Velo 6-0-5 group ride

I got a late start and I was almost sure I would miss the 6am Wednesday Ride at UCI.  I left my house at 4:57am when I really should leave at 4:50am if I want to make the ride.  It's twenty miles from my house to the ride start with a 1.5 mile climb that I usually avg about 10 mph that early in the morning.  So I decided to join up with the Velo 6-0-5 group that meets at Peet's Coffee on PCH and Avocado at 6:05am ;)  I didn't know what their workout was going to be since I had never ridden with them but it was just what I was looking for-- mid week hill work.

We did Newport Coast Dr. (1.5 miles 450 feet of gain) with different variations and included Vista Ridge a couple of times.  I've been wondering how I would get significant climbing in with my new work schedule.  For the time being I will have to use the local terrain and just suffer at the events.  I am training for the Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic (MLBC) in April and the Breathless Agony in May.  Mount Laguna has 10,000 feet of climbing in 100 miles, and Breathless Agony has 12,000 in 114 miles, 11,000 feet of which come in the first 72 miles.  You can read my MLBC pre-ride report here.

Having seen the stats above I think now you can appreciate more clearly my dilemma -- how can I train for 10,000 ft climbing days on a 450 feet climb? Or how can I train on a 1.5 mile hill when the requirements of the race are 10 mile climbs or Breathless with it's massive 30 miles of almost continuous climbing from Mill Creek to Onyx Summit at 8443 feet summit? Just look at the map provided below it's flat terrain all around me.   As I've said in previous posts --- this will be an interesting season.

Ok on to the geek stuff here is my workout.

Garmin download elevation and power

All Repeats

Repeat #1 Steady used as a warm-up

Vista Ridge- a steep 10% average

Vista Ridge power displayed as w/kg

Newport Coast Repeat #2 

Newport Coast Repeat #2 w/kg

Newport Coast Repeat #3-- Seated

Newport Coast Repeat #4 -- Standing

And then I lost motivation and did an easy #5 repeat.  I just couldn't get into the 5th repeat or go up to Vista Ridge again.  But I will as the season continues.  

Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for Untitled

Onyx Summit on a Fixed Gear...

VIDEO OF ONYX SUMMIT ON A FIXED GEAR HERE






THE VIEW ON THE DESCENT OF HWY 38 LOOKING UP FROM 5,000 FEET










CHICKEN QUESADILLA FROM LA MULITA ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BIG BEAR CITY





ANY QUESTIONS?





Yeah I had this crazy idea to make Onyx Summit even more epic. I'll post some more pics and some type of report later.


8,800 feet of climbing in the first 60 miles

Total of 9560 feet for the 90 miles

Breathless Agony Modified

BIG BEAR CITY VIDEO HERE


Well I did it! It wasn't pretty but I did it. I'll flesh out the story later. Here's the down and dirty.

118 miles (189kms) 14,000 feet (4,267 m)

However 13,000 feet (3,962 m) of that climbing came in 88 miles (141 km).

MAX ALTITUDE 8443 FT (2573m)


Start Mill Creek Ranger Station
Did Oak Glen from both sides
Mountain Home Creek Rd is not really a road.
Climbed to Onyx Summit 8443 feet
Kept going to Big Bear City
Lunch in Big Bear City
Climbed to Onyx Summit
"Descended" back to the car.
Those that have done Breathless Agony know there's a lot rollers on one of the descents.

Link to pictures and there are some videos that if I can find the time I will do a slideshow.

My proposed training ride...

I would like to do Breathless Agony this year because it is a great event, put on by great people. Chuck Bramwell and Santiago Cycling provide outstanding support.

But my schedule is different this year. I will be doing Trans Iowa .

However, I still love the climbing out there and these long flat commuting miles are boring me. So here is my proposed training ride for tomorrow.

If you can believe Bikely.com it "suggests" 13K feet of climbing in a little over 100 miles.





CUE SHEET

MAPS ON BIKELY.COM

Breathless Agony Picture

Picture from Breathless Agony on the Oak Glen Climb MAY 5TH 2007