Nothing says i love you like saying i do atop the ventoux.
I’m sure she will understand 
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Might be, but the family won‘t be happy to celebrate atop a windy mountain in fall. 
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I have registered for the pyrenees
Hoping it will go ahead.
Doing the century plan with sweet spot base and sustained power build.
Changed from climbing road race after listening to the podcast a few months ago.
Aim to survive
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Would be unique, nice cheap wine around there too.
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Yep. But I have a long life ahead of me with these people (hopefully). Probably Id never be allowed to go cycling anywhere, ever again XD
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Very nice. I was looking at Pyrenees also, but it just comes a little too early for me in the year. Dolomites will be my A++ event for the year and I‘ll need the full 10 months run-up to survive.
The route for HR Dolomites 2021, one of the two events I‘ll participate in, is out, and it is definitely crazy. The first climb of the event is Passo Giau and the final climb on stage for is godfather climb of them all.
Three of four classic stages have over 3,000m of elevation- molto pazzo!
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Wow that’s a great but brutal route! I live in Trentino so that’s pretty tempting to do, I’ve ridden all those climbs in training but never raced on them (except for the uphill race on the Stelvio, ouch).
However, I’ve never done a stage race so I would probably go out too hard and DNF in the first stage lol.
Plus, the problem is the price, it’s definitely out of my budget.
It would be nice to do it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience though, luckily I’m young so there’s (hopefully) a lot of time for that.
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Living in Switzerland, I registered for Crans-Montana. I wanted to select others, but each conflicts with the expected family travel calendar or other events (like the rescheduled IM Barcelona) or are “easily” done on my own, though the catered service is nice. Now to train…
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Nice. I used to live in Switzerland throughout my education and loved the country. Coming back to wreck myself is a great reason 
.
Maybe we‘ll be suffering side by side 
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The route looks tough, too. Not as many iconic climbs as the Alps or Dolomites versions have to offer, but still that lovely Tourmalet in there. The stages are also remarkably long (in terms of distance) for an HR event… Will be a great event either way, I am sure.
These images really tickle my cycling wanderlust:
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I might have had a bit of a rush of blood to the head. Any advice on how to cope is very, very welcome.
I was 50 this year and was signed up to do HR Alps and the Maratona, both now scheduled for 2021.
I’m now also signed up to do all of the other European HR events in 2021.
I totally blame HR.
They have a ridiculous offer, where, if you are very lucky ( maybe not the right choice of words), you can bag an infinity pass and do all the events in one year that they offer, for the same price as doing HR Alps.
For a 50 year old, who may have struggled just a little bit with accepting the milestone, this was like a red flag to a bull and before I’d had time to think sensibly about it, I’d manged to snag one of these passes, and have gorged myself.
To be totally honest, It was all I could do to stop myself signing up for the events outside of Europe too.
I’ve done two or three 1 day events in the Alps and survived ok and did the Mallorca 312 a couple of years ago, which got a bit messy, but I got around it.
I picked up on TR via a friend and worked pretty hard from Nov last year to August this, before throwing my toys as every single event I had lined up got cancelled.
As a newbie to TR, it’s been a bit of a learning curve. I started out in HV!
Each time an event was cancelled I reset plan builder. This combined with blowing up a couple of times has meant I have perpetually been in build, I’ve been to some very dark places!
A rest followed by some enforced downtime due to an unrelated neck injury has seen me off the bike for seven weeks and I am just back to it.
The worrying bit is at my fittest/lightest I was 3.83 w/kg.
I’m currently at 3.38 w/kg.
It seems I’m in the "just about get around "category.
Obviously, I was expecting to win at least one of the events. I mean, how hard can it be - right?
Plan builder has come up with;
Sweet Spot Base - Mid Volume I
Sweet Spot Base - Mid Volume Il
Sustained Power Build - Mid Volume
Climbing Road Race - Mid Volume
Sweet Spot Base - Mid Volume II
Sustained Power Build - Mid Volume
Climbing Road Race - Mid Volume
Recovery Week
I’ve stuck with MV as I want to nail the consistency thing. I blew up trying HV and even came close doing MV, but I am worried that this isn’t enough volume to prepare me for the ordeals to come.
I did decided that I must be too good at FTP tests, so my levels are too high and this is why I’ve struggled with the actual training part of the training plan.
That and an inability to resist a group ride (that always involves racing up a hill or two) and ignoring rest weeks (or using them to catch up on the sessions I’d missed from the week before).
I also would like the flexibility to put some long rides in, because as much as they tell me I don’t need to train long to ride long, I still kinda think that I do.
My hope is to get to 4 w/kg, but really my main concern is repeatability. I’ve done a few days back to back with mates, but was one of the stronger ones, so don’t really know what it’s going to be like to be that pushed for that amount of days, but have my suspicions.
For all of you that have done a HR before, any little nuggets on how to approach both the training and the events is very much appreciated,. After reading this thread the enormity of what I’ve signed up to is really starting to dawn on me!
Thanks
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Definitely do back to back to back days, to see how you hold up. Don’t overlook doing strength / core / mobility work starting now, as the total climbing can be murder on your back if you aren’t careful
On the event:
- As the TR crew say constantly in the podcasts: eat, eat, eat. Train yourself to be able to eat on the bike, and figure out what works for you, and stick to it
- At least right now, you are at about the same age & w/kg I was at when I did HR events. You will be in the “I’m just doing this for myself category”, so embrace that
- Work on keeping yourself healthy / injury free, and work on training consistency - don’t over reach in your training
- If you don’t already have good clothing for all types of weather, work on getting that and testing out what works for you. Past HR have had some days with really bad weather in the mountains, so be prepared
- If there is anything about your bike setup you are thinking of changing / tweaking, do that as soon as you can. Don’t pull a Nate
Get your nutrition down pat and figure out and how your body reacts to long, hard slogs in the saddle up a lot of hills. I’m from Australia and we don’t have massive climbs like those in Europe, so climbing for over an hour was a real shock to my system on the first day of Ventoux.
Also, and this is a big one, RIDE AT YOUR OWN PACE. Do not try and ride with people who are clearly stronger than you, some of the people riding the HR are no joke, they’re basically low level pro’s. You WILL fade, you WILL get dropped, and then you WILL be alone. Being alone on these events is a real mind fuck, as I again found out on the first day. I went too hard on the first two hills, and suffered through the next two(which were the hardest of the day) and found myself alone for about an hour or so and it nearly broke me. Luckily I ran into some people who were at my level and rode with them from the top of the third climb onward, but I suffered because I’d used too much energy in my excitement. You’ll find people who ride at your pace and you’ll probably ride with them for the whole event due to that, enjoy it and don’t overdo it and you’ll have a much better time.
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Thanks, all good suggestions.
Strength training is something I know I should be doing, but somehow don’t.
I’m pretty good at stretching after a TR session, but that’s about it.
I do have a lower back issue and this does worry me a bit. I keep meaning to at least do some planks, as this seems to be the one exercise that most people say is a must.
Bike set up is another thing. I use an old bike on the trainer and it’s not at all comfortable and I need to do something about it.
As a 50th I was supposed to be getting a new bike, but for reasons that still don’t make too much sense to me, I ended up with a 50m retractable hose!
I’d been waiting for the new Aeroad, but seeing as the events I do are always long days uphill, I’m not sure now that the Aeroad is the right bike.
I think I’d quite like a new ultimate to come out with the cables hidden in the new aeroad cockpit.
Any “bike for a haute route” suggestions would be fun thing to get.
Once the lockdown is over in the UK, I’m planning to get a bike fit along with a sizing for the new bike.
I seem to fall between medium and small on the Canyon site.
I agree with not overreaching, I definitely did this last time around and suffered for it, but do worry about not having enough distance in my legs using TR.
Longest session is only 90mins on MV.
I am fueling my rides and need the carbs if I want to have a high quality TR session. I just put carb powder in my drinks and start drink it pretty my straight away.
As the max length is only 90 mins at the moment, I’m not sure if I need to fuel these at all, but want to be in the habit of always fueling, plus find it easier to fuel the ride, rather than trying to play catch up after.
I still have a nagging doubt that for a HR, you need to do more long days, but the weather and lack of climbs in my area mean I will be concentrating on TR until early spring and then will re-asses.
Thanks again for the advice, I will definitely start doing some planks and get a bike fit, as i need to address my lower back issue more seriously.
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Your right, pacing and fueling will be key.
It’s easy to understand, but really hard not to get swept up in the thing.
I don’t have a power meter on my bike as I’m one of the guys who got suckered by the IQ2 fiasco, but plan to have one by the time I hit the road again in spring.
Somebody mentioned 70% of FTP as a guide effort level?
Fueling I think is ok. I’m pretty comfortable with 100g of carbs per hour via soreen to start and then carb powder and gels.
I fueled terribly when I did the 312 and have learnt from my mistakes.
Yours and AlphaDogs posts have been quite liberating, I’m in it for the joy of doing it, which is actually a very nice place to be.
I’ve no doubt I’ll get a bit competitive, if only with myself, but being so far away from the pointy end does change my perspective a bit!
Thanks again for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.
FTP is an important figure, but the difference between finishing an HR event and finishing it comfortably, or finishing in the bottom half and finishing in the top 50 will not be solely FTP.
I have had a reasonably high FTP all year long, and therefore should be a pretty good climber by definition. When I did my first ascent of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong (550m, 6% average) I figured out that there is more things to know here than FTP. It was 35 degrees with close to 100% humidity and I felt like melting away, completely overshooting my power by just going at FTP.
A few months later, I was in the Alps and did a few epic climbs there (Col de Vence, Alpe d‘Huez, Bonette) and figured out, that I wasn’t prepared for this. Bonette took me over two hours and especially spending the latter half at over 2000m of altitude completely got to me. I somehow got up there, but 30W lower average than what I planned, and that plan was conservative based on my FTP.
The day after, I did Col de Vence, on paper, an easy climb. I had a slight tail wind and felt really good about myself, going out at 5W/kg (which is my FTP, and it is only a 30 to 40 minute climb) and feeling like I am flying. 20 Minutes in, the air was so stuffy, still over 30C and the sun in my neck. Legs felt like jelly after 3 hours of total ascending the day before. On Col de Vence, I felt like I could faint any minute now. I was so happy to finally reach the Col, after 40 minutes, which is 10 minutes more than planned and completely out of breath.
Two days of rest after that, and I did Col de Vence again and got up in 31:02 Minutes and even had a little left in the tank.
Why am I sharing this? Because I felt like a mountain goat when winning the KOM jerseys of Watopia, and beating my pears up the local climb. I had to figure out, that climbing in very high altitude, climb after climb, day after day, in the blistering unforgiving sun of French/Italian/Spanish summer, is just a totally different beast, and my FTP (which ultimately is a 20 minute TT on the flat at sea level) didn‘t at all translate to good real world results.
I’m not sure how to train for this?
It’s raining and cold and I’m nowhere near any significant climbs and live pretty much at sea level!
I’ve kind of decided to hunker down for the winter. Having TR has definitely made me more of a fair weather rider, and then am thinking of focusing more on back to back long days at the weekends with a LV TR plan for during the week.
I do struggle to believe TR alone is the best way to train for HR events, but don’t really have a plan for what to do instead. Surely 7 or 8 hours a week isn’t going to be enough mileage to prepare me?
The guys at TR definitely know better than me and I’ve put all the events into plan builder as stage races/climbing road race, so it knows what I’m training for.
If I knew how to add Jonathan, Chad, Amber or Nate to ones of these posts, I’d probably ask them.
Forgot to say, kudos on 5w/kg, I can’t even imagine it!
I’d be absolutely delighted if I managed to break 4w/kg.
5w/kg seems like an impossible dream.
I’m guessing you are pretty light, which does make me think of a question.
When exactly are you supposed to try and actively lose weight?
My body fat is at 18% according to my dodgy scales, so reducing this is one of the things i’d like to do, but all the chat is about fueling rides.
Does this mean have a caloric deficit during your daily meals, but making sure you are topped up prior to/during and after training?
It seems to be counter intuitive to be trying to lose weight/change body composition and fuel rides, so this bit has left me somewhat confused.
Is there a particular time of year when you should be losing weight?
We talk about race weight, so is this something to concentrate on later on in the training plan.