
Originally Posted by
Veronica
Were you eating and drinking enough on your ride yesterday? Can you control your heart rate during a climb to keep yourself from spiking?
V.
1) Eating enough is always a challenge on early morning starts. I ate about 1000 calories spread out over the ride...starting about 1.5 hrs before the ride (when I woke up). Accelerade, banana, bagel & PB, Power Bar, yogurt. Got up at 6am, on the road by 7:15. I am on an afternoon/evening work schedule, so don't get to sleep until midnight or 1am, usually. Getting up too early to eat gets brutal.
2) I do use my HRM & zones...I can keep myself from spiking up to about 11% climbs. When the hills are shorter (1/8-1/4 mile) but go into 14-16%, I really can't, yet. Even in granny with slow cadence, my HR soars. It comes down nice and fast, but it gets way up there.
"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew, and live through it." ~ Doug Bradbury