CharlV Posted January 12, 2011 Author Posted January 12, 2011 i'm no expert, but what does help is to keep your momentum through at least the bottom of a dip starting the hill. If you're going at 50km/hr, and you maintain that for 10 seconds going into the hill, you get quite far up the other side before slowing down to normal climbing pace! I'm also reasonably heavy (86kg @ 1.85m - 5 kg's heavier than the heaviest guy in the Pro Peleton) and also find it hard to stay with the lightweights! Much stronger than them in time-trialing though! I'm startting to see a trend form here thanks ,howabout the downhill part ,do you give it pipes ,or use it to breath abit and use the momentum and gravity to take you down ?
Spinnekop Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 One word.....GRASKOP....go there!At least twise a year!
Eldron Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 mellow is quite right to be a mountain goat unfortunately you need to be a string bean too... Thats not strictly true. It's all about power to weight ratio - bigger guys have bigger power - smaller guys have less power. Typically the power to weight ration of all riders is within a reasonable percentage (if the fat percentage of said riders is similar). Look at guys like Jan Ulrich, Miguel Indurain etc - not light guys at all but awesome climbers. Even Lancey weight 70kg+. The biggest difference between climbers and non climbers is mentality - the little guys think "I'm a climber" so they try harder on the climbs, do more climbing in training etc. If you get your fat % similar to the guys you're struggling to keep with on the climbs and do as many climbs in training as they do there is not reason you should not be able to climb with them.
Mellow Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 as you mentioned, you should have good strength on the flats (seated). a good training exercise for sitting/standing endurance- go on a spinning bike (good one) sit and pedal with some good resistance, turn the resistance up then stand (dont rest on arms). tweak resistance till you are stable and can sustain the cadence and resistance with little presure on hands. with you weight you'll have to crank it up quite a bit. start with 1min down - 1min up and work towards 1min down 5 min ups - aim is stability and it will teach you to use the weight to your advantage if you can keep yourself up(legs can support the weight and power) 3 weeks of this and im sure you'll feel more comfertable when climbing.
CharlV Posted January 12, 2011 Author Posted January 12, 2011 Thats not strictly true. If you get your fat % similar to the guys you're struggling to keep with on the climbs and do as many climbs in training as they do there is not reason you should not be able to climb with them. MMMMM?!
Mellow Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Thats not strictly true. It's all about power to weight ratio - bigger guys have bigger power - smaller guys have less power. Typically the power to weight ration of all riders is within a reasonable percentage (if the fat percentage of said riders is similar). Look at guys like Jan Ulrich, Miguel Indurain etc - not light guys at all but awesome climbers. Even Lancey weight 70kg+. The biggest difference between climbers and non climbers is mentality - the little guys think "I'm a climber" so they try harder on the climbs, do more climbing in training etc. If you get your fat % similar to the guys you're struggling to keep with on the climbs and do as many climbs in training as they do there is not reason you should not be able to climb with them. i agree with you - not strictly true. but 105kgs at say even 4W/kg is hectic
Eldron Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 I'm startting to see a trend form here thanks ,howabout the downhill part ,do you give it pipes ,or use it to breath abit and use the momentum and gravity to take you down ? The best way is to back off a little on the downhill and create a 20-30m gap to the bunch in front of you...about 300m from the dip tuck in and get all aero....you'll start gaining on the bunch...then (hopefully - if your timing is right) you'll be going faster than the bunch in the dip - ride around the bunch as you hit the climb... This way you'll get up the first ~200m of the climb free! It's not always possible and is sometime's dangerous as you change lines to ride ride round the bunch but it works.
Lucky Luke. Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 OK ,so I've just turned 40 , 1.89m and 104.8kg's about 6 kg's overweight ,which will be less Come Monday morning! , Surely weight is only a portion of the sollution ,what about riding strategy going up and down hill , do I give it pipes down hill, and slow uphill , or the other way around ? pipes both ways then hit the brakes at dinner time
CharlV Posted January 12, 2011 Author Posted January 12, 2011 as you mentioned, you should have good strength on the flats (seated). a good training exercise for sitting/standing endurance- go on a spinning bike (good one) sit and pedal with some good resistance, turn the resistance up then stand (dont rest on arms). tweak resistance till you are stable and can sustain the cadence and resistance with little presure on hands. with you weight you'll have to crank it up quite a bit. start with 1min down - 1min up and work towards 1min down 5 min ups - aim is stability and it will teach you to use the weight to your advantage if you can keep yourself up(legs can support the weight and power) 3 weeks of this and im sure you'll feel more comfertable when climbing. Im going to add this tx!
Eldron Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 MMMMM?! There are always exception of course but if you have 10% body fat like the 70kg rider next to you then you should be able to climb with him. Of coourse the 65kg wire thin guy on the extreme end of the normal distribution will outclimb you - but not by much if you have the same fat %. If you have been to gym and carry an extra 10kg on your chest and arms you will of course struggle to carry the "extra weight" because you fall on the wrong end of the cycling normal distribution. I would say the biggest reason people can't climb is because they are carrying too much fat.
Oltremo Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 OK ,so I've just turned 40 , 1.89m and 104.8kg's about 6 kg's overweight ,which will be less Come Monday morning! , Surely weight is only a portion of the sollution ,what about riding strategy going up and down hill , do I give it pipes down hill, and slow uphill , or the other way around ?Weight is the major part of your solution. I am 1.93m, was 108kg 15mnths ago, now 87kg.... focus on nutrition, keep the pedals turning consistently and you will float up climbs.
rudi-h Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 I'm startting to see a trend form here thanks ,howabout the downhill part ,do you give it pipes ,or use it to breath abit and use the momentum and gravity to take you down ? it doesn't make sense to "chase" down the hill as fast as you can... Wind resistance increases with the square of the speed, so if you go down a hill @ 60km/hr, it's 4 times more resistance than it is @ 30km/hr. Just saying this to illustrate that you're wasting effort by riding hard downhill. Stay with the bunch or maintain a comfortable pace downhill, but your HR should drop on the way down! IMO
CharlV Posted January 12, 2011 Author Posted January 12, 2011 pipes both ways then hit the brakes at dinner time did this in last years 94.7 , near death experince I tell you , saw my Oom Dirk on third hill on N14 ,problem is his been dead for a couple of years
Mellow Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Im going to add this tx! Eldron gave very good advise when saying you should compare with the guys with similar phisique and then practise climbing. It really all depends who you are comparing yourself too. As you probably know - at this stage you can still benefit a lot by shaking off some kilos.
Mellow Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Weight is the major part of your solution. I am 1.93m, was 108kg 15mnths ago, now 87kg.... focus on nutrition, keep the pedals turning consistently and you will float up climbs. well done dude - not easy
CharlV Posted January 12, 2011 Author Posted January 12, 2011 Weight is the major part of your solution. I am 1.93m, was 108kg 15mnths ago, now 87kg.... focus on nutrition, keep the pedals turning consistently and you will float up climbs. Supersix3 That is freekin light weight bud ,last time I was 87kg,s was in the Mag at School of Armour . but I am working my way down thanks makes sense.
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