Reality Check
Well thought I was an ok cyclist - and I thought that hill climbs were my speciality because of the strength in my quads to push up the road. I was wrong!
Today was my first ever cycling race and granted it does fall outside of my less than 1 hour criteria for these races (and tougher than the super sprint triathlons) but It was a challenge and those of you have have read these posts over the last few months know that I like nothing better than a good hard challenge.
Todays challenge was a time trial race to the top of Mt Wellington. The same mountain that I ran the half marathon up back in November although the first half were from and different (and easier) approach with a six km climb followed by 4km of slight downhill then on to the main mountain road that I ran so many times last year for another tough 12 kms of climbing. I think the average gradient would have been about 5-6% but there are also sections that hit closer to 10% so pretty damn steep.
I rocked up this morning and whilst waiting to register I checked out some of the competitors bikes. Some serious money in those bikes and some very serious cyclists here too. Even before I registered I felt a little out of place (but I bet they can’t squat and deadlift what I can!)
We were setting off 30 seconds apart. The guy behind me took all of 2 1/2 minutes to bridge that gap and all day long it was the same story - I felt like I was going backwards with the speed some of those guys raced uphill past me.
Training preparation for the ride was hardly ideal (not an excuse but) we did one ride to the top but taking the same route as the point to pinnacle and one trip from the start line to the turnoff to the top. On that second trip It took 34 minutes to cover the 10kms. Today I blitzed that down to 29:30 for that first 10km. I should have been happy but with people racing past me the whole time it was a bit disheartening.
It got tough from there. I just couldn’t settle in to a good rhythym. I was already in my lowest gear but I had to ride standing up to get the pedals around at anything over 10kph, I just had no power!
Was surviving at about 12-13kph for the first 5km of the mountain road but then I hit what I have now renamed "the death zone" which is about 3.5km of really steep road that is virtually straight and where the scenary barely changes so it really feels like you are pedalling with no effect.
I hit the next checkpoint of "the chalet" meaning I was almost to the home stretch. On the runs this was a great motivational boost. Today still meant there was 3.5km of climbing to go. Mentally I was already spent. I was literally taking it one pedal stroke at a time. The big bend gave about 100metres of relief where I actually hit about 16kph…. then the climb hit the final 2kms, running you don’t really notice it kicking up too much but on the bike… holy crap can I even get up this? 1kms and I can pretty much see the finish. I tried with everything I had to crank it up a couple of gears and push harder - it lasted about 100 metres before dropping back to granny gear. I try again, and drop back again. I am almost there, I give everything I have and finish in about 1hr27 averaging about 14.6kph to the top.
I should have been pretty happy with that but the way so many others flew past me I was actually really disappointed. I was hoping for about 10minutes faster which would have been a respectable time (the winners I think were closer to 50minutes!)
The thinks I learnt:
Expensive bikes = fast bikes ( I am seriously considering finding the money to upgrade after today!)
I am nowhere near as quick as I thought I was on the bike!
Backing up for a chest session after a ride like that is hard work 
but it had to be done, weights still come first
I need to spend more time on the bike if I want to even come close to a lot of those guys (but they prob cant squat and dead what I can)
Next week is a 100km charity ride but that will be at a nice sedate pace and despite 2 decent hils it will be relatively flat
March 8, 2009 at 7:27 am
Mmmmm- expensive bikes- mmmmm!
Well good for you!
Enjoy next weekend’s charity ride:)
March 8, 2009 at 12:06 pm
You’ve seen Tour de France cyclists. Your body type with the massive quads are found on sprinters not hill climbing specialists. Remember a good carpenter doesn’t blame his tools. Good luck. Keep moving forwards, and enjoy your journey.
March 8, 2009 at 6:35 pm
"Today was my first ever cycling race…"
It was to be expected that:
a. You would not have a bike as well kitted out as the guys who cycle for sport.
b. It was going to be difficult physically.
c. It was going to challenge you mentally.
As you point out, weights come first and none of the guys who passed you would probably be able to squat (or deadlift
) what you do.
I know its your competitive nature that makes you dissatisfied with your performance but I think this was very well done. Because you need to always do YOUR best on the day and I’m sure you did.
March 9, 2009 at 1:52 am
mmm maybe I shouldn’t have posted this when I was tired and let the frustration show…. And yes I have a cheap bike but with better preparation could have ridden my cheap bike faster - the flashest bike out there still wouldn’t have ridden itself up the hill (but I still want one
)
I first started thinking about this race thinking that 1hr30 would be a respectable time. By race morning that was reduced to 1hr15 because of my competiveness not because of anything else.
Official results are in - 118th out of 150. The winners (and who are sponsored cyclists) in around 53minutes.
After talking to some people I am satisfied with the result but know that it will give me a lot of motivation to improve for next year
March 9, 2009 at 4:52 am
You did great, and as for the winners, bikes do make a big difference, higher end bikes mean faster times, so don’t beat yourself up you did awesome.
March 9, 2009 at 5:55 am
"Backing up for a chest session after a ride like that is hard work but it had to be done, weights still come first" … nice quote..
Take care Ryan.. Have a great week!!!!! Cheers, SA
BTW could you ride with music (or do you already I wonder?)…’Eye of the tiger’ or something the like might help with places like the "death zone"
March 9, 2009 at 6:20 am
The strong quads will most likely not help you that much in climbs…mostly becauseyou’re dragging with you extra weight in you’re upper body against gravity. My guess is you will be a much better rider on the flats where gravity is less of an issue and that extra force you’re legs can generate is used for building up momentum and maintaining a high speed.
I rode a 70km race last year and my intermediate time (after a 25km climb) was 10-20mins worse than the ones that finished with the same time as me. I rode way better than them on flats where weight wasn’t so much an issue.
Body type truely makes a real difference in what strength you develop as a racer. The best mountain climbers in the world are around 60kgs, like Carlos Sastre who won last years TdF. You’re allmost 80kg with strong legs and that’s more like a sprinter or a time trial specialist. Tom Boonen is a top 5 sprinter in the world and he’s 82kg. Fabian Cancellara, a top 5 time trialist is 80kg.
Still cool to read about you’re experience! And a job well done
March 9, 2009 at 6:29 am
I agree with VT dad. You’re weight is almost the same as Tom Boonen, a sprinter, and Fabian Cancellara, a time trialist (80kg). Carlos Sastre, an excellent mountain climber is 60kg. You have to generate so much more power than the climbers to maintain the same speed. On the flats that extra weight will help you and gravity will work more for you rather than against you like they do on climbs.
Still a solid achievment
March 10, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Wow- what an amazing way to push yourself to the limit, though, right? Disappointed though it may be you dug dug and dug some more and finished ahead of many others. Given that this isn’t what you excel at (nor what you are built for as others have pointed out)…. the fact that you were out there pushing like that and are STILL willing to do more on a bike is admirable to say the least!!! Thanks for letting us see the emotion of it all. Very cool.
March 11, 2009 at 8:00 am
Hey man, definitely don’t beat yourself up on that. A time trial is tough. If you bike setup in the profile pic is what you raced with, I’d suggest first investing in some clipless pedals and real cycling shoes. They’ll make a HUGE difference over your current setup since all of your power will go directly into your pedals and not cost the several grand that a new bike will. Keep on pushing man. You earned a lot of people’s respect finishing that race out.