Or you could go via Woodhouse Rd and Mankiholes?
That is a good idea. There are also a couple of little climbs in Tod that I could add on first (Park Rd and Stansfield Hall Rd). I would probably still do a quick blast up the first bit of the Cragg Vale climb, maybe up to the Robin Hood.
If so, my warm up would become this...
I would definitely be warmed up properly after that.
I watched that a couple of days ago. She was keen! After she got to Blackstone Edge she descended to Littleborough then turned round and climbed back up from there. (That is a shorter climb, but averages almost twice the gradient of Cragg Vale. It does often have the advantage of some wind assistance though.)
Just need to get 30% faster then.
Ha ha - yes! 29 minutes is a time that I used to do easily when unfit and much heavier in my mid-40s. I have noticed the negative changes in the 25 years since then! I have lost about 40 bpm off my maximum heart rate for a start.
One change that I can do something about though is to ride more. I only average around 110 km/week through the year. A 50% increase could help a lot with my fitness.
I am fairly sure that I will never achieve a time of 20 minutes without massive wind assistance now, but I don't want that help. I just want to get as close to 20 minutes as I can on a (rare!) relatively wind-free day. TBH, if I could do it in 23 minutes that would be my all-time PB and I would be chuffed.
You need a day with a northerly or north northeasterly for a good time on Cragg, last one was perhaps 1st July?
True, but see above.
Power data would help significantly to pace this, but going off just heart data, I'd stay just under estimated Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (Intervals site will give you this number, 98% of your highest 20min heart rate) until the steeper middle section.
Yes. I do have a power meter on my knockabout bike but not yet on my best bike. I will treat myself to some SPD power meter pedals shortly! Meanwhile, I was doing the climb at around that heart rate.
I'm not sure you need a bigger warm up before the climb, maybe yesterday you simply weren't well rested ahead of your challenge and your heart couldn't respond so well.
I was thinking that I had warmed up properly until I realised that my breathing and effort were improving just as the climb got harder. If warmed up but tired, the steep section would have felt harder.
I didn't reduce my effort at all in the 29 minutes - round about that 98% HR the whole way.
PS Actually, I have just had a closer look at the heart rate data...
I like the way that the heart rate plot is overlaid on the elevation profile. You can see where I was trying to get my heart rate up at the start of the big climb. You can also see that I struggled to maintain it. That is where I was gasping for dear life and was forced to back off a bit while I recovered. As the road steepened my effort increased and I have marked my peak effort at the top of the ramp. I then backed off a little bit again, before putting the bike in the big ring and making one last effort which I gave up on with about 750 metres to go once I confirmed that a PB was way off.
I think that with a proper warm up I could get my HR up to around 153 bpm sooner on the climb, without going into respiratory distress, and just hold it there. I would pace myself better on the ramp to avoid needing to recover after it. If my PB were possible with 1 km to go I think that I could sustain 160 bpm in one last big effort.
I will wait for a day with low wind speeds and at least a couple of days after any hard rides to make sure that I am fresh for another attempt. I will do the extended warm up and see how much difference it makes!