central massachusetts riders terrain question

[moondoggie]

are there any central mass riders here? i live in flat land terrain and i want to sign up for the bicycles battling cancer in mass next june. given the limit to hill training that i can do in order to plan i would love to get more of a sense to the hills in that area. could anyone help? thank you.

[Crankin]

Can you be more specific as to which towns this ride goes through?
Most of central MA is *very* hilly. Short, steeps hills, as opposed to long climbs of a shallower grade. Lots of them.
Just my opinion, but the only way to train for hills to ride them.

[OakLeaf]

I don't know the terrain at all, but my opinion on training is that as long as you have good shifting technique, any strength work on the bike will get you strong enough for hills.

The only way to learn to ride hills is to ride them. As long as you have a good understanding and muscle memory of when and how to shift, then IMO, training in wind or on a resistance trainer will get you where you need to be strength-wise.



A friend of mine in coastal Florida just trained for a somewhat hilly ride by riding the bridges over and over and over....

[marni]

yay for highway and freeway overpasses and water control earth dams that have roads over them. Doing the same highway overpass over and over is fun because it confuses all the drivers at the traffic lights.

marni

[moondoggie]

thank you. it is located between the lancaster marlborough area about 2 hours outside of boston. i have the ability to head to several pa hill rides but nothing everyday. definite deal with head winds, but might not be able to handle this, then again a good challenge. thanks again!

[Crankin]

Oakleaf, for me, riding over highway bridges would not do it! It's just me, of course. I have to have the experience of suffering to endure more suffering.
I wonder what happened to the OP?

[Jolt]

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/CommunityFundraisingPages/CFPFY10NewEngland?sid=152039&type=fr_informational&pg=informational&fr_id=41596

This page shows the elevation changes along the route. Central MA is certainly hilly...the route you'll be doing is probably not quite as hilly as it gets a little further west (Worcester, Fitchburg etc.) but not flat by any stretch. Does your bike have a triple? That is helpful on the short steep hills you'll be dealing with. The nice thing about hills is that you get a little break on the way down.

[Crankin]

Marlborough is not that bad. Some short steep hills, but it's more suburban. Lancaster has some longer more moderate hills, with a few steep ones thrown in. The pavement is bad there!
I think you will be OK if you can get to PA and train for some of it; the terrain is similar. Remember, your most important gear is the lowest one. If you send the specific route, I could probably tell you more in detail, as I have ridden in most of those places.

[moondoggie]

thanks again ladies. crankin, jolt posted a link to the route. it is between this ride and one in new hampshire. i think once i get some training in pa it might make the decision for me. intimidated by the numerous hills compared to the one long climb on the nh ride and an extra month to train. both atleast will be for cancer research but honestly had hoped to do ma and then hit boston later. i have a compact system on my bike & may put a triple back.

http://www.mapmyride.com/s/routes/view/road-cycling-map/massachusetts/groton/52454342

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/27227956

[Crankin]

I noticed the highest point is in Grafton; never ridden through there, but the other places at least have some rest in between!
I have a mountain rd on my compact (11-34), which has 2 more lower gears than my triple. It's a thought, if you are willing to spend the $, and can actually do this on your bike. Otherwise, if you have a 25 on the back, you can always switch it out to a 27 or 28, with either a triple or a compact.
This ride is hilly for a century. It's the kind of ride that I would just go slow and steady, i.e. go up the hills at 6 mph and not push it on the flats. However, if there's a time cut off, this might not work.