2 weeks to prepare for hills...help!

[An old Guy]

Originally Posted by AdamSean .

More info for you guys. I do not use my small chainring...ever. I plan on going to a double so I act like I have a double now.

I don't use a power meter so I can't measure power output.

I don't have the money to go out and buy a new cassette with a different gearing.

And riding a 21 lb bike and I weight 200 lbs, 2% grades are not that easy.

You don't need a power meter to ensure that your power on hills is close to your power on the flats. You only need to pay attention to how hard you are working. Try to keep that effort constant for the ride.

2% grades are hard for you because you are not in the correct gear. You have the gears you need. There is no need to buy different gearing. You simply need to use the correct gear. If your middle ring and your 25 cog get you up the hills comfortably, fine. If not, use your small ring with whatever feels good.

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My granddaughter has her first bicycle with gears. She has learned that if she shifts to her lowest gear, she gets up the hills. If she does not shift, she walks.

I even learned that there are some hills where I do a lot better with my 34/30. Oh, I can go up them with my 50/18 but the 34/30 is just so much better.

 

[AdamSean]

I was referring to someone calling me stupid. That, is not cordial. If you want to say something in reference to being helpful, say 'that may be unwise.' Its all how you work things when body language and tone cannot accompany the words.

And the reason I need to lose weight is related to recovering from an injury that set me way back. So far, I have lost 3 lbs. I am not cutting waterweight here. I have changed my diet and caloric intake. I am consuming 2700 calories a day while training which is fine compared to the 5000 I was just sitting around not being able to move much.

The reason I never used my small ring was because I was planning on going to a Compact Double which will make climbing easier than when I was on a standard. I will have my compact in 2 days and be able to reduce the bike by about 2 lbs by the time the event comes around with the carbon accessories. Now, I know people are going to tell me that is not enough to make a difference, but try this. Go lift a certain amount of weight for 20 reps. Then reduce that weight by about 5% and tell me if that wasn't easier.

I don't mind objective criticism or others' opinions, but I do expect them to be for the reason of helping someone without sounding like a know-it-all or insulting.

I have been on many forums and find it odd how folks on gun forums are much more polite than those on bicycle forums. And that is with different ones too. Its a little funny actually...lol

And by the way, I discovered that my biggest trouble was not really from being in the wrong gear. It was mostly from having a slow cadence. I was trying to go up at around 75 - 80 RPM since I read it in an article. But I found that I do much better going uphill spinning around 100 - 105 RPM and then maintaining a slightly higher than I normally do on the flats. I used to aim for 88 - 90 RPM, but can go longer and easier around 95 RPM. If someone had asked me about that, then it may have been suggested to me and this would have been more pleasant.

So let's try again, better this time. I appreciate much of the info I was given, it was just some that was telling me to do what I said I wasn't going to do. I have my reasons. All I want to do is make it easier to get up a hill 'faster'. I am good on the flats and descents, just never really trained for hills.

 

[An old Guy]

Originally Posted by AdamSean .

And by the way, I discovered that my biggest trouble was not really from being in the wrong gear. It was mostly from having a slow cadence. I was trying to go up at around 75 - 80 RPM since I read it in an article. But I found that I do much better going uphill spinning around 100 - 105 RPM

If you are going up at 75rpm and try to increase your cadence to 100, you will need to work 33% harder.

On the other hand if you downshift by 33%, your cadence will increase from 75 to 100 without you needing to work harder.

Usually a combination of working harder and shifting produces better results than either of the extremes.

 

[swampy1970]

Originally Posted by AdamSean .

I was referring to someone calling me stupid.

Maybe there's something to it though...

Originally Posted by AdamSean .
The reason I never used my small ring was because I was planning on going to a Compact Double which will make climbing easier than when I was on a standard. I will have my compact in 2 days and be able to reduce the bike by about 2 lbs by the time the event comes around with the carbon accessories. Now, I know people are going to tell me that is not enough to make a difference, but try this. Go lift a certain amount of weight for 20 reps. Then reduce that weight by about 5% and tell me if that wasn't easier.

... as the last time I checked the bike doesn't ride itself. Not sure where you got the 5% from either. I'll ask my daughter who just finished 4th grade for clarification on that one.

If you look at it from a bike perspective reducing your 21lb bike by 2lbs is a gnats **** more than 10%... but looking at it in the real world perspective, given that you said that you were 200lbs, 221 down to 219 is dangling right around a whopping 1%. That'll probably gain you about 27 inches on a 1/2 mile hill at 2%. Sweet.

If you desire the latest and greatest for reasons other than performance enhancement then go for it but if you're spending the cash with the hope of a noticable change that'll make the ride easier then don't do it. Spend the money on a top class pair of shorts, shoes or even tires if you have money burning a hole in your wallet. IMHO, the first high quality item any cyclist should buy is a high end pair of shorts. You'll swear it's a game changer.

Honestly, save your money on the carbon bits. A lot of the stuff, like bottle cages, you can get close to the weight with plastic molded versions or even aluminium at a fraction of the cost and I personally doubt that you can save that much weight by swapping out 'bits'.

With regards to the changing cadence by so much in such a short period of time for a distance you say you'll struggle with - I really wouldn't do that. Try it on a ride longer than 60 miles first and see how it goes but usually changing cadence that much takes a fair amount of time. I've done stupid things like making changes at the last minute and trying them out for what amounts to less than 20% of the duration of the event and the result is rarely good.

There's nothing wrong with 75 to 80 rpm - class climbers like Marco Pantani and Luis Herrara caused carnage with cadences like that amongst the pros at the Tour de France...

All you really need to focus on is not forcing the pace, especially on the hills. Just stay relaxed, keep the pace steady and even and enjoy the ride. The pace in the first 30 miles should seem almost bording on too easy - by mile 75 than same pace will seem fairly hard. Remember to eat, drink and towards then end try and remember that you're doing this for "fun".

Good luck.

 

[James Donovan]

Originally Posted by AdamSean

I am actually following a century training plan that I downloaded from the internet. And most of the riders I have spoken with during the first century I did all say ride around 20 miles a few days a week and then 1 long ride on the weekend that you increase by a few more miles each consecutive week, followed by a recovery ride.

The reason for the short 10 milers the final week is because you need to taper off toward the event as you prepare to conserve your energy for the big day. The short days are just to keep you loose.

What I am really trying to find out is, should I stay with my distance training or focus on the hills with the time I have left to train?

Same here I am also following Centurally training plan and its quite good enough I must say.

 

[AdamSean]

I have a few days left and have started to taper off the miles. I rode 70 last Friday which went great. I rode part of the actual route, which contained the toughest climbs. According to the experts, 2 of the climbs are 7% and 9%. They actually weren't that bad, since I replaced my drivetrain with a lighter double compact and a carbon seatpost. I reduce the weight of my bike by 2 pounds and my body weight by 5. So 1 week of focused hill training has made a huge difference.