bluewhite Posted January 11, 2019 Share Hi I’ve been given an entry to do the Swiss epic in August . From what I’ve read it’s 350km over 5 days with 12000m of climbing . I stay in an area where there’s no hills and was wondering if anybody knows of any monster hills to climb in the midrand centurion region Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieterJvR Posted January 11, 2019 Share Depends on what you classify as monster hills Nothing really long, few short steep hills - mostly on tar... Either way you going to have to do a few repeats... Longest hill close by is probably Klapperkop, otherwise head west and go over Breedt's Nek a few times (very boring though but good exercise especially from the Shebeen side). Haven't been there in a few months but probably a bit washed out with the amount of rain in the last few weeks, so a bit more of a challenge. Midrand is also not flat, but nothing major in elevation - so depends on how fast you go I guess how hard it will be. Otherwise the east or Pretoria can also be used, once again doing a few repeats - but Solomon Mahlangu, Atterbury extension, Saints, WTF and Nkwe in a combination can help with hill training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstV8 Posted January 11, 2019 Share I have lived a trained on the east rand ( very flat ) for over 40 years so have never had the luxury of good hills to climb . We have always treated any elevation in the road as Allpe d'Huez and attack it from the bottom every time . When it came to races i never battled on the higher and longer climbs . If you have the opportunity to go ride high and long climbs and gauge your fitness on them it helps . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertWhitehead Posted January 11, 2019 Share Here's some hills in the East / Waterkloof area. I tried to break 2000m in the shortest distance without too many repeats. https://www.strava.com/activities/466400283 PS. by doing the whole Rubenstein towards Solomon, back all the way to Blouhaak and then left onto Rugters will give you around 300m over (if memory serves) 7-11km. By repeating it about 4 times will give you 900m+ in under 40km. Good luck with the race Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABUBI Posted January 11, 2019 Share take a long weekend and go do thishttps://www.swartberg100.com/the-routes.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milosh Posted January 11, 2019 Share https://www.strava.com/segments/3328563 Near copperleaf estate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockrider Posted January 11, 2019 Share Give Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve near Heidelberg a try. Not very close to Midrand, but it's great hillclimb training. FondTF2 and dasilvarsa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roul Posted January 11, 2019 Share Here's some hills in the East / Waterkloof area. I tried to break 2000m in the shortest distance without too many repeats. https://www.strava.com/activities/466400283 PS. by doing the whole Rubenstein towards Solomon, back all the way to Blouhaak and then left onto Rugters will give you around 300m over (if memory serves) 7-11km. By repeating it about 4 times will give you 900m+ in under 40km. Good luck with the race Howsit Robert, would like to give this a go.But when opening Strava says the activity could not be found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Posted January 11, 2019 Share Norfolk Road in Midrand is the best hill in that area for hill repeats. Prince, veez999 and Sidersky 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertWhitehead Posted January 11, 2019 Share ****, I see that now. Sorry about that! Let me try to get this sorted. . . . . . . . . . . Try this one: https://www.strava.com/activities/466400283 If it does not work, I've plotted a route as well: https://www.strava.com/routes/5240266 Howsit Robert, would like to give this a go.But when opening Strava says the activity could not be found? Roul and bluewhite 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roul Posted January 11, 2019 Share Thanks! Edit: Wowsers, well done on that ride???? Edited January 11, 2019 by Roul RobertWhitehead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertWhitehead Posted January 14, 2019 Share It was some hard work on a MTB but it was a good session. I have found that what the elevation on the road ends up being and what Strava says when plotting a route sometimes differs by around 150-200m over the total distance. The first time I plotted a route it came to something like 2080m over 75-80km, I then went out and rode the exact same route only to find that I only climbed 1897m. You could just imagine how annoyed I was missing the 2000m by 103m . If you do have a Garmin or Polar or whatever that shows elevation (I only had my phone back in the day) you'll see when you break 2000m . Here's another route which is slightly longer with slightly more climbing https://www.strava.com/routes/3700630 Thanks!Edit: Wowsers, well done on that ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydd Posted January 14, 2019 Share It was some hard work on a MTB but it was a good session. I have found that what the elevation on the road ends up being and what Strava says when plotting a route sometimes differs by around 150-200m over the total distance. The first time I plotted a route it came to something like 2080m over 75-80km, I then went out and rode the exact same route only to find that I only climbed 1897m. You could just imagine how annoyed I was missing the 2000m by 103m . If you do have a Garmin or Polar or whatever that shows elevation (I only had my phone back in the day) you'll see when you break 2000m . Here's another route which is slightly longer with slightly more climbing https://www.strava.com/routes/3700630 Give Open Runner a try for plotting routes and calculating gradient etc. It's a bit more accurate and has some other cool features (plotting weather and wind against the route for a particular day etc which is useful for preparing for a race) As I recall, you can also search for other uploaded/plotted routes on there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roul Posted January 14, 2019 Share It was some hard work on a MTB but it was a good session. I have found that what the elevation on the road ends up being and what Strava says when plotting a route sometimes differs by around 150-200m over the total distance. The first time I plotted a route it came to something like 2080m over 75-80km, I then went out and rode the exact same route only to find that I only climbed 1897m. You could just imagine how annoyed I was missing the 2000m by 103m . If you do have a Garmin or Polar or whatever that shows elevation (I only had my phone back in the day) you'll see when you break 2000m . Here's another route which is slightly longer with slightly more climbing https://www.strava.com/routes/3700630 Are you like a pro or something?! Some nice interval training there. I've entered the Swartberg GF and would like to nail the climbing. Antoo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokgaga Posted January 14, 2019 Share Give Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve near Heidelberg a try. Not very close to Midrand, but it's great hillclimb training. what this man said and +1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokgaga Posted January 14, 2019 Share i commute from woodmead to eco park (centurion). there are some hills along R101 but you need MTB due to lack of decent shoulder lane good luck with the race Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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