2019 Goats League - *CLOSED* Climb 6 - Onion Valley Road

[Aleman]

Ride opens for attempts at midnight 4th Feb 2019, and closes on Midnight on the 31st March 2019, ride must be completed within that window for it to count otherwise you get the time of the slowest rider plus 5%.

It's been some time since the Goats League visited the USA, which is where we are this week, for what looks like a real rhythm breaker. The Onion Valley road in California ascends 1593m in 20.72Km ... Enjoy

Post your times in the thread and I'll update the Goats League Spreadsheet

Please include your BRVR User/Display Name to give other riders pacers to chase if they so desire.

 

[martin22]

1:43:55 ...These long ones are killing me

Onion valley road, an apt name, nearly had me in tears! The road looks so flat for the first 8k or so but no no no it's just a cruel illusion

 

[Crook Town AFC]

Well this ride has been on the BigRingVR to do list for a while. 01:14:29 for me please.

 

[djk]

1:56 for me Mr Aleman

 

[Mugshot]

I don't like the American ones, that's all.

1:46:44 please @Aleman

 

[ibooij]

1:21:55 for me. https://www.bigringvr.com/activity.aspx?rideID=67389

Another one that I started too fast. You'd think I would start learning to start a little more conservatively!

 

[BRVR_User]

1:12:26 for me please @Aleman. Glad to have ticked that one off the To-Do list..

 

[Whorty]

Damn, just realised I haven't done this one yet and it runs out on Sunday! Looks like a Saturday or Sunday climb is in order then this week (can't do before then as need to save my legs for the race up Alpe Du Zwift on Thursday ). All these mountains, not good for us fatties

 

[Del C]

Well thanks @Aleman !

4 pints and a curry was probably not the best preparation for this one?

But anyhow, I thought I'd get it over with. Put my self and bike into plod mode at the start, and moved smoothly through super-plod and then on to hyper-plod.

When I was over 2 minutes behind the Coach, despite giving him a 24W handicap before the ride, I thought I should at least try and close the gap. I went on to catch the smug bastard in the last 2kms, before ending in a rather tired 1.49.11

 

[Whorty]

Well thanks @Aleman !

4 pints and a curry was probably not the best preparation for this one?

But anyhow, I thought I'd get it over with. Put my self and bike into plod mode at the start, and moved smoothly through super-plod and then on to hyper-plod.

When I was over 2 minutes behind the Coach, despite giving him a 24W handicap before the ride, I thought I should at least try and close the gap. I went on to catch the smug bastard in the last 2kms, before ending in a rather tired 1.49.11

Having a go myself now. My target is 2 hours so very super plod for me

 

[Whorty]

@Aleman my time was 1:47:47

Tried to keep it steady with watts around 230. Helped me stay out of the red and keep something in the tank for the last km.

 

[Aleman]

My problem is fueling for these long efforts. with 94% of the ride time at the top end of my threshold HR, I just couldn't take in Water, energy drink, even grabbing a gel induced a good 5-10 minutes of nausea.

As is my want, I attacked from the off, and after the first 2Km I had pulled out a gap of just over a minute @martin22 with my coach and @Whorty battling it out a further 30 seconds back. Feeling good and still in the relative flat section at 6% I decided to continue pressing on as the steep section between Km 8 and 12 could prove to be a real struggle, by 6Km I had stretched my lead to Martin to 2 minutes, and Carl had pulled 20 seconds on my coach but was 3 and a half minutes back. Martin, managed to peg that gap to 1:50 to 2 minutes for the next 7Km, although @Mugshot was coming on like an express train to take both my coach and Carl at 4:25 back. By Km 16 I was suffering as the tank was getting empty, and Martin had reduced that gap to 1:10, Mugshot was still 4 minutes back, and Carl a further 47 seconds behind him. Km 17 and I was heavy into the 'Bonk', Martin and Mugshot taking a further 30 seconds out of my advantage, and Martin caught and passed me with 3Km to go. By Km 19 Martin was 90 seconds and 300m, up the road, with Mugshot and Carl rapidly reducing the deficit (1:14 and 2:18 back) @Del C was now only 4 minutes back, and giving my coach some grief. I just focused on turning the pedals for the next km, Mugshot was coming on like an express train, I suspect he smelt blood, could I survive the remaining 650m, with only a 34 second, 100m, gap??

I'm happy to say that although I finished 2:30 down on Martin, I did manage to keep mugshot behind me, although with only 13 seconds between us another few hundred meters and it would have been sayonara, eventually finishing in 1:46:31

Glad I managed to fit this in just under the wire, I've got to stop racing your ghosts on these long climbs

This ride is now closed

 

[martin22]

love these write ups @Aleman , i have no idea how you remember it all, all i ever rememeber is the suffering!

 

[Whorty]

My problem is fueling for these long efforts. with 94% of the ride time at the top end of my threshold HR, I just couldn't take in Water, energy drink, even grabbing a gel induced a good 5-10 minutes of nausea.

As is my want, I attacked from the off, and after the first 2Km I had pulled out a gap of just over a minute @martin22 with my coach and @Whorty battling it out a further 30 seconds back. Feeling good and still in the relative flat section at 6% I decided to continue pressing on as the steep section between Km 8 and 12 could prove to be a real struggle, by 6Km I had stretched my lead to Martin to 2 minutes, and Carl had pulled 20 seconds on my coach but was 3 and a half minutes back. Martin, managed to peg that gap to 1:50 to 2 minutes for the next 7Km, although @Mugshot was coming on like an express train to take both my coach and Carl at 4:25 back. By Km 16 I was suffering as the tank was getting empty, and Martin had reduced that gap to 1:10, Mugshot was still 4 minutes back, and Carl a further 47 seconds behind him. Km 17 and I was heavy into the 'Bonk', Martin and Mugshot taking a further 30 seconds out of my advantage, and Martin caught and passed me with 3Km to go. By Km 19 Martin was 90 seconds and 300m, up the road, with Mugshot and Carl rapidly reducing the deficit (1:14 and 2:18 back) @Del C was now only 4 minutes back, and giving my coach some grief. I just focused on turning the pedals for the next km, Mugshot was coming on like an express train, I suspect he smelt blood, could I survive the remaining 650m, with only a 34 second, 100m, gap??

I'm happy to say that although I finished 2:30 down on Martin, I did manage to keep mugshot behind me, although with only 13 seconds between us another few hundred meters and it would have been sayonara, eventually finishing in 1:46:31

Glad I managed to fit this in just under the wire, I've got to stop racing your ghosts on these long climbs

This ride is now closed

Given the length of this ride i only added a coach at 210 watts which would have seen me finish at 2 hours which was my target. I started off pushing 230 watts and expected this to drop as the ride went on but I actually stayed strong, so much so that i finished the 1:48 with an average of 233 watts. Had I added ghosts I may have pushed too hard early, or panicked when ghosts started to pull me back. Having no ghosts let me ride my own pace and i actually finished with something still in the legs

Re drink and food. I had one gel which i took after about 40 mins, just before I hit the steep section. My one bottle, I sipped through the ride finishing the bottle during the warm down.

Like you I struggle to eat and drink when pushing into the red, but as this was a 80% ride I didn't find taking a drink, or taking the gel, too bad.

Great time @Aleman ..... that weight advantage is certainly helping I've lost nothing the past 2 weeks. I'm slipping into 78kg on the odd day, but not enough for me to change my weigh yet This puts me at least a week behind schedule of hitting 75kg by June. Need to do more climbing

 

[Aleman]

I have no idea how you remember it all, all i ever remember is the suffering!

That does tend to etch itself indelibly in the mind Lot's of screenshots is a useful jog to the memory