Climbing Club - July Goals

[maillotpois]

You Death Riders amaze me...but I may try it next year. Maybe two or three passes? It would be a good goal to strive for.

It's definitely do-able. If you can get into the ride (lottery), then give it a shot. My advice is just start the ride and see how the day goes. You may surprise yourself. In the group we coached, we had a guy in his 60's who'd had polio and lost all muscle in a leg (he has a brace), a guy with diabetes who fractured his pelvis last year and the DR marked his one year anniversary off crutches, and a woman who'd had leukemia. I take so much inspiration from folks like that. They all made all 5 passes. (Oh yeah, and we also had a woman who had pulmonary emboli last year and was not able to ride her bike for 6 months! )

[RolliePollie]

It's definitely do-able. If you can get into the ride (lottery), then give it a shot. My advice is just start the ride and see how the day goes. You may surprise yourself. In the group we coached, we had a guy in his 60's who'd had polio and lost all muscle in a leg (he has a brace), a guy with diabetes who fractured his pelvis last year and the DR marked his one year anniversary off crutches, and a woman who'd had leukemia. I take so much inspiration from folks like that. They all made all 5 passes. (Oh yeah, and we also had a woman who had pulmonary emboli last year and was not able to ride her bike for 6 months! )

I was thinking I should go ahead and enter, then see what happens with the lottery. I have a friend who's ridden it three times, so I bet he'd be a great "coach." Sounds like the group you coached was amazing!!! It is definitely inspirational to hear stories like that. If those folks can do it, then I should be able to do it too!

Starfish - maybe you should enter the lottery too! You certainly have a good training route for climbing rides. If you come do the Death Ride with me, I'll come ride Hurricane Ridge with you next summer. Sound like a good deal?

[Starfish]

Starfish - maybe you should enter the lottery too! You certainly have a good training route for climbing rides. If you come do the Death Ride with me, I'll come ride Hurricane Ridge with you next summer. Sound like a good deal?

Sara, definitely PM me all the info you learn about joining the lottery, etc! I am sickly and strangely intrigued. What is the matter with all of us drawn to these rides?

I kind of had a different ride in mind for next summer's goal, but they might not be mutually exclusive...perhaps only from a time-off, travel-time perspective!

[maillotpois]

Boy do I have some Death Ride stories for you guys. Get in, and then we'll talk!!

[Starfish]

Boy do I have some Death Ride stories for you guys. Get in, and then we'll talk!!

Sara, see, this is how they hook us. We have to get in, and only then will they give us the realities!

[maillotpois]

wait til I tell you the "uniballer" story. It will all be worth it.

[GLC1968]

I didn't set a goal for July, but I've already got over 20K in and I expect at least another 5K this weekend.

Can I ask you mountain goats a question? I rode my first real 'mountain' a couple of weekends ago. It was about 3-7% grade (varying) for 8 miles. It's a tough one around here because there is no flattening out at all, it's all climbing for 8 miles. That said, I did it, but I didn't do it well. I found that if I could spin comfortably in my lowest gear, my HR would get too high and I'd get dizzy and nauseous. If I kept the HR manageable, the cadence was too low and my legs would burn out. I obviously need some work.

How do I train for something like this when I just don't have those types of long climbs around me? We have plenty of hills, but nothing longer than maybe a mile, and even those aren't all that steep. I can get to a 2 mile 8% climb, but even that would be more of a weekend trip (it's an hour from me). The hills in my immediate area are easy for me compared to the long climbs that I need to be able to ride (by the end of September).

What should I do? Hill repeats? HR training? Weight lifting? Drive my lazy a$$ to the mountains every weekend and ride there?

Thanks!