First things First:
For some reason the “Original 3
Gap Ride” seems to keep disappearing from the Southside Cycling Club’s web Calendar. I don’t know why this is. Doesn’t really matter.
THE RIDE IS ON!!! I see no
reason why I would cancel it at this late date. If a cancellation
was necessary, I’d be putting out an email to all on my distribution list,
posting the news here, and I would us the cancellation function on the club’s
site to mark the ride as “cancelled.”
I would not just take it down.
While on that topic… There is some good NEWS… We have a volunteer to drive a SAG
vehicle. So my truck will be out
there, with a driver, following the route. There will be a generous supply of emergency water aboard,
and Kelvin will be able to “make pickup” if someone is really in over their
heads. (Thank you Kelvin!)
~//~
About Riding and
Training in the Atlanta Area:
I’ll say it again:
“Riders who ride and
train in our area are prepared to ride anywhere!”
I say that because our area is blessed with a wide variety
of terrain. We have the privilege
and blessing of having lots and lots
of hills. If we look around we can
find some good long flats to practice “motoring.” We have a fairly mild climate, with four distinct seasons. Anyone
can manage to ride for three of the four seasons, and it doesn’t take a lot to
stay on the bike all year round.
Let’s go back to the hill part again. It’s good that we have plenty of hills,
but… there are some hidden traps built into our terrain. Here, in the area south of Atlanta, we
don’t have a lot of really long, or
especially steep hills to work on. We get plenty of hill work, but it’s
rare that we face a climb of more than 100 feet gain. It’s a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, we do get to
train up our climbing muscles. On
the other, our hills are short enough to tempt us into some bad habits.
We who ride, and train, in this area can be tempted to get
into the habit of “muscling the hills.”
That is, we know that it’s
short, and so we know we can afford to go anaerobic. We tend to get into the habit of attacking the hills, going anaerobic, and letting ourselves recover
on the top, or on the next descent.
That’s not so bad, really, but it doesn’t translate well for
sustained climbing. In sustained climbs, two factors work
against us. First off, the hill
(mountain) keeps on going! Second,
we don’t experience the effects of increased altitude.
Let’s take that first one. The initial difference between our local hills and a
mountain, is that the mountain keeps on going. If we hit it hard at the beginning, we
go anaerobic waaay too soon. Then we have to recover while climbing. When we go to places where there are
long and/or steep climbs we have a tendency to over-reach. We do
have the background to do these climbs, but we haven’t done the correct
rehearsal.
What’s the solution?
Refer to the last two words in the previous paragraph. Correct
rehearsal. We need to spend a
goodly amount of time climbing with intention,
climbing in a deliberate and fully aerobic fashion. We can do that on any
hill we happen to have available.
As for the sustained part of
“sustained” or “prolonged” climbs, our best strategy is to do slow hill
repeats. Climb a good hill,
focusing on staying aerobic, then, at the top, turn around, descend, and
repeat. Do this for 45 minutes to
an hour, on at least a twice monthly basis, and you have a pretty good
preparation routine for long climbs.
As for the altitude change, the air just gets thinner. The effect isn’t too bad below 2500
feet. But it is good to remember
that half the atmosphere is below 5,000 feet. Around 2500 feet we begin to feel some of the effects of the
thinner air, and the reduced amount of oxygen. At 4,000 feet the effect really kicks in. The solution? As the air thins, slow down until heart rate settled and
equalizes.
In the long run, it’s more about habit and focus. On long climbs we have to think our way around our habits and focus on steady, measured,
consistent technique
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