Need some training help for my trip to Pyrenees

[Draft]

I worked out hard last year and got into a better cycling group this year. I have been riding for only 4 years. This new group(which I barely keep up with) planned a trip to the pyrenees to ride many of the big climbs about 500 miles and 75Kfeet in 6 days. I just bought a cyclops trainer and I'm looking for any and all input on how I can train for the pyrenees. thanks .

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Well at some point you're gonna want to get out and do some long sustained climbs, but you can definitely get a head start this winter on the trainer. Search the web and these forums for information on Sweet Spot Training (SST) as a great method to build FTP (sustainable power) on an indoor trainer. Check out the first twenty or thirty pages of this thread to see how it works in practice: http://www.cyclingforums.com/cycling-training/314849-its-killing-me-but.html

Bottom line, climbing is 'mostly' about high sustainable power relative to your weight. So work to keep your weight down at reasonable levels and work to bring your sustainable power up via focused work on the trainer. But there's still the specificity part including the mental, gearing, torque and pacing aspects of climbing sustained grades so when the weather warms up you should try to get out and climb some longer hills.

Good luck,
-Dave

 

[alfeng]

I worked out hard last year and got into a better cycling group this year. I have been riding for only 4 years. This new group(which I barely keep up with) planned a trip to the pyrenees to ride many of the big climbs about 500 miles and 75Kfeet in 6 days. I just bought a cyclops trainer and I'm looking for any and all input on how I can train for the pyrenees.

You know, it's probably just me, but I have never been able to get enough resistance when using an ancient wind trainer (at any altitude with the vanes at 90º -- e.g., sea level) in the past OR a mag trainer (I have a CyclOps mag trainer, too) with the 'normal' gearing that is on my bike (52t-or-53t chainring + 11t cog) which comes close to simulating the effort of climbing (for me) on the mountain roads that I ride on ...

What I have considered, but never bothered to do, yet, is to use a 54t-or-55t chainring + an 11t cog ... nonetheless, I recommend that you consider getting a 55t chainring & an 11t cog to hopefully provide sufficient resistance to make using the mag trainer meaningful ...

Of course, with the over-sized chainring you will want to disconnect your front derailleur's cable & raise the front derailleur ... put a piece of masking tape below the FD clamp to expedite reinstallation at the proper height for your current, outer chainring.

 

[fergie]

I can't just sit on a trainer and ride so I use a few different trainer routines to get my SST rides in...

Ramping through the gears, start in 50x23 and drop down a cog every minute so I get a good mix of spinning and rolling a big gear. Riding the Pyrenees some of those climbs will take 2-3 hours to ride and they get steep in places so you will need to have the ability to spin (saving the legs for the harder sections) and the ability to roll at lower cadences.

On offs, riding hard for a minute, easy for a minute and so on. Interval training allows you carry out more work over a shorter period than trying to ride at a constant pace.

Long intervals, the good old (it is old now) 2 x 20min efforts or variations. Again can be done at normal cadence or lower or higher depending what you want to develop or to break up an effort.

Spinerval DVDs. We had these in a bike shop I worked out and they are actually reasonably tolerable and the workouts offer a good variety and encouragement. CTS or Friel one's were not as enjoyable. Depending on where you are you may find a bike store that hires them out.

If you are doing indoor workouts I suggest you use a hack bike, not a carbon frame and have a good fan and keep well hydrated. I would also use the winter to do some form of Yoga or Pilates to keep the body well balanced.