Monday Hill Repeats
I’m a little sore tonight after my commute today, so I’m taking a pass at TNUA to night. And of course, the part of my commute that killed me was the climbing. Two consecutive days of hill repeats isn’t a good thing. Yet. I’ll have to build to it.
It got up to 65°F yesterday, and was sunny all afternoon. That’s cause for celebration around here. And to celebrate, I did hill repeats.
Feeling pretty good after Sunday’s ride, I set out on the Portland. Rich’s Dugway is a favorite of area cyclists. It’s off the beaten path, scenic, interesting homes along the way (including a teepee), has curious pavement faults, and for around here, it’s a pretty good climb at 150 ft in a half-mile.
Looking down Rich’s Dugway from near the top
Let’s see. This is 150 feet, the Epic has a 6,000 foot climb. 150 goes into 6,000 40 times.
Coast back down for another repeat…
The Epic’s big climb is 30 miles, this is a half-mile, so that’s 60 repeats for distance, but only 40 for vertical. Huh.
Coast back down for another repeat…
Okay. Half a mile is, let’s say 2,600 feet. 26 goes into 150 a little less than six times so this is roughly a 6% grade, on average, and so is the Epic. I’m doing this in 30/21, so maybe I won’t have to take my 16-27 cassette to Colorado.
Coast back down for another repeat…
So I’m averaging 10 mph on the climb, which is better than I thought. That’s three hours climbing on the Epic. But here, I also use time on the descent, let’s say half the time, so if I can do this for 4½ hours, I should be able to do the Epic.
Coast back down for another repeat…
So how am I going to keep track of that many repeats? Maybe I can put a chalkboard on the side of the store at the top. At least with the store here I won’t have to carry 4½ hours worth of water.
Coast back down for another repeat…
But how does the break I get on every descent effect the climbing endurance I’ll need on the Epic? I had no firm answer for that.
Then I decided to do a little recon. The bike club’s season kickoff ride is in two weeks and starts nearby on North Landing Road. I found it, went past it all the way to Browncroft. And it was another climb back out of the park to come home.
