I have an event coming up next year, and I’m wondering what kind of ride this is? Is it a climbing event? A Rolling road? Gran Fondo? Century? In short, what should I focus on?
I will not be competing as such, but I’m looking to improve my time from last time i did it in 2010 (!!). Back then I just rode around and did some spinning classes for training, now I have TR on my side But I am 15 years older as well and have been back on the bike for 18 months with structured training now.
The stats, according to Strava:
176km, 2632m elevation.
I’d call it a gran fondo or century. Need a load of endurance and fatigue resistance. You don’t need top end power (which doesn’t mean that it’s not useful to do high power intervals). Nutrition is going to be key. As is being able to get up that monster climb in the middle (and to a lesser extent the one at the end) without ruining your day. Which means good pacing up it, enough gears to get up at a reasonable cadence at tempo to sweetspot watts, and no biomechanical issues like lower back or knees flaring up.
For me personally, I know I wouldn’t be at the pointy end so there is no need for any specific racing top end power. It would be all endurance and sweetspot on the climbs for me. Ok ok, maybe a little top end to catch a wheel here or there, but that is negligble.
But if your super strong and in it to win it, then you would need some sprinting and additional supra-threshold intervals to go with moves etc.
The type of effort you’re planning is important, as you could ride just about any course like a fondo, and you wouldn’t need all-out attacking fitness for that.
@Odd-Arne_Johansen if you’re just looking to build the fitness to ride the course well and improve on your time, I’d consider this a Gran Fondo. Rolling/Climbing Road Race plans are geared more towards the repeated attacks above FTP that you’d likely find in a competitive race scenario.
Let me know if this helps and if you have any other questions along the way!
Looking back down the hill from near the end of the segment. It’s not 29%. I’d say the main reason switchbacks are employed is to avoid that sort of nonsense. My guess is it’s more like 10%. The ride file that generated this segment has a low resolution, indicating poor GPS connection, probably caused by the terrain. And for what it’s worth, the segment’s altitude figures also disagree with the contour lines on the map.
My family is from Os, which you’ll be riding through. Have an incredible time. I’m sure you could finish this on a low volume fondo plan after a few months of consistency. If there is a large group doing the ride you’ll have drafting benefit until the groups separate enough. Those early climbs may in fact break the overall field up early. have fun!
But I am 15 years older as well and have been back on the bike for 18 months with structured training now.
