Category Archives: Hill Workouts

Crestline Climbing Day

Posted on by
7

I spent Thursday afternoon (010512) in the Crestline area visiting a friend.  I began my ride in Crestline and descended down Hwy 18 to San Bernadino.  I then climbed about 2 miles on Hwy 18 until I turned right onto Old Waterman Canyon Rd.  I had a really hard day of climbing. I never felt like I got in my groove.

Then to add insult to injury…Waterman Canyon Rd. was one steep bugger.  I have been riding around Orange County on my 53/39 and 11-23 cassette because it is so flat and there I was struggling on 10-12% grades.  I muscled my way up and it hurt.

Old Waterman Canyon Rd. Three miles and about 1,300 feet of gain for about an average grade of 8.2%

About three miles of pain and suffering and for what?  Well it’s redeeming quality was it’s serenity.  Just off the from the main road (Hwy 18), Waterman Canyon Rd had all the quaintness of a mountain road, quiet, tree lined and some times completely shaded because of the canopy created by its many trees branches  There were a few houses along the road but mostly it was secluded.

I then continued on Hwy 18.  The road was a little too narrow for my liking. Here are a couple of photos of the climb up Hwy 18.  If the images are a little blurry please forgive me.  I take the pictures with a point-and-shoot camera while I’m still riding.

Below is another photo of the climb on Hwy 18.  Notice the road behind the bike as it curves up the mountain.  The green sign you see to the left of the bike is the 4000 feet elevation sign.  And yes I’m riding Sarah again.  Sarah is a custom steel Serotta CSI bike from 1998 time frame.  It is one of my all-time favorite bikes.

Running Springs was the final destination on this ride.  Notice mile marker 29.70 on Hwy18. Next time I’m up in this area I would like to continue on to Big Bear.

                                         21.5 mile climb gaining 5,300 feet

And just for fun “COVER YOUR LOAD!”

 

Please refer a friend to my blog and encourage them to subscribe.

Week in Review December 5 – Dec 11, 2011

Posted on by
2

Week Four of Base Miles (Recovery Week)

Performance Management Chart last 28 days

Ending—Dura—–Dist—- Weight— HR— TSS—- kJ——1min—-5’w—-20’w— 60’w 

12/11—–14:24—–237——-155——-143—–516—-7577—-347—–281—206—-179

12/4—— 11:18—–207——-155——159—–529—-7167—-337—–279—-239—–204

11/27——8:39—–151——–155——-157—- 427—-4970—- 466—- 317—-211—-188

11/20——6:14——-99——-155——-154—- 292—-3458—- 468—- 286—-213—-180

This concludes my fourth week of a three-week build and one week recovery period.  This week the focus was on maintaining the fitness gained in weeks one, two and three.  I rode easy this week so that I would achieve full adaptation from week three.   While my hours and mileage were more than last week the intensity was still low.  You will notice a significant portion of my hours was spent in the Endurance Zone (lighter Green).

Notice in the graph above how week four has a significant portion of the overall training time in the lower two categories (Blue and lighter Green) My endurance zone is between 165-223 watts.  I feel comfortable riding at that intensity.

Above is a graph depicting hours ridden with Bars and mileage ridden by the Line.  The increase over the last four weeks has been moderate and consistent.

Above you will see how even though I did more mileage on my fourth week my IF (Intensity Factor) is much lower than any of the previous weeks. This type of building takes discipline and training with a purpose. My SRM Power Meter is the best tool for proper pacing.

Nutrition and rest are two very important components of a successful training program.  I use AminoPure after every workout.  It ensures I maintain good health as it boosts my immune system and helps me recover quicker.

I also increase my protein intake to ensure good muscle recovery for the next day’s training effort.  Interphase from Sportquest has 34g of protein with only 190 calories.  If I have been training really hard I make a smoothie before bedtime so I can sleep through the  night.

I rode five straight days with no rest days for a total of 14 hours 24 minutes and 237 miles. A little more than three additional hours and 30 more miles than last week.  Training Stress Score was down from  529 to 516 and kilojoules was up from 7167 to 7577.  Remember the kilojoules is closely related to calories expended.  Notice how on the Performance Management Chart my Acute Training Load (stress over 7 days)  is up from  72.6 to 79.5 and the Chronic Training Load (stress over 42 days) was up from 39.2 to 47.9.  Two items of notable mention:

1.  A good 4.5 hour endurance ride in San Diego

2.  Followed by another good 3.5 hour endurance in San Diego

Just for fun how about these statistics for the last four weeks of training:

I rode 737 miles burned 24,000 calories,  43 1/2 hours and averaged just over 17 miles an hour.  

Thank you for reading my blog.  Please pass it to a friend!

Week in Review November 27- Dec 4, 2011

Posted on by
Reply

Week Three of Base Miles

Performance Management Chart last 28 days

Ending—Dura—–Dist—- Weight— HR— TSS—- kJ——1min—-5’w—-20’w— 60’w 

12/4—— 11:18—–207—– 155.0——- 159—-529—-7167—-337—–279—-239—–204

11/27——8:39—–151——155.0——-157—- 427—-4970—- 466—- 317—-211—-188

11/20——6:14——-99—–155.0——-154—- 292—-3458—- 468—- 286—-213—-180

This is the third week of a three week build period.  I will now have a recovery week.

I rode six straight days one rest day and then rode a seventh day for a total of 11 hours 18 minutes and 207 miles. A little more than two additional hours and 56 more miles than last week.  Training Stress Score was up from  427 to 529 and kilojoules was up from 4970 to 7167.  Remember the kilojoules is closely related to calories expended.  Notice how on the Performance Management Chart my Acute Training Load is up from 53.2 to 72.6 and the Chronic Training Load was up from 30.8 to 39.2.  Two items of notable mention:

1.  A good climbing ride Santiago Canyon, Silverado Canyon and Santiago Canyon

2.  A good climbing ride in North County San Diego Old Castle, Couser Canyon, Rice Canyon

113011 Wednesday ride Santiago Canyon Silverado Canyon and back Santiago Canyon

Twin Oaks, Old Castle, Couser Canyon, Rice Canyon Hwy 395

Garmin Download here

Week in Review November 20-26, 2011

Posted on by
Reply

Week Two of Base Miles

Performance Management Chart last 28 days

Ending—Dura—–Dist—- Weight— HR— TSS—- kJ——1min—-5’w—-20’w— 60’w 
11/27——8:39—–151—–155.0——-157—- 427—-4970—- 466—- 317—-211—-188
11/20——6:14——-99—–155.0——-154—- 292—-3458—- 468—- 286—-213—-180

I rode three days for a total of 8 hours 39 minutes and 151 miles. Two additional hours and 52 more miles than last week.  Training Stress Score was 427 and kilojoules 4970.  Two items of notable mention:

1.  Peak 5 minute wattage on the inside of Torrey Pines about a 10% grade.

2.  Max wattage on a couple of “sprints” on Saturday’s Bike Religion shop ride Max of 1140 watts and then an additional sprint of 1082 watts.

The three rides were 40 miles, 45 miles and a 40 miles. I am slowing building my base and motivation to ride after almost a month and half off the bike.

112411 Thanksgiving Day--5 minute effort inside Torrey Pines 317 watts Normalized 355 watts

Bike Religion Shop Ride Map

Bike Religion Shop Ride Elevation Graph

112611 Bike Religion Shop Ride - Two Sprints 1140 watts and 1082 watts

Five Newport Coast Repeats Today with a Side of Ridge Park

Posted on by
Reply

Today I did five repeats on Newport Coast Dr. (1.5 miles 6% 450 feet of gain) and finished off with a seated/standing climb on Ridge Park (1.0 miles 8.1% 450 feet of gain).  Each repeat had a different goal see below.

Entire workout


Warm up climb 38×28 goal: 100 rpm


38×24 goal: 90 rpm

First 20 second surge

Second 25 second surge

Third 30 second surge

Ridge Park seated and standing notice higher torque because of steeper grade.

Hill Work — on the coast

Posted on by
5

Training Goal – Three (3) hour training ride, maintain 200- 220 watts on the flats- (Tempo wattage range 209-249 watts)

Work coastal rollers in my 53 x 11 seated as a muscle tension workout

I had a great ride today with incredibly nice weather as a bonus.  We are in Santa Ana conditions with clear blue skies and unseasonably warm weather.  The downside is the drier air which dehydrates you much sooner.  It was a stretch to do the 60 miles with only two bottles.

On the power chart you should be able to notice the Torque squiggly line greater than the yellow power line.  On the rollers with a 53 x 11 gear selected torque shoots up significantly.

Hour of Power-Hill Repeats

Posted on by
3

I wanted to do an HOUR OF POWER to finish the weekend of training on a high intensity note.  My legs felt surprising well after the 130 mile and 10,000 feet of climbing ride from yesterday.  I found a hill 1.5 miles long with a gradual increase in grade, a slight relief in it and a steep kicker at the end. The hill was perfect for getting your intensity up gradually and then powering over the steepest part when you are most spent. It was perfect.

There were also two short kickers where I performed 15-20 second sprints ranging in the 800-900 watts range.  On one of the kickers I hit 999 watts and I wasn’t even going for a max sprint number.

Now that my legs are thoroughly worked I will take Monday as a rest day…a well deserved rest day.

ORANGE ELEVATION

RED HEART RATE

YELLOW POWER

Thank you reading my blog…please pass my blog on to your best cycling friend.

Saturday Hill Work on Newport Coast

Posted on by
Reply

Elevation Profile from Garmin
Entire Activity
Entire workout (157 watts):
Duration:..   1:50:14
Work: ..      1036 kJ
TSS: …       126.1 (intensity factor 0.832)
Norm Power: 233
VI:….         1.48
Pw:HR:       n/a
Pa:HR:       n/a
Distance:..   27.785 mi
Elevation Gain:     1447 ft
Elevation Loss:   1414 ft
Grade:     0.0 %  (30 ft)
              Min Max Avg
Power:       0 803 157 watts
Cadence:     30 139 78 rpm
Speed:       0 42.2 15.1 mph
Pace         1:25 0:00 3:59 min/mi
Altitude:     -1 1028 290 ft
Crank Torque: 0 1136 179 lb-in

Newport Coast wattage

Newport Coast with w/kg 

Newport Coast Dr:
Duration:   7:34
Work:       133 kJ
TSS:.        14.2 (intensity factor 1.061)
Norm Power: 297
VI:…         1.01
Pw:HR:       n/a
Pa:HR:       n/a
Distance:   1.535 mi
Elevation Gain:     427 ft
Elevation Loss:   0 ft
Grade:………      5.3 %  (429 ft)
                       Min Max Avg
Power:…….        1.9 5.6… 4.3 w/kg
Cadence:…..      63 106… 89 rpm
Speed:…….        9.5 14…. 12.2 mph
Pace ……..         4:16 6:19.. 4:55 min/mi
Altitude:……     147 576… 365 ft
Crank Torque: 136 389… 280 lb-in

Newport Coast Dr Hill Repeats

Posted on by
Reply

Sunday morning was an easy and mellow morning. Brandy and I spent some quiet time together while the kids were out playing. We walked the dog and then made and ate brunch together. A very nice morning indeed.

I didn’t get on the road until 2pm but still put in a good days work. Hill repeats on a local hill that starts with a 1.5 mile 6% then a flat spot with a slight downhill as you transition to Vista Ridge which pitches up 10-12% before it flattens out for a short stretch and then two more steep pitches.

As you can see above 6000 feet of gain in 43 miles.

Below you will find a detail blowout of one repeat which incidentally was best for the day. It helps to have a rabbit to chase. All part of the plan the month of August and September is about increasing the intensity and reducing the volume.

SCREEN SHOT FROM TRAININGPEAKS

NORMALIZED POWER 280 WATTS FOR A 4.14 W/KG for 21 minutes not bad considering all the flat spots on the climb. And that 983 watt power spike was a weak attempt to sprint the last steep pitch but I didn’t make it.