Hi All
I’m a flatlander in Florida that will be headed on an expedition to Spain this winter. The goal is to ride in Mallorca for a week. The challenge is there’s gonna be around 26,000 feet of climbing over 7 days.
Does anyone have any perspective on how I may wanna tackle training for this excursion? Which program offer a great representation of the type of work involved in sustained climbs?
CK
I live in a pretty flat area of the world and have always done ok in the mountains. Long/sustained faster efforts into a headwind sets you up well. If you develop the power you’ll power up the mountains also just you’ll be going a slower rate. When I first moved here, circa 12 years ago the ToB KOM lived and trained exclusively in the pan flat area to the east of me (The UK Fens)
Headwinds seem to work for Team Netherlands.
Also virtual hills in zwift / Roovy?
I’m a big believer in long zone 2 rides (outside) then jumping on the trainer and building up from 2x20 to 3x30 at around 90% of ftp.
Just use Zwift or MyWhoosh. I have no mountains near me with 1 hour climbs… But i can find one every day in my garage.
tr has plans to get better at rolling (hills) or climbing (actual climbs) which will set you up with longer efforts at threshold (climbs) or shorter efforts at vo2 max (hills).
Worked for me preparing for some hilly rides here in the south of the Netherlands while I live in a more flat area..
Put a book under the front wheel when you are on your trainer to simulate the slightly different muscle recruitment. Select a lower gear than normal when in Erg mode to reduce inertia and force you to pedal circles.
Yes, during a climb you will feel any non-smooth pedal stroke much more because on steep grades with low cadence, your momentum won’t be keeping your speed constant.
Don’t underestimate the need for low gears. You’ll very likely want to have a 1:1 lowest gear.
I use the indoor trainer when I have to train without having access to big climbs. Workout or training plans that mimic the time spent in zone as you will on the climbs. You may have to work up if they are longer than 10-15 minutes as it will be quite a shock. I also like the idea of doing a few hours outside riding endurance and then hopping on the trainer to hit the climb simulation or vise versa to build a bit of fatigue resistance as big days in the mountain are also probably going to be long days but you probably will be riding an all day pace.
The key is having the right gearing. When you’re used to being able to hold a steady cadence in the 80-100 range, it gets tough when you’re trying to push a big gear at 45-65ish rpm’s. The right gearing fixes that and allows you to spin up the hills instead of grinding. I spent years practicing grinding on trainers and then dying in the hills. The game changer was realizing what I needed wasn’t more training, it was more teeth on the cassette/less teeth on the chainring. (FYI - I’m in Houston, but like to take cycling trips to the hills/mountains)
This! I’ve never went on a cycling trip and wished for harder gearing but I have regretted not swapping to a smaller chainring or more range on the cassette.
Just different thoughts than those already offered: 26,000 feet over 7 days is 3,700 feet per day. Obviously that won’t be evenly distributed, but it isn’t a killer amount of climbing. My two biggest days when I went were 9,000+ ft of climbing. But, none of the grades there are killer. Sa Callobra goes at about 7%. The climbing is fantastic, the sort of things where you can get going and groove.
I went in April and, living in New England, had been on the trainer for much of the winter. It was more than fine.
Something to consider here is that power = power, so while things can feel different when climbing up steep grades, the power you’re producing should be the same as when you’re riding anywhere else.
As @Pbase mentioned, as long as you have gearing that allows you to spin comfortably uphill without having to go into the red, you can pace hills just like riding on the flat. 