Training Tips Th e big three fi tness challenges
Ride better on the hills and flats As a coach, I test and train a broad spectrum of athletes who range from complete beginners to elite racers. All riders have weak spots that they’d like to address. Here’s how to tackle the big three issues I most often hear about from cyclists.
I get dropped on long climbs
Often a powerful guy who cruises on the flats will suffer on the hills. How is it that this big strong guy pushing a big gear on a vertical gets smoked by a slim gal spinning a Cuisinart cadence in her granny gear? Simple. She’s stronger.
When climbing, gravity is the greatest opposing force a cyclist will face. If our big fellow weighs 190 lb. (86.1 kg) and his petite cycling friend tips the scales at 113 lb. ( 51.2 kg), the big guy has to output a consistent 252 watts or more. His counterpart need only output 150 watts to do the same amount of work. So how can he improve his performance on longer climbs that last more than seven minutes?
The short answer is lose the weight, but that is easier said than done. Next is improving muscular endurance, as well as building greater lactate tolerance. Better muscular endurance means increasing the duration of time that you can apply considerable torque to the pedals. Long hill repeats will help this endurance. Building lactate tolerance will increase your ability to suffer through the burning sensation in your legs at higher intensities, delaying your quitting point. Both will improve your ability to stay with the group.
Rolling hills are killing me
I can’t keep up on the flats
“How is it that this big strong guy pushing a big gear on a vertical gets smoked by a slim gal spinning a Cuisinart cadence in her granny gear? Simple. She’s stronger.”
Riders who struggle on sets of consecutive short but steep climbs lasting less than five minutes are at a major disadvantage on most group rides. Cyclists who struggle to respond to multiple pace changes on long climbs are in the same group. If you find the rollers a challenge, you’re either working with a small anaerobic matchbook or a lack of power at VO2 max. Anaerobic power covers efforts of as much as three minutes at near maximum intensity, which are primarily fuelled by carbohydrates. Power at VO2 max covers efforts of three to five minutes in length with the intensity near maximum for that duration, but carbohydrates and some fat are used for fuel.
Short hill repeats that last three to five minutes per interval are the way to address your rolling-hill troubles. The exercises should be done on a steep grade of 7 to 10 per cent that gets steeper as it climbs. Use a higher cadence than you would on a long hill climb and increase the spin as you near the top. The last 30 to 60 seconds should build to an all-out intensity, ending close to failure. Due to the intensity of the intervals, consider a 1:2 or 1:3 work-to-rest ratio. If your issue is losing your ability to respond to multiple efforts, focus on increasing the number of total intervals over your weeks of training. If you are getting dropped on the first or second roller, focus more on raising the intensity and duration of your intervals in your weeks of training. On flat roads, air resistance, not gravity, is the greatest force to overcome. Time triallists are specialists who excel at putting out high power continuously throughout moderate to long distances. They also use an aerodynamic position with specialized equipment to limit drag. They are like diesel engines that keep the power going. So, if you are a lean mountain goat who flies uphill, your advantage is lost on flats unless you output similar wattage to the big diesels pulling on the front of the paceline.
If you want to ride better on the flats, you should increase your functional threshold power (ftp). You can do so by taking on medium to long steady-state anaerobicthreshold intervals at high cadences. You will increase your sustainable pace. The work will also increase your metabolic efficiency as you will burn more fat at a higher intensity over time. The higher cadences of 90 to 100 r.p. m. will shift the effort to your heart and lungs instead of on just the legs, which is key to endurance sports. The intervals must be long enough to isolate and tax the aerobic system and short enough to work harder than your normal steadystate pace.