# Mt. Washington Hillclimb



## cyclesport45 (Dec 10, 2007)

Training tips. Aside from putting down the chocolate. .


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

Ummm...climb a lot and lose as much weight as possible before the event?


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

Work on high cadence climbing (of course you'll need the appropriate low gears for the race).
The gears you use and the cadence you keep to get up hills in your every day riding will probably result in a blow up (I learned the hard way) so try working on a lower gear approach to climbing.


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## Terex (Jan 3, 2005)

cyclesport45 said:


> Training tips. Aside from putting down the chocolate. .


By "putting down" the chocolate, I can only assume you mean "throwing down", "snarfing down", "chowing down on" or something similar.


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## firstrax (Nov 13, 2001)

Have you been up Ascutney?


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## cyclesport45 (Dec 10, 2007)

Terex said:


> By "putting down" the chocolate, I can only assume you mean "throwing down", "snarfing down", "chowing down on" or something similar.


I mean, "putting away", "throwing up", "no longer eating any", and other painful things like that.


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## JohnStonebarger (Jan 22, 2004)

firstrax said:


> Have you been up Ascutney?


+1. If you haven't yet, get to Ascutney (Vt). Half as long but very similar profile, and it's open to bikes.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

Unless you already have this covered, pacing out of the start seems like a good place to focus on. I suspect most go out of the start way too hard and do to the nature of the course can't recover resulting in a lower average power and therefore slower speed.


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## Schmack (Mar 25, 2009)

I have never done Washington, but I have done Mt. Mitchell a number of times. I have freinds who have done Washington though. The key is to learn how to pace on climbs. Unless you have experience on steeps that are long, you likely go out way to hard.

The best thing I learned was that if you expect a climb to take you an hour, you need to have a pace you can consistently maintain for an hour. This will likley mean climbing at your steady state or even tempo pace for the entire time. Try and find some long, steep climbs and learn to ride like this. Prior to taking this approach I would redline from the bottom of the hill to the top and never really recover. It felt like I was climbing faster, but the numbers indicated I started faster and fell off over the climb.

Also, hill repeats, hill repeats, hill repeats! Try and match the grade of Washington, I think up to 23% at places? Build confidence on the steeps!


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## BostonG (Apr 13, 2010)

My tip: humans have no business being up that high. 

I've been considering heading out to watch the competition - I would enter but you know, I don't want to embarrass the others. The grades sound pretty stinkin’ grueling so should be fun.


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

Have a 1:1 gear ratio as your bailout gear in case you blow-up.

You'll need to sustain about 250 watts for an hour and a half to make it up in a bailout gear. So just make sure you can sustain this power level and you will be good to go.

To be competitive is a whole other ballgame. But I assume you are doing it just to finish.


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## cyclesport45 (Dec 10, 2007)

nightfend said:


> To be competitive is a whole other ballgame. But I assume you are doing it just to finish.


To be competitive, I'd have to weigh like 140. And being that my lightest, no body fat weight was 180, yes, I am shooting for finishing.

Hey Boston G, are there any Cake Ride hills that qualify as hill training??


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

With SRAM Apex, you could use a 34 small ring, 32 rear and have decent gearing without having to go with a specialty bike setup.

But, you don't have to train at that gearing. Just pick any sustained climb of about an 45 to an hour duration and do threshold climbing. Because that's what you'll be doing the whole time.


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## nfosterma (Jan 24, 2007)

This is on my bucket list, so I've looked into the topic about training. I found this link to be helpful:

The Hillclimber's Handbook

A couple of riding friends have done the Hillclimb before, and one of them also mentioned riding Mt Ascutney. In fact, I was told to ride up Ascutney twice, back-to-back, and the sum total of the two rides would approximate your Mt. Washington time. 

Good luck if you have entered. Like I said, I really want to accomplish this ride, but I just can't seem to make the commitment.


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## thatsmybush (Mar 12, 2002)

And be prepared to bike up into winter even in the summer. Was there in late June once it was easily 30 degrees colder with a 50 mile an hour wind at the top of the mountain. 

of course there is this sign at the top for a reason.

//know runners who have done the race--brutal is most often heard when questioned.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

Yup. Rode up it on my motorcycle in the early 80's. Was 80 at the foot and 30 (really) at the summit.


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## BostonG (Apr 13, 2010)

cyclesport45 said:


> To be competitive, I'd have to weigh like 140. And being that my lightest, no body fat weight was 180, yes, I am shooting for finishing.
> 
> Hey Boston G, are there any Cake Ride hills that qualify as hill training??


LOL. We can consider any incline (no matter how slight) that leads to a bakery as the hill. 

I'm 132 but I'm 5'4". I'll say this, I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't think I could make it up the Mt. Disappointed to say it but not ashamed. Would be lots of fun trying though.


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## Ghost234 (Jun 1, 2010)

1) Pace yourself accordingly either through power (preferred) or heart rate 
2) Try to alternate standing and seated climbing 
3) Try to strengthen your core as much as possible (It will do wonders for when you have to slog through big gears and a low cadence) 
4) Try to sit back on the saddle for the shallower grades and on the nose for the steeper grades. This will change up the muscles used from hamstrings (shallow) to the quads (steep)
5) Try to focus on something around you (I personally try to focus on my pedal rotation and making it circular) 

But the most important thing I've learned is how to breathe. Try to take some big deep breaths that almost feel like you are clearing the bottom of your lungs. I find these help me recover between harder efforts. 

But for preparation; 
1) Climb some surrounding hills 
2) Do long intervals either on hills or on the trainer and try to do them at a slow "er" cadence to build muscular endurance and core strength
3) Try to make your motion between standing and sitting very fluid so you do not lose any momentum


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## cyclesport45 (Dec 10, 2007)

thatsmybush said:


> And be prepared to bike up into winter even in the summer. Was there in late June once it was easily 30 degrees colder with a 50 mile an hour wind at the top of the mountain.
> 
> of course there is this sign at the top for a reason.
> 
> //know runners who have done the race--brutal is most often heard when questioned.


Ha! I have a picture of that sign, but my daughter is hanging onto the chain. We hiked up when she was 9. She's a beast. 

I'm 35 miles from the top of Wachusett. Have ridden to the top before, that sounds like a good start for training. Lots of hills on the way there, through Sterling and Princeton.


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## Wood Devil (Apr 30, 2011)

cyclesport45 said:


> To be competitive, I'd have to weigh like 140. And being that my lightest, no body fat weight was 180, yes, I am shooting for finishing.
> 
> Hey Boston G, are there any Cake Ride hills that qualify as hill training??


Ever hear of Blue Hills? Not sure where you are, but if in eastern Mass, that's about all there is. If you're in NH ... take your pick.

I've never done Mt Washington on a bike. But I've hit numerous trails on foot, from Tuckerman and Huntington ravines, to the Presidential range hike ... and I'm hear to tell you, if the weather isn't cooperating, it won't matter how good of shape you're in; those winds can blow you clean off the mountain.

Now that said, is cycling the Auto Road allowed only during events, or can you tackle the climb on your own whenever you want? I wouldn't mind giving it a shot, just not when the elite riders are out there making the lesser skilled look like dorks.


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## saf-t (Sep 24, 2008)

Oh- and no eating cake on the Cake Ride.... 

That's an ambitious ride!!


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## Skimmy (Dec 13, 2011)

*Mount Washington*

$350 for a 7.6 miles race?

Just to finish?


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## Rolando (Jan 13, 2005)

Psychologically, you need to "know" that you can handle the 20% type grades. Make sure you prove this to yourself ahead of time. Do not neglect the mental side of climbing.


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

It's true about getting used to 20%+ grades. The first time you do this type of climb, your instincts tell you that you will pop a wheelie and flip over backwards. It just takes a little practice to keep a straight line and the wheel down. Standing during the steepest sections helps tremendously.

But, the gradient ultimately doesn't matter. It is maintaining your 1 hour threshold power numbers so you don't blow up. So many people go out too hard on these type of climbs, and are cooked by the first 10 minutes.

All the more reason to choose your gearing very carefully.


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