Hi there, I do most of my climbing workouts on local climbs (Salt Lake City UT) that can be 45min -2 hrs long for me. One thing I come across is getting to my rest period but the grade is steep enough that I cannot actually pedal at low enough watts. (So instead of a rest period being active recovery, I may be in upper endurance, for example.) Are there any climbing workouts that are set up this way? If not, could there be? I’d choose riding in the canyons vs having an ideal workout structure because being in the mountains on my bike is the thing that makes me happy.
Thanks
Sometimes I just turn around for a minute or so and then climb steady again to equal the watts for the recommended rest. Probs not ideal as it’s 0W and then it’s over, but it’s a compromise as you say.
Or I stop completely if it’s only short rest
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Hey @amfindlay 
I’d choose riding in the canyons as well!
In your case, I would suggest what @OwenL has already said. Just turn around and pedal downhill for the rest period, and then turn around once more to hit the climb again for the next interval. The idea of rest periods is to rest, so they should not be taxing or feel hard.
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Yep. In CO here and do workouts going uphill. It’s common that I can’t get low enough power for the prescribed recovery interval. I’ll either just go as low as I reasonably can, or turn around. Going downhill, I might have to drag the brakes a little to be able to maintain the prescribed power.
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Ok thanks. I also am a little (a lot) obsessed about getting to the top of the climb in the time I have so I guess I will continue to settle for sub optimal workouts or try to do my workouts on flatter routes. But who am I kidding - I will always ride in the mountains vs battle city streets any day of the week. I have turned around for rest intervals before esp in the winter but that’s because the road gets icy higher up. Sometimes I just make the rest intervals longer than prescribed. But I’ll give it another try (turning around for rest intervals) on those days with key workouts.
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What speed are you riding at during your rest intervals? I sometimes ride vo2max intervals on my MTB on a climb that averages 10%. In my rest intervals I’m barely moving. Maybe riding at 2-3 mph. Very low cadence but also low power.