Hmmmm. Thank you! I didn’t realize I could get something better on the front. You just gave me an excuse to visit the trek store today!
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And have a great trip yourself!
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My basic physiology tilts strongly towards lower cadence than most people ( lots of fast twitch fibers, not so many slow twitch, I think). But with poor balance, I need to keep my speed up past 4 mph or things get dicey.
And yes. I played with some online climb calculators and saw a large improvement in overall time with dropping about 8-10 mote pounds and increasing my expected avg watts from 160 to 180. All well below FTP but tricky given the expected low cadence. That is my current plan, btw.
I think I may be joining by the end of the day!
Yes. In general, the idea will be for me to hold what would normally be a perfectly reasonable avg watts but at very low cadence based on my basic physiology. My bike is a trek madone slr7 gen 6 (2021) with sram axs. Rear is 10/36 and front is 48/35. Looks like I may be able to improve the front so looking into that.
Excellent! Great to know. That did worry me.
I would also recommend checking with your tour if they provide the carbs, and if they do try and get used to their brand. I could not find the same gels and powder that I’m used to, and ended up with two different powders. Asides not being used to them, their scoops weight were totally different, and I had no way of weighting it to know if i was over or under fueling.
Next time i take all my carbs with me.
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Thank you! Not sure there there is any chance of me pulling off 90 rpm during the climb (typical cadence on flats is 70s and low 80s) but the point is well taken. If I can increase my rom, it would definitely take stress off the legs towards the end of the ride.
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I’d second getting some low cadence work in, at the power you intend to tackle. Ideally on a hill to get used to the dynamics of it.
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I know! Irl is always very different. This will be fun and very challenging . Which was the whole point of the trip!
Thanks! The low rom is clearly not ideal but typical for me. Someone else pointed out that I can improve on the front chainring so will check that out. Also, I’m short and naturally muscular so definitely not lean. I’ve lost 4 lbs so far and want to drop another 5-10 before the ride.
Yep. I did not do Zoo Hill as it looks super steep and irregular (up to 24% on strava). I’m more of the idea of long endurance rides, as you will definitely need your slow switches for the 2h15+ climb. The last part after Chalet Reynard can be tough when tired. IMO, you need to be able to do 3h endurance rides and feel super fresh after it. After that, you can raise intensity.
But do it well in advance, at least 3-4 weeks before you go because you don’t want your chain dropping on your trip!
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I’ve found that I run out of gas earlier than many people. 2 years ago I did similar climbs in Italy and used a high carb mix that helped me considerably. But it’s still hard on my leg muscles for that long unless I can increase my cadence. And for this ride, it will be much hotter (Italy was in April) so I’ll need to rebalance towards more electrolytes.
Good point. Strength first, acclimation later. Thanks,
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Hi Chris. I’m definitely bringing my own nutrition. Did that for Italy, too. Lots of skratch: normal hydration mix, super high carb mix, and their gummies. Definitely the way to go.
That’s a really tough ask. If it were a 10 minute effort at ~50rpm, that’s reasonable and something to train for. Trying to grind for an hour+ at 50rpm could turn into a death spiral. It’s an individual thing and some people can do it, but I personally wouldn’t risk it if I was spending a bunch of $ to get over there and want to enjoy the climb. All the stuff you are talking about with nutrition and training is great, but those are going to translate into making it to the top 5 minutes faster or slower. If you implode/cramp due to gearing, you could be walking for a half hour (not the memory you want). Even the pros often opt for non-traditional gearing on climbs like this and their power to weight is 2x compared to many amateurs.
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the idea will be for me to hold what would normally be a perfectly reasonable avg watts but at very low cadence based on my basic physiology. My bike is a trek madone slr7 gen 6 (2021) with sram axs. Rear is 10/36 and front is 48/35. Looks like I may be able to improve the front so looking into that.
You can go to a 33 small ring and that will help, but I would at least consider a 1x setup with a 10/52 cassette and eagle RD as another alternative to get even lower. The eagle stuff is compatible with your shifters and you can go with the low end versions to keep the costs reasonable. And depending on the crank you have, it may be able to support a 1 chainring (I swap between 2x and 1x on my force crank). Yeah, it’s probably more money that just switching to a 33 ring, but I’d at least price it out. Again, this stuff is individual and the 33/36 combo might be enough, but I’d go find a hill before your big trip and do a hour or so of repeats on a similar grade before assuming it’s going to be fine.
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How long is the total climb? Can you get supplies at the base? An idea here is prepare frozen drink mix that thaws as you climb. You could also wear a water backpack with frozen water.
But definitely see what better gearing options are available.
You can go down to 43/30 in the front. SRAM offers that on their WIDE cranksets, but you can find the spider and chainrings aftermarket, and they’ll fit on any standard SRAM 8-bolt road/gravel crankset (you don’t need a WIDE crankset to run the 43/30). You’ll need to lower your front derailleur a little bit, but not much.