Uphill hour

[mojomonkey]

Joe Dombrowski is proposing an uphill hour record, sounds like a good idea! http://www.velonews.com/2016/12/news/joe-dombrowskis-uphill-hour-record_426289

“The craze last year was the hour record, but I might get the record for the slowest hour record,” said Dombrowski, one of Cannondale’s climbers. “I thought it would be cool if we created an uphill hour record, outdoors. It’s how many meters you can climb in an hour.”

Sounds like he is planning to get the ball rolling himself, possibly on Tenerife.

Dombrowski is already considering which climb could be used to make his first attempt. If he is targeting 1,900 VAM, or 6,233 feet climbed in one hour, he’ll need a long climb indeed. He’s considering Tenerife, the volcanic climb often used for altitude training, or maybe the Stelvio, though he’s not sure the latter is long enough.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yeah, just read that, kinda funny. I reckon Stelvio from Prato is more than enough for an hour when you're alone?

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Yeah, just read that, kinda funny. I reckon Stelvio from Prato is more than enough for an hour when you're alone?

Stelvio from Prato in one hour would be brutal, that's a VAM of 1837 for an hour.
On that kind of gradient that would be (according to Ferrari's formula) about 6.68 W/kg, with 1/3 of the climb being abouve 2000m of altitude that would be a monster effort.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Yeah, just read that, kinda funny. I reckon Stelvio from Prato is more than enough for an hour when you're alone?

Stelvio from Prato in one hour would be brutal, that's a VAM of 1837 for an hour.
On that kind of gradient that would be (according to Ferrari's formula) about 6.68 W/kg, with 1/3 of the climb being abouve 2000m of altitude that would be a monster effort.

Yeah exactly, Dombro is a good climber, but he should take it easy. He isn't an reincarnation of Pantani from '99, Stelvio from Prato will suffice!

 

[sir fly]

Hard to see this idea getting alive.
It certainly is interesting to keep the riders' records of such an effort, but difficult to standardize road conditions. Starting from altitude range, over slope gradient, composition of parcours, surface, weather... Using the same climb doesn't guarantee the validity of competing.

 

[ice&fire]

If Stelvio from Prato is not enough there's always Mount Veleta with more than 2500m of climbing

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Find a good tailwind

 

[rghysens]

Mauna Kea says hello.
I known it's partly on gravel, but only near the end. By then one has already climbed more than 2500m, I think.

 

[mojomonkey]

Re:

Hard to see this idea getting alive.
It certainly is interesting to keep the riders' records of such an effort, but difficult to standardize road conditions. Starting from altitude range, over slope gradient, composition of parcours, surface, weather... Using the same climb doesn't guarantee the validity of competing.

I kind of like the variable element of it. Even with the hour record they factor in the length of the track, elevation, pressure that day, etc. Maybe one rider prefers a steady grind and another likes to break it up with steeper sections. Finding a climb that "fits" the rider would be an interesting element

Harder to spectate than a track-based record though - everybody would want to be up by the record like to see them coming in.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

Hard to see this idea getting alive.
It certainly is interesting to keep the riders' records of such an effort, but difficult to standardize road conditions. Starting from altitude range, over slope gradient, composition of parcours, surface, weather... Using the same climb doesn't guarantee the validity of competing.

I kind of like the variable element of it. Even with the hour record they factor in the length of the track, elevation, pressure that day, etc. Maybe one rider prefers a steady grind and another likes to break it up with steeper sections. Finding a climb that "fits" the rider would be an interesting element

Harder to spectate than a track-based record though - everybody would want to be up by the record like to see them coming in.

Speaking about standardization I wanted to point out the fact that such efforts can't be recorded like the results on the track can, thus there's small chance for the uphill hour attempt to become the track's equivalent.
From the planning point of view, it's an absolute beauty. The track version looks trivial in comparison to the uphill hour record.
Something like "the best uphill hour attempt/effort" might be established informally amongst riders interested in sizing up.

 

[gerundium]

As an informal battle among the climbers it's interesting who can put up the highest VAM over an hour but it's highly dependant on gradient.... climbing records on a specific climb remain more interesting to me. the holy grail in this regard would probably be alpe d'huez due to the enormous database of climbing times that already exist there.

 

[fauniera]

Re:

If Stelvio from Prato is not enough there's always Mount Veleta with more than 2500m of climbing

I think a bit steeper would be better. But maybe not too steep. Anyone know the perfect gradient for this idea?

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

If Stelvio from Prato is not enough there's always Mount Veleta with more than 2500m of climbing

I think a bit steeper would be better. But maybe not too steep. Anyone know the perfect gradient for this idea?

Personally if it was a proper test taking weather conditions, altitude and road conditions out of the equation then I'd say a climb that averaged between 6-7% would be the proper test for something like this. I like the idea but far to many variables that make this something that I don't think will catch on.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re: Re:

If Stelvio from Prato is not enough there's always Mount Veleta with more than 2500m of climbing

I think a bit steeper would be better. But maybe not too steep. Anyone know the perfect gradient for this idea?

Rujano's record time on Finestre (18,6k @ 9,1%) is 1:02:09. So pretty close to that hour. This is a VAM of 1694.

 

[Sorped]

Sounds like an entertaining idea.
With regards to "not possible to compare different ascents", I'm sure some sort of formula could be made that takes all the variables into consideration. Heck, if different parameters are taken into account today (track length, elevation etc) what makes that any different from doing it outside and uphill?

 

[Red Rick]

The steeper and more consistent the better. Finestre seems the obvious choice. Otherwise I don't know a lot of climbs that fit well. I really like the idea though

 

[Escarabajo]

I'd prefer the Stelvio myself. Finestre has open roads. More variables into the equation.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

The steeper and more consistent the better. Finestre seems the obvious choice. Otherwise I don't know a lot of climbs that fit well. I really like the idea though

Maybe Blockhaus, there are a few sides that offer over 1900m of altitude gain(fromRoccamorice and Fara Filiorum Petri, Blockhaus from Lettomanoppello has over 2000m of altitude gain) and by finishing just a bit over 2000m the altitude wouldn't be a big factor, but the average gradient is maybe a bit too low.

 

[Gigs_98]

Finestre is extremely consistent but I don't think a gravel climb is good for that purpose. IMO Stelvio is better, though also not perfect because of the altitude which makes this climb very unique as well. Teide is long, very consistent and starts on sea level, but it's very flat, therefore not the kind of climb where mountain goats (who are the ones who should compete for an uphill hour record) are at their best. Really no idea which climb should be used.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah forgot about the gravel. Blockhaus could be good too. But then I think there should be more unknown climbs that are steeper but still very consistent. You probably only need 1750m altitude difference anyway.

 

[Brullnux]

Finestre is too short, Rujano managed 1:02 in a three week tour at the back end of a stage which means a single effort could be done in 58 minutes (for the likes of Froome). I think Stelvio from Prato is the best option, because the gradient is consistently 8% or thereabouts.

 

[Tonton]

Col de la madeleine via la Chambre?

 

[Sandisfan]

To me I would be interested if the hour was altitude gained in one hour not distance traveled...If this isn't what is being proposed for this challenge but it would be a very interesting to find which will achieve most gain gradual or steep?

 

[swuzzlebubble]

Re:

To me I would be interested if the hour was altitude gained in one hour not distance traveled...If this isn't what is being proposed for this challenge but it would be a very interesting to find which will achieve most gain gradual or steep?

That's what is being proposed?
However it might make more sense to base it on best time to achieve a set elevation gain.
Or else various climbs will become unusable as the record gets set beyond their level
Eg best time for 1000m gain would open a lot of course options
This would also help re timing because on a given course, you could make the finish point before the start.

 

[sir fly]

Thought about choice of gradient...
Considering the target is 1900 VAM, on an average of 6% it would require speed just shy of 20 mph. Tall order, as far as I'm concerned.
So, a "rolling" gradient might not be the best for the task.
An average speed in mid twenties of kph (7-8,5%) sounds better to me. There still is rolling momentum, but the distance could be up to one third shorter, giving an impression that altitude is gained faster and making it less mentally exhausting.
Anything below 20kph average, in my opinion, would be too slow for an hour ride... There wouldn't be much fun in it.

1900 VAM is too ambitious goal, I'd say.
Requires power output way over what's nowadays considered as feasible.