Eldron Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 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. If you are in Jhb go to Kyalami once or twice a week - you WILL find your climbing legs there Or die trying... Don't underestimate the power of weight loss - I normally blossom to ~83kg over winter and lean down to 79-80kg during the racing season (I'm 6'2"). The difference in climbing with just 3kg less is noticable. Effectively 1kg down is 1% faster up. Don't worry too much about the skinny whippets - even if they do gap you on the climbs - the majority of the group will stick together and easily chase them down on the flats.
Mellow Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 If you are in Jhb go to Kyalami once or twice a week - you WILL find your climbing legs there Or die trying... Don't underestimate the power of weight loss - I normally blossom to ~83kg over winter and lean down to 79-80kg during the racing season (I'm 6'2"). The difference in climbing with just 3kg less is noticable. Effectively 1kg down is 1% faster up. Don't worry too much about the skinny whippets - even if they do gap you on the climbs - the majority of the group will stick together and easily chase them down on the flats. awww...dont we just love the fairness in road racing. any strategy tips off road ?
Eldron 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. These kinds of figures always impress the hell out of me. Can you imagine what a 21kg bag of fat looks like? And Suprsix lost that? Nicely done dude!!!
Eldron Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 awww...dont we just love the fairness in road racing. any strategy tips off road ? I am a mountain biker Control the climbs - stick to 80-85% heart rate. If you gas yourself on the climbs you'll have nothing for the flats. There's more to be gained by saving yourself a bit on the climbs and shmacking the flats. Not too much though - as one of the other posters stated - wind resistance is exponential so keep it consistent. The perfect mtb is race is riding at exactly your oxygen threshold the entire race. You will hit your threshold easier on hills than you will on flats so if you go by feel alone then go slower than you think on the hills and harder than you think on the flats. All downhills should be hammered at 100% yelling "WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Lucky Luke. Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 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 Sheesh good genes in your family - still racing from beyond the grave! Seriously though, I am 37, did my first race in my early thirties, sucked at all sports at school - I was the kid who got a hiding every week for leaving their pt shorts at home - but I am doing ok now with the cycling thing. I am also 6'3", started out doing races weighing 93 odd kg's and I just rode a shitload of hills, developed as much power as I could, broke a few bikes in the process. Now I watch what I eat and I'm down to about 83. I've maintained a decent power output and I can climb relatively well.
Lucky Luke. Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Control the climbs - stick to 80-85% heart rate. If you gas yourself on the climbs you'll have nothing for the flats. There's more to be gained by saving yourself a bit on the climbs and shmacking the flats. Very true, this is a mistake I've made on the road, flatboxing myself to try and stay with the bunch early on in a race. Rather let them go and chase back on the flats. Save some juice for the rest of the event.
Slowbee Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 awesome thread !! really awesome ...... thanks guys.
Mellow Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 hijack... http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/01/11/bikerumor-pic-of-the-day-winners-of-the-mtb-nord-est-fb-photo-contest/ hehe, second one funny
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 the 80 - 85% of HRR thing really works. It's not QUITE all out, but you go pretty quick anyway. This is where it helps to have an HR monitor!
Bat-ass Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Very true, this is a mistake I've made on the road, flatboxing myself to try and stay with the bunch early on in a race. Rather let them go and chase back on the flats. Save some juice for the rest of the event. Luke.. in road race, if you let the bunch go early in the race, odds are you wont see them again. Try suck wheel as long as you can in a road race, once you isolated you toast... However, in MTB Eldrons advise is spot on, dont go into the red zone for too long to hang onto owes, rather ride steady hard, and with 10km's to go, you'll be amazed at the guys you start catching.
Lucky Luke. Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Luke.. in road race, if you let the bunch go early in the race, odds are you wont see them again. Try suck wheel as long as you can in a road race, once you isolated you toast... However, in MTB Eldrons advise is spot on, dont go into the red zone for too long to hang onto owes, rather ride steady hard, and with 10km's to go, you'll be amazed at the guys you start catching. Ye, it's a balancing act. When I say flatboxing, I mean maxing out my heart rate for 5 minutes straight to try not to lose the front of the bunch. You pay for that kind of effort for the rest of the race, whereas if you can get over the climb and still have half the bunch with you, in nearly all cases you can chase back to the skinny bastards up front.
Wyatt Earp Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 I am going to go out on a limb and say the following.Climbing is a state of mind and it's all in how you approach the climb.I am not a light dude yet I can climb with some good climbers on good days.For me it's about the approach and finding your rhythm.CharlV , I have seen these dudes who leisure the climbs and hammer the downhills, firstly they are seriously annoying as they are looking for track when everyone else uses the downhills to recover, they normally ride so heard and flat out that when they hit the climbs they have no resources left, the entire ride and especially the climbs is all about rhythm and finding a comfort zone.Someone mentioned hill repeats in training, yes really good advice, but be careful not to do it too often.
CharlV Posted January 12, 2011 Author Posted January 12, 2011 Ye, it's a balancing act. When I say flatboxing, I mean maxing out my heart rate for 5 minutes straight to try not to lose the front of the bunch. You pay for that kind of effort for the rest of the race, whereas if you can get over the climb and still have half the bunch with you, in nearly all cases you can chase back to the skinny bastards up front. Guys , awesome stuff so far ,your "pearls of wisdom" is way more then I expected,keep it coming ,and now I know what to call tose Tjop's gentleman ......and ladies (sometimes!)coming past me up the hill.
Wyatt Earp Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Hill repeats up Norfolk. Eina!!!!That's my hill
Zeps Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 'One secret you can learn from the slowest climbers of all, sprinters, is to drift. Professional sprinters are the sneakiest of all. They will start climbs at the very front and drift all the way back to last place. Then on the descents, in between climbs, they will make up all the spots they lost by doing daredevil moves to get to the front before the next climb begins.' VIVA drifters VIVA
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