Key moments: 00:00 Introduction 00:35 Start from the evidence 01:05 Example: determining pace before the Etape du Tour 2018 04:00 How it went: analysing the Etape du Tour ride file 05:20 Counter-example: pacing eror at the Marmotte 2019 06:10 Summary
What about this theory: If you do the first mountain at high pace to stick with a fast group, you can use the group to gain time on the flat sections...?
This is certainly possible in theory. Whether it would pay in practice depends on several factors, including how long is the first mountain, how deep you go on it to stay with the group, how long is the following flat section, what comes after the flat section (more mountains?), as well as your current ability to recover from the initial hard effort... The easy answer is yes, you are right. The hard answer is "how high a pace to ride the first mountain?" Hope is not a strategy. Rely on data and go through your relevant ride files in detail to determine what % of CP or FTP to ride at.
Pacing is everything. We've analysed last year's successful Everesting to see what we need to do to for the Everesting 10K attempt this year. Basically, in 13 1/2 hours of riding I only spent 14 minutes (1.7%) at Threshold (96-105% FTP) and less than 2 minutes (0.1%) above 106% FTP. For the Everesting reconnaissance we did for this year, Threshold was at 3.6% of the ride time and VO2Max was at 2.5%. Therefore, we know we need bigger gears to replicate previous performance on a steeper hill. Long days in the saddle are all about knowing your target zone and having a nutrition and hydration plan and sticking to it. For Cent Cols Challenge last year I targeted 65-70% FTP for the climbs on average if I had the gearing to spare.
Thanks David for the comment. Makes perfect sense. On the Cent Cols Challenge I targeted exactly the same as you: 65%-70% on the climbs whenever possible. Sometimes I needed bigger gears: 34/32 wasn't always low enough!
I always kept it somewhere between 75-80% FTP on those long climbs in the alps and so far it worked pretty well. Still sometimes I wonder if I could have pushed a bit harder without blowing up ;-)
Alex, the best way to find out is to test your limits! We all have different strength endurance profiles so there's no generic answer. There's a big difference between doing all the climbs at 85% compared to 80%... Choose an event where you don't mind if it all goes wrong, and try pushing harder to see what happens. You can get an idea of your personal limits in training of course but there's nothing like a real event for pushing the envelope.
Key moments:
00:00 Introduction
00:35 Start from the evidence
01:05 Example: determining pace before the Etape du Tour 2018
04:00 How it went: analysing the Etape du Tour ride file
05:20 Counter-example: pacing eror at the Marmotte 2019
06:10 Summary
Excellent advice..
What about this theory: If you do the first mountain at high pace to stick with a fast group, you can use the group to gain time on the flat sections...?
This is certainly possible in theory. Whether it would pay in practice depends on several factors, including how long is the first mountain, how deep you go on it to stay with the group, how long is the following flat section, what comes after the flat section (more mountains?), as well as your current ability to recover from the initial hard effort... The easy answer is yes, you are right. The hard answer is "how high a pace to ride the first mountain?" Hope is not a strategy. Rely on data and go through your relevant ride files in detail to determine what % of CP or FTP to ride at.
Pacing is everything. We've analysed last year's successful Everesting to see what we need to do to for the Everesting 10K attempt this
year. Basically, in 13 1/2 hours of riding I only spent 14 minutes (1.7%) at Threshold (96-105% FTP) and less than 2 minutes (0.1%) above 106% FTP. For the Everesting reconnaissance we did for this year, Threshold was at 3.6% of the ride time and VO2Max was at 2.5%. Therefore, we know we need bigger gears to replicate previous performance on a steeper hill. Long days in the saddle are all about knowing your target zone and having a nutrition and hydration plan and sticking to it.
For Cent Cols Challenge last year I targeted 65-70% FTP for the climbs on average if I had the gearing to spare.
Thanks David for the comment. Makes perfect sense. On the Cent Cols Challenge I targeted exactly the same as you: 65%-70% on the climbs whenever possible. Sometimes I needed bigger gears: 34/32 wasn't always low enough!
@@alpinecols I now have 43/30 + 10-36 for Everesting in June! :)
I always kept it somewhere between 75-80% FTP on those long climbs in the alps and so far it worked pretty well. Still sometimes I wonder if I could have pushed a bit harder without blowing up ;-)
Alex, the best way to find out is to test your limits! We all have different strength endurance profiles so there's no generic answer. There's a big difference between doing all the climbs at 85% compared to 80%...
Choose an event where you don't mind if it all goes wrong, and try pushing harder to see what happens. You can get an idea of your personal limits in training of course but there's nothing like a real event for pushing the envelope.
Great audio in 2022.