RR bike route / IF advice
I'm planning out my upcoming RR (for the Louisville IM) and need to solicit bike advice. For my bike route, I can either:
A) ride a steady & flat course, but have to delay my brick run for 45+ minutes after the bike ride
ride a super-hilly route and be able to jump off the bike and immediately run
IOW, is it better to have a steady ride, or be able to do a race-specific brick?
Also, the guidance says to keep a .7 IF. My HIM bike split was 3:30 (although since then my FTP jumped 30 watts). Would a .7 IF set me up for a disastrous marathon during the race? Or should I just try that out in the RR and see how it feels?
Bonus Question: are CO2 cartridges allowed in airline checked luggage?
Thanks!
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Comments
Hey Mac:
I assume this is RR#1? if so . . . .
For A and B - Per the Race Rehearsal Protocol in the Wiki the key is to be in aero position for "98%" of the ride. So flat and steady and then hold for 45' is the best choice.
2 - A .7 IF should set you up for an excellent marathon. If you haven't done so, review the Bike Pacing section of the IM Race Execution Protocol in the Wiki. Specifically, the Half and Full Ironman Bike Execution presentation.
Hope this helps.
John
Oops, and no . . . 02 is not allowed on the plane. You can buy at the race expo.
John, thanks for the response. I was just in Louisville previewing the bike course and despite hearing that it wasn't a very hilly course, the hills took their toll on me, even though I was consistently "flattening" them. I only rode one loop and even at an easy pace (< z1) I wouldn't have been able to execute a marathon.
I've been doing my 3-4 hr rides easily at z2 on the flats. But now I don't have much confidence in my execution of this race.
You edfinitely don't want to put the run off for 45 minutes. You should run right off the bike.
@Mac:
Bottomline is that IMLou isn't a very hilly course. It's just a bike ride. If you've been doing all of the bikes per plan, and executing a ride on the Lou course like you described, you should be as shelled at the end of the ride as you described. So I'm trying to gain more insight into that ride you did on the IMLou course. Thanks.
1. Definitely will post an RR report
2. Gearing is 11-28
3. I have been following the EN Long rides to a T. Intervals, zones, etc. I missed 2 weekends of cycling due to travel, but the rest of the workouts were done.
For the Louisville preview, I was riding a rental bike (a Trek road bike with 12-25 gearing, no aeros). That could be part of the problem. As well as the humidity (the index was 108 degrees). Still, I found the climbs and switchback of the PV Loop (in LA) to be EASY compared to the rolling hills in Lou, go figure!
I think it's gearing and heat, not an inability to ride hills.
The problem with picking a "hilly" RR course is that you do that and get 4k ft of gain for 112 and 6.5hrs ride time vs the 1.5-2k or whatever (no idea, just making that up) for IMLou with 6hrs ride time. An extra 30' on the bike is a big deal in an RR and choosing an unrealistically hilly course can create a very unrealistic RR.
What's more important for an RR course is:
There is NOTHING special about riding hills. No magic hill riding pixie dust that makes one person a better climber than another. It's about watts, kg, gearing and probably most importantly, perspective. Drive up to north LA and I'll recommend some roads that will forever alter your perspective on what a "climb" or "hill" is. I'm talking 1-3hrs of continuous, non-stop, maybe a couple downhills climbing. You won't sweat anything in an IM after that.
Riding steady is then applying your head, powermeter, gears, and discipline to the problem of managing your effort up a hill. It's a not fitness exercise, it's not a magical climbing legs anything.