Climbing 12% Grades & Beyond

[rghysens]

Is the Motirolo really that steep for that long?

absolutely not. The maximum gradient of the Mortirolo is 18% (over 500m or so), the steepest section of 5km must be 12.5%-13% average, which is steep enough

 

[the_kman]

its all about pace. get in a good rhythm
train in your seat. only out of the seat when u need to. i.e. accellerating or it gets way too steep.
dont move your upper body
work on your breathing

 

[plodderbob]

But my base question is how do you improve your power???

I would suggest two approaches here

1) Interval training - find a nice quiet stretch of straight road, get the bike in the biggest gear you have and essentially go as fast as you can for two minutes, have a 1 minute break then do it again, repeat this for 5 times then move to 1 minute sprints with 30 sec break.
2) Big ring marathon - get yourself in a nice big gear (the kind you sprint with) and just ride it without changing gear for a couple of hours. This will build strength and endurance. Don't try this every day as it will hurt like hell but it does work.

Put these into your training routine and you'll soon notice the difference.

 

[Martin318is]

One thing to bear in mind is a comment by a former olympic rider that went something like this:

"If you can't manage to average 30kph or higher on the 80km out and back ride to the climbs then you are only going to do damage to yourself trying to do big-gear climbing repeats at the start of a training programme. Make sure you get your general ride fitness sorted out first"

 

[Boeing]

Amen on the weight - I've dropped from 172 lbs (USA, sorry) to 149, with marked improvement, but somehow you have to retain your quad power as you lose the weight.

Also, pacing is critical, as I always am deciding how hard to go out so I won't crack late in the climb, although not going hard enough and having unused energy at the end can be even more frustrating.

But my base question is how do you improve your power???

Interesting thought with quad power and weight loss. That is a puzzler for me as well. Perhaps someone can expand on it. I have that theory personally but no way or no one to quantify it

sustained intervals for (x) period of time in the saddle help me. I measure recovery time HR between them more than time up the hill. I like shorter climbs for the interval because I can tend to fine a recovery zone that allows for light tempo cadence with resistance like flat or false flat rather than all down hill for recovery. Measuring recovery is cumbersome and not great in groups because most groups become a hammerfest here.

Sustained intervals alone is a toughy though

Single speed mountain biking is the greatest power development opportunity I have found for my phat azz. But it hurts like nothing else I know on a bike and there is no recovery

I am no expert physio however and I am not super man anymore. just a 40 sumpthin guy sitting in most of the time mow

 

[Boeing]

I like this quote...mind if I borrow it?

As for the advice...wouldn't have minded reading this sooner. I just did a off-road mtn climb time trial (can't think of a better way to describe it) last night. While my time improved greatly from last year...still not where I wanted to be. next year...another 3 minutes off my time and I'll be where I want to.

thanks

go ahead take it to the bank

 

[Boeing]

it takes discipline to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth at any level of cycling for me anyway. Deeper breaths. A good cyclist told me many years ago to tempo your breathing like you would tempo your ride or race. Think of it as cadence breathing he said and emphasize inhale through the nose etc. especially during warm up and cool down. it took me some time to get it.

I was a mouth breather and took too many short breaths.


Fresh Air is 14 psi so the main aim is get the Co2 out and frash air has to flow in practice getting the stale air out of the lungs while riding hard .

While is semi tuck position try to push air out from deep in the guts.

actually that is advice I got and used and it works. Especially when I am maxed. My wife was training for a marathoin and her trainer told her to exhale long and pushed like that when you feel a bonk coming on.

I have added that to recovery and it seems to put me at ease if anything

thanks