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Category Archives: Training
Weekend of climbing
On Saturday I did 13,400 feet of gain in 114 miles. The hardest part of the ride had over 12,500 feet of gain in 80 miles. The heat and time in the saddle made the Baldy Road climb very difficult. I was struggling to maintain my speed above 5 mph on the last 2 miles of Baldy Rd.
On the bright side I PR’d the little GMR climb. It is a 5 mile climb in the 6% range. My time was 28:13 Normalized Power of 263 (3.87 w/kg). I’m really proud of that even though pros climb at over 6 w/kg. BUT, I’m not a pro and that’s good enough for me.
Here is a screen shot from Training Peaks software on my PR.
On Sunday I did a shorter route than I had planned. I didn’t recover well enough from Saturday’s efforts. I wanted to stay close to the car so I only did 57 miles with 7,300 feet of climbing.
oops found another one for Little GMR
Found another one where I am 28 seconds faster on Little GMR. So I think my goal is to beat 29 minutes at first and then work from there.
Could be my Little GMR PR?
I need to look at my older files but I think this is my PR on little GMR.
HERE IS A SCREEN SHOT FROM TRAINING PEAKS.
Notice I put a powerband between 240-260 watts. My goal was to climb at 3.5 w/kg I did well in keeping at my goal with an actual of 3.6 w/kg.
A weekend of climbing in the San Gabriel Mountains
I spent Saturday and Sunday climbing in the San Gabriel Mountains. It was great to be out in the mountains again. The climbing was intense. I feel fatigued and sore but “it’s good pain”.
Sunday concluded a five day training block which included commuting with various intervals and back to back climbing “centuries” (Sunday’s was a little shy).
Wed pm 65 miles
Thurs am 30 miles pm 65 miles
Friday am 30 miles recovery
Saturday 100 miles with 11,280 feet of gain
Sunday 85 miles with 10,600 feet of gain
for a total of 375 miles and 26,380 feet of gain.
CLICK HERE FOR A WRITE UP ON THE TWO “CENTURIES”
WHEW! I AM READY FOR A REST DAY.
^^ SATURDAY 100 MILES 11,280 FEET OF GAIN
^^ SATURDAY DETAIL OF FIRST 67 MILES WITH 10,000 FEET OF GAIN
^^ SUNDAY 85 MILES WITH 10,600 FEET OF GAIN
Back to back century days
On Saturday I did the century above. Had a to eat lunch half way through the ride. I felt my spirits were waning. I felt much better about an hour later and had a good ride in the end.
Sunday I had better legs but decided to just keep the pace steady with only a few surges.
THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTES, CUE SHEETS, OVERHEAD MAPS ARE AVAILABLE ON MY WEBSITE.
60 min Peak Power Number
Screen shot from Training Peaks.
Yellow- Watts
Red – Heart Rate
Green – Cadence
I only had 1.5 hours to ride this morning. I did a 25 mile loop that took me on fairly flat terrain before and after a 1.5 mile hill (Newport Coast Dr) that gains 472 feet with an average grade of 6% grade. After the crest there is a 5.2 mile (San Joaquin Hills) rolling descent. It requires a lot of work to keep the watts up on the descent which in the end hurts your 60 minute number. But it’s a good little game to play trying to keep the power up on the descent.
My Normalized Power was 233 watts for 60 mins. My weight was 150lb or 68.04 kg.
233/68.04 = 3.42
My 60 min peak number was 3.42 w/kg.
Average Power was 211 watts
211/68.04= 3.10 w/kg
Based on the Power Profile Chart that is right between the top range of Cat 4 (3.38 w/kg) and the low range (3.47 w/kg) of Cat 3.
New 30 sec Peak Power Number
I have a little competition going with my friend in Omaha, Nebraska SushiJoe.
Last night on my commute I asked him what his 30 second and 1 minute numbers were in absolute wattage and w/kg. I needed a carrot. I needed something to motivate me because the headwinds were demoralizing me. Have I mentioned how much I hate headwinds? I beat his 30 second number in absolute watts and in watts per kg (w/kg)as well. When reading power data it is important to not focus on the absolute numbers so much.
Here is an example. Two cyclists are comparing their wattage output on a local hill of 1.5 miles 6% grade.
John says: “I can hold 275 watts on that climb”
Mary says: “Really? I can only hold 225 watts on that climb”
Who is the stronger cyclist on this climb? Let’s take a look at body weights for these two riders.
John weighs 165 lbs or 78.84 kg
Mary weighs 125 lbs or 56.70 kg
So John’s w/kg is 275 watts divided by 78.84 kg = 3.67 w/kg
Mary’s w/g is 225 watts divided by 56.70 kg = 3.96 w/kg
On this particular climb, based on their weight and power output, Mary is the stronger cyclist because her w/kg for this climb is 3.96 w/kg.
An important concept to remember is that w/kg is a power to weight ratio. As you lose or gain weight your w/kg will change that seems obvious right? But far too many people try to buy their way into better climbing. If you want to improve your climbing lose weight. Typically you will continue to hold your absolute wattage output if you are shedding fat pounds and retaining lean muscle.
Above is a screen shot from Training Peaks. You will see on the left a small frame that shows a time frame and corresponding wattage. The only thing missing to make the data quantifiable is my weight. I weighed 150 lbs yesterday which is 68.04 kg.
My 30 sec peak power was 721 watts or 10.6 w/kg Sushijoe’s number was 7.91 w/kg. Ok Sushijoe there is your carrot. You have to beat 10.6 w/kg.
Being an Ultra cyclist, I am a slow twitch type of rider. I rarely do group rides. It is especially important for me to work on my fast twitch muscle so as not to lose that snap in my legs.
90 miler today..
I went for a 90 miler today. I got a late start. My legs were sore from commuting. I have ridden only 72 miles in three (3) rides since I got back from Trans Iowa on May 5th. My May numbers will only be respectable because of Trans Iowa (320 miles in one shot). I’ve been sick for over three (3) weeks and it’s getting old. Finally this week I said eff it I’m going to start commuting.
Commuting numbers:
Wed PM 65 miles
Thurs AM 30 miles
Thurs PM 65 miles
Fri AM 30 miles
Commuting total: 190 miles
Today’s ride was a good eye-opener. I’m just not in shape. I suffered from mile 75 to the finish mile 90 and then there was a stiff headwind.
I also established two benchmarks to work from. I timed myself on Laguna Canyon from Pacific Coast Hwy to the point where bicycles must turn off on Quail something? My time to beat on the 7.5 mile “climb” is 24:20
Benchmark for Santiago Canyon is 39:09. From Glenn Ranch to the Sprint point on the Como Street group ride.
Duration: 5:47:13 (6:03:28)
Work: 2946 kJ
TSS: 487.2 (intensity factor 0.94)
Norm Power: 198
VI: 1.33
Pw:HR: 2.68%
Pa:HR: -3.57%
Distance: 90.609 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 818 149 watts
Heart Rate: 80 194 153 bpm
Cadence: 29 178 83 rpm
Speed: 0 43.8 16.4 mph
Pace 1:22 0:00 3:39 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 520 72 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1097 156 lb-in
WEIGHT ON TODAY’S RIDE– 152.5 LBS OR 69 kg
Peak 5s (609 watts): 8.8 w/kg
Peak 10s (546 watts): 7.9 w/kg
Peak 20s (508 watts): 7.3 w/kg
Peak 30s (426 watts): 6.1 w/kg
Peak 1min (384 watts): 5.6 w/kg
Peak 2min (330 watts): 4.7 w/kg
Peak 5min (308 watts): 4.4 w/kg
Peak 10min (243 watts): 3.5 w/kg
Peak 20min (220 watts): 3.2 w/kg
Peak 30min (200 watts): 2.9 w/kg
Peak 60min (175 watts): 2.5 w/kg
During my ride I discovered another hill! I was so excited when I looked up during a fast descent and noticed a water tower on top of a distant hill. I’ve descended this hill many times and have never noticed that water tower up there. A few lefts and rights and I found the way up through a resedential neighborhood. I was so excited I wanted to call Brandy. Problem was the hill was steep and I need to focus lol!
I also got an idea for some picture taking to liven up my blog. Before the age of digital cameras I used to take pictures of my bike in front of percentage of grade signs. I thought it was cool and my coworkers, who didn’t ride, thought I was nuts for attempting some of the hills I told them about. They would say things like “I can’t even walk up that thing” or “My car hates me when I go up Texas (15% grade)”
Here is the first installment of GRADE SIGNS new label.
This Calle Grande in Orange
Big Bear Training Ride April 18, 2009
It’s that time again. Time to get your climb-on. Brandy and I will be going to do the ride you see in the graph above on Saturday. It is about 13,000 in 88 miles. You can read about my last trip to Big Bear City here. I also created a video here. Click on Big Bear City. Internet Explorer seems to work best with the media player.
Start: Mill Creek Ranger Station
34701 Mill Creek Road
Mentone, CA 92359
(909) 794-1123
Start Time: 0600
The route begins at Mill Creek Ranger Station we will climb over Oak Glen in both directions. Then we will climb up and through Onyx Summit to Big Bear City. Refuel and climb up and over Onyx Summit and back to Mill Creek Ranger Station.
Everyone welcome– Climb at your own pace. This is not a beginners ride. However, there are plenty of bailout points. Just think if you get tired of climbing just turn around and head back down the mountain and the pain is over. This is a hard ride with lots of climbing and not much in the way of support.
As always only you are responsible for you.
RSVP at vireo508@gmail.com
George's Epic Adventures 