to simulate the hip angulation of riding on the hoods with the bike pointed up hill.)

2) ride on a trainer with the front wheel propped up to simulate climbing.

3) do core exercises for your abdomen and back.

I would suggest you not get sucked into by the advice to bust intense intervals repeatedly up small climbs, such as bridges, in your area. Such intervals have a place, but they're really training your anerobic system for short bursts, and they're not well adapted to build the sustained power you need for long climbs.
So bridge repeats are ok, but shouldn't be the core of your preperation.

And while you don't need to go to the Mountains every week, I'd suggest if you can, every couple of months drive to the closest decent sized climb, and test yourself. See how your trainings working, identify your limiters, and gain the confidence that you can ride hills.

Adgooroo

OP - I'm no hill-climber but I have a Spinervals DVD that concentrates on that. It basically ramps you up through harder and harder gears over about a 10-12 minute interval - then it does it again, just harder. You might want to get the DVD and add it to the routine Merlin mentioned above.

Phantoj

https://www.racecenter.com/pacificcre...idu/course.htm

The course for 2007 will be the traditional 56 miles and be mostly rolling hills over beautiful/scenic country roads. Gone for this year only are the steep climbs on the south and west sides of Mt Batchelor...


Sounds like in 2008 the steep climbs will be back.