indoor bike and hill training
i am registered to do the IM W 11 and there are a "few" hills for this event. any suggestions on how to practice indoors for this kind of course?
what I was hoping to accomplish is when spring hits, usually in May in Chicago, then go outside and hit the streets again. i wanted to train the muscle group on my legs to handle hils in the winter, if possible.
The best idea I had was to take my bike, put the front on a couple of wooden blocks. I cant do to many because it becomes unstable no matter how i try to tie the together, maybe 1 foort high is the best I can think / do.
This maybe enough to do IM W 11, but maybe someone has a good training tip / suggestion.
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Comments
Don't worry about tipping your bike up or down on the trainer, just pedal hard!
What Tom said. Just focus on getting stronger and building your threshold. You'll have plenty of time, once you're outside, to ride some hills.
What about for big dudes, like me? I'm 6'1" and 200+ lbs. Even if I pedal at 50rpm, in the granniest of gears, I will still exceed my FTP (320ish) on just about any and every hill. I shoot for the FTP, but have to go above it in order to keep moving forward.
When I'm lucky enough to be outside and do hill workouts, I look for FTP+ sets. Example, I'm doing hills tonight on my bike, outside; I have my FTP set at 320, but will shoot for a 350ish target. As long as it's low variance (little or no spiking or surging), and I can 'dial in' on a target number, I like training this way. This might just be n=1, but I at least make progress up a hill.
Would my n=1, FTP+, logic still be applicable on a trainer? To better prepare for the 'real world' situations?
I think you should be using your trainer to mimic hills with regards to power. If you run out of gears and are always climbing at 50 rpm and 350 watts, then use the trainer effectively. No need to put your wheel on an 8" block. Why not push 350+ on the trainer? I posted this link a while ago, but I think it applies here.
http://www.peaksware.com/articles/cycling/the-power-of-quadrant-analysis,-by-hunter-allen.aspx
Thoughts?
tom
Scott:
It kind of surprises me that you'd be at or over your FTP for hill work. I'm 6'4" and hover between 190 and 200 lbs depending on fitness. At LP this year, I was 190 lbs with FTP=315, and I had no issues sitting pretty close to the recommended goal watts for any of the hills. I never even came close to my FTP, and even the steepest hills have me mostly under 280 watts.
If I look at my peak 10 minutes, from LP, I was at NP=238, AP=238 (VI=1) and speed =11 mph. I guess I was frequently over my goal watts for long hills, but only by about 5 watts or so.
EDIT
I guess it depends on the gradient of the hills. LP had long inclines, but nothing all that steep. If you're riding steeper hills, I guess I can understand the higher effort.
There may be a point where standing on the cranks is necessary, and that can impace muscle recruitment. But realistically your best bet is to stay aero or on the attack bars while seated and spin it out. Use the PWM as your guide. sure you might be going 6mph up the hill, and that does suck, but you'll also make that time up cresting the hill and flying past everyone that blew their wads getting out of the saddle and hammering up the hill.
Work on FTP.
If your FTP were higher, say 400, then you wouldn't be going over it on those little hills!!! (PS, I'm 6'2 and 200lbs. Dropping to 185 as we speak. I feel your pain!)
thanks everyone for the comments. I gratly appreciate the ideas on training.
Yes, i am "concerned" about IM W 11, just the hills (hehe), and really need some talk about what people do for hills during this coming winter.
thanks eric for your riding position comment. i always had this curiosity about stading vs aero.