Time Trial by power

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I would love some pacing analysis on this in the spirit of this thread.

Here's a file from Stage 1 of last year's San Dimas Stage Race, which is the infamous 3.8 mile uphill GMR TT. It starts with a brief, flatter section then goes into a fairly constant 5.5 to 6.0% grade with plenty of switchbacks.

At the time and by RPE, I thought I rode the course great. But in looking at the file, I made the classic error of going out too hard and gradually weakening as I progressed. My plan was to go steady and punch it hard from the 1k mark to the finish.

All the stats in the file were accurate at the time. My numbers have improved since last year. I'd therefore like to see an improvement in my time commensurate with the work I've done. The TT is in 2 weeks.

327 watts for 17:30 at 75kg netted me 33rd place in the Cat IVs. The winning time was 14:29 for our group. The 'mortal' IVs were coming in around 16:00.

Here is a link to the Power File (http://images.promax.com/gmr_time_trial.wko) and a Gradient Map (http://www.socalvelo.com/maps/GMRgrademap600.jpg) of the course of which we ride the first 3.8 miles.

What would you do differently were you me on this course? If any other info would be helpful, I'll be happy to provide.

Thanks for reading,

wattsup?
I can't open the powerfile but the course is not that long, not all that steep and if the road surface is pretty good I'd treat it like any shortish time trial with one caveat - start reasonably conservatively. The five or so seconds you may gain in the first 1/2 mile will be more offset with the time that you lose in the last 1/2 mile if you light it up too soon. Just get a really, really good warmup and get to the start with a couple of minutes to spare.

If you have a similar hill in your area, I'd do some testing climbing mostly seated Vs mostly standing and at the very least sitting/spinning and sitting/using a slightly larger gear that allows 70 to 75rpm.

As it's a hill climb, if you have the time and inclination, remove everything absolutely not required for riding your bike up hill. There are no prizes for fancy bar tape, unused 53t chainrings, front mechs, excess brake and gear cables, bottle cages and bolts... If you're really fussy you can argue that shorter chainring bolts for a single ring weighs *cough* significantly less than the double ring bolts. It always made me wonder why people would spend thousands on a bike to save a pound and then do hill climbs with pound and a half of unused equipment.

Same with clothing too - unless it's brass monkey cold. Glasses, mitts, undershirt and maybe even socks can all sit in the pile of "uneeded" stuff - the clothing is an easy one pound saving.

Thanks for the great info. Last year, I used RPE and HR for pacing. I'd like to try to use AP this year, as well as a lower cadence as I have seen the best results in my climbing numbers coming in at a lower cadence, around 80RPM. Just need to remember to do the right things in the excitement the day of.

wattsup?

Thanks for the great info. Last year, I used RPE and HR for pacing. I'd like to try to use AP this year, as well as a lower cadence as I have seen the best results in my climbing numbers coming in at a lower cadence, around 80RPM. Just need to remember to do the right things in the excitement the day of.

wattsup?
If you're pretty strong then I'd even try something lower than 80rpm. Try it in training - you have nothing to lose apart from some doubt as to whether you could have gone faster if you used a bigger gear.

If you have the chance to ride the hill a few times before hand, especially in the few hours before the event, then I'd do that. Knowing the hill can be a great advantage, not just the road and it's quirks but also fun stuff like the wind. It's not all that steep (6.9% or 1 in 15 for us English folk) but a stiff wind can add what feels like a few percent to that gradient.