This thread has been a God send. My A ‘ride’ this year is the Mallorca 312. My intention is to complete the full course, so around 196 miles and 16,000ft+ of climbing.
As an out-and-out crit/road racer, I’m keenly aware that my current level of fitness is nowhere near where it needs to be. That said, SSB1 went well and I’m about to close out SSB2, moving into SPB for the new year.
I’ve managed to get regular 2-3 hour winter rides in but I know that my biggest demon is mentally adapting to the event. Even on my own, I’m struggling to keep the pace steady with regular, unnecessary power spikes. Couple that with my almost instinctive need to jump on anything that even looks like a break and I’m killing my chances of completing the ride.
Do you folks have any advice for shutting these temptations off, or even down. Maybe I’m over analysing things but this thread has double underlined my fears.
I’ve done the 250 a couple of times, have signed up for the 320 this year. My training over the past few months has been diverted to a sprint tri (tomorrow), so I’ll have to see how soon I can get my climbing legs back.
5 hour aerobic sessions (hello Beach Rd) have their place earlier in the season, but at this stage with 8 weeks to go, sweet spot is where you need to be. 3 x 30 sweet spot is excellent prep for those long climbs. And a 34t cassette is your friend.
What terrain are you riding/training on? Can you find a long sustained climb to ride?
I’ve found terrain like this discourages any longer efforts over FTP as you pay the price later on the climb.
Cool, how many people are usually doing the 320? Yeah sounds like its going to be a lot of sweet spot then.
Yeah i’m a bit torn on what gearing to go with, especially knowing that first 9km of Falls is pretty brutal. My LBS suggested a 34 small front ring and a 32 tooth cassette on the back, anymore and I would need to switch derailleurs. Did you run a 34:34?
Yeah - it’s a mental game about pacing in the first half of the race. The 2nd half usually takes care of itself - meaning it’s harder to over-pace the 2nd half because you don’t feel as fresh.
Well, it seems no one is going to be doing the ACE320 this year - just got the email this evening that the event has been cancelled due to the fires. Not surprising really, I have been hiking and riding over this area for many years, and when a fire gets hold in that area, you really need to wait until autumn to put it out.
