nothing tastes as good as fast...
nothing tastes as good as fast...

Yes

Oh crud -- dead post drive by! lol.

(in case you didn't know, this is a reference to Kate Moss' motto "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". I have been informed by umd that this is not widely known)

I was thinking the same thing. Kind of good timing too. I am going to take my advice again. What I was doing then laid forth a good 1.5 years of good eating. I made it into the 168 range. I burned out hard at the end of last season and became a sugar/ bad food addict again. Weaning off and all is going well but I'm 187.....going to be a long slow early season. *sigh*.

My, what an incredibly large brain you have!!! It gave me a nose bleed.

"Wow, back from the dead. It's funny to read back through 2 year old posts "

You have to keep practicing the lost techniques of resurrection, lest the skill set can be completely lost.

According to what i read in "The Cyclist's Training Bible," a fit climber has 2 pounds per inch of body.I'm 5'8, 117 Pounds. I have 1.7 LBS per inch of my body. I'm not a totally good climber, but I know i'm better at climbing than sprinting and time trials. My endurance isn't bad either.

This is one of those instances where less is not more. Chances are you would be a stronger climber (and everything else) if you had more weight on you.

I'm still 17. I should gain a significant amount of muscular weight in my mid-20s. I still want to remain as lightweight and healthy as possible and see how well I do.

here is a climber benchmark -

Full name: Andy Raymond Schleck
Date of Birth: 10 June 1985
Country: Luxembourg
Height: 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight: 65 kg (140 lb; 10.2 st)


here is another profile of a NOT climber

Cancellara, Fabian
March 18, 1981
Married to Stefanie, daughter Giuliana
186 cm (6' 1")
80 kg (176 lb.)

Well, the formula is E=mgh, power is energy divided by time, so P=mgh/t, or t=mgh/P. If your power remains constant and your weight (m) drops 5%, your time up a climb will decrease by 5%. This neglects the air resistance and rolling resistance, which are small on what most of us would call a "climb".

In the real world, one of the best days I've ever had on a bike was when I dropped 22 lbs over the winter and then went out on a 12% climb that I had really struggled with the previous year. There was more to it than the single variable....I was in much better shape (lifting and spin classes all winter), but WOW, I felt like a different person compared to the previous attempt.

Well I have it fiigured out now. I am not to fat for cycling, I am too short. according to the 2# per inch rule I should be around 9 FT. tall!

2lbs per inch of body!

Ooohhh, the wifes not gonna' like that. The current 2.24 is meeting resistance.

I pretty much want to piss on all such theories when a fat guy passes me on a hill.

i did a PR attempt on Mt evans (one of the longest, steadiest pure climbs around) last june at 180 pounds, and hit 2h35m...

i raced it 2 months later at 170 lbs and finished in 2h25m. thats without any periodized or organized traniing plan.

i shoot for 160, and get there most seasons, just not last year for whatever reason. theres a huge difference in my climbing, but the key is to lose weight smart. you cant starve yourself of your cannibalize muscle and lose power. you have to lose slowly, and you have to do strength maintenence work (overgeared HC drills work for me) while youre losing.

Lol - it was worth going to the newer posts on this thread for this...

i'm at 2.2, my riding buddy is at 4.3 and i'll be damned if i ever catch him on a climb!

You want rule of thumb?

Increase in speed[%] = weight loss in [%] * (1- u^3)/(1+2u^3)
u = speed hill/speed flat

So. Say you loose 10% weight and want to try that hill that brings the speed down to 1/3, you can expect to gain 8.9% increase of speed
The wattage has to be the same..The weight is system weight person + bike

har har

at 193 lbs I got dropped on every climb. now at 155, i feel like i'm floating while climbing the same hills. I end up waiting for the same guys who dropped me. You will gain cycling strength as you succeed at losing weight. those two elements combine to make climbing much easier...

Better not wait too long, because they are going to fly by you on the down hill. I always ride alone but did my 1st group ride this past weekend. I got to the top of the longest climb 1st (I was the lightest rider at 163 pounds) and I waited at the top for the other riders. On the down hill I came in last by far with the tandems getting to the bottom 1st (wish I had drafted behind one of these).

I have noticed my down hill speeds have suffered greatly after loosing 45 pounds in the past 7 months.

Ya' have to "Yates" the situation. Then no one can keep up.

When I was in shape and racing 8+ years ago, I weighed 145 lb. I'm 6' tall - right on the mark of 2 lbs/inch of height. Then I had a bike wreck, broke my hip, and got married. I stopped riding and gained 120lbs. A year ago I started losing weight and exercising again. I've lost 80 lbs and now weigh 180 lbs. My goal for the spring is 160 lbs.

Climbing hills used to be my forte. It's now my nemesis. I hope that hills become my friend again. Losing weight is essential for fast climbing.

Perhaps I need to reconsider my 160 lb. goal. Maybe I need to lose even more weight. Is this a good idea for a 48 year old?

Can there be that much difference in what is good for a 40 year old, as opposed to 48? If you were in shape & good with it 8 years ago, there should be no reason (unless you have some other health issue) it won't be good again.

Heck 8 years, thats an entire 3rd grader. As long as you use common sense in your training you should be able to get there. Barring any health concerns.