ventoux training

[ayceejay]

Citius, a reply to your idiocy is almost worth being banned for but having to live with yourself is probably all the recognition you need.
Enjoy your cocoa

 

[Dogtrousers]

The thing is, long turbo sessions and hooning along the A25, while they may more closely replicate your target are likely to be dull as ditchwater. So mixing in a bit of enjoyable riding wouldn't be a bad idea. Heading out over the Downs, cross the A25, Toys Hill, Edenbridge, Kidds Hill and back is a fave route of mine and certainly won't do you any harm (and is over 1500m of climbing)

 

[Citius]

The thing is, long turbo sessions and hooning along the A25, while they may more closely replicate your target are likely to be dull as ditchwater.

This is often the case with focused training. Which is why only those with a commitment to improve tend to stick at it. As I said before, it depends on your objectives.

Citius, a reply to your idiocy is almost worth being banned for but having to live with yourself is probably all the recognition you need.
Enjoy your cocoa

Even your insults don't make sense....

 

[subaqua]

Better still, set the turbo up in a sauna and now and again get a mate to replicate a 70mph gust of wind by pushing you over.

I know somebody who did ventoux and said he wished he had set up his turbo in a sauna as that was what it was like out of the tree line

 

[jonny jeez]

The thing is, long turbo sessions and hooning along the A25, while they may more closely replicate your target are likely to be dull as ditchwater. So mixing in a bit of enjoyable riding wouldn't be a bad idea. Heading out over the Downs, cross the A25, Toys Hill, Edenbridge, Kidds Hill and back is a fave route of mine and certainly won't do you any harm (and is over 1500m of climbing)

Yep, I shall definitely be planning on taking it easy up the hill, so am not aiming to break any records. with this in mind, I have to "enjoy" the training and make it part of ...well...riding really.

Titsey Hill is ok but I find it a bit boring to be honest. The worst part is at the lower section (think it maxes out at around 17% at one point). For longer draggy climbs that take a while and are likely into a headwind, I would say Clarks Ln (more steady) or Star Hill (steeper sections) are the best on that section of downs. The reason I mentioned the A25 is that it is relatively fast, with not that many traffic lights yet rolling/lumpy enough to not be boring. I think it should be quite possible to go and ride virtually non stop at a high level of effort for 2-3 hours. If you wanted to extend the ride, I would suggest going as far as Dorking and heading South on the A24, before either looping round the bottom of Gatwick on the fast A road or turning right (Capel / Ockley) for the Surrey Hills... that might take a bit long though... 100+ back to Kent.

I ride both of those regularly (like twice a year regular!)...but I do climb ide hill a lot, as there is a great tea shop at the top. I've never ridden UP Titsey though, so maybe a box hill circle back up titsey is a good ride.

(Defining "good" here is the key)

Jump on the Westcoast Virgin mainline train with your bike using some cheapo saver ticket. Get off at Macclesfield and turn right out of the station. Then head up the hill in front of you, that is about 7 miles, keep going till you get to Buxton, when you get into Buxton turn left up Long Hill another 2 or 3 miles of climbing and ride to the end of that and turn left and follow the road through Kettleshulme and Rainow another 5 miles or so of climbing and back to Macclesfield. Repeat the foregoing and then grab some food at the rather pleasant American diner opposite the station, or from Tele the proprieter of Waters Green Fish Bar across the car park, jump back on the train and arrive home in time for supper. Jobs a good un.

that sounds like a great plan and a good trip away too. I have mates up north who I could catch up with at the same time.

nice.

 

[briantrumpet]

If you can ride a bike for 2-3 hours you'll get up Ventoux, as long as you've got the right gearing for your fitness/weight. As others have said, hill training in this country simply can't replicate one vertical mile of altitude gain over 25km without a single bit of downhill. To an extent cycling on the flat into a headwind for a couple of hours will be closer to the experience, but even then you won't be using the muscles in the same way, or be needing/wanting to stand on the pedals to push up a draggy gradient.

Whatever you do, if you can, have one or two smaller gears than you think you'll need. If you think you can get up on a 53/23, you probably won't. Not after two hours.

Having said that, Alpine-type hills aren't actually as hard as many of the ones we have in the UK. Once you've got into a rhythm, and as along as you don't go off too fast, you just get into a zone and keep the legs twiddling round. You'll get there. But do pick your day carefully. The record wind speed at the top is 200mph.

 

[TheDoctor]

Get a bit fitter. Get a bit lighter. Get the biggest cassette you can.
I've done it on a road bike, and on a Brompton, both from Sault. It's doable by anyone who can ride for three hours and has low enough gears. Sure, it might mean stopping, but the view is worth stopping for!

 

[RickB]

I live in the south east of England and am considering a climb of ventoux next spring (not the mad triple thing, just the one for me).

I am looking for advice on the best hill training for the job. I imagine doing reps of ditchling beacon would be good training but am happy to travel north for better hills, more variety and also more altitude.

Any good suggestions of hills that will give me a good familiarisation with something like ventoux....but in England

What about a Bkool trainer? Virtual hill climbing. I've slogged up climbs which are well over an hour and it certainly gives you a good idea of what effort is required.

 

[Norry1]

Have you done it yet?

 

[adamangler]

long flat ride in the country side, no traffic lights, big gear and crank it over for an hour, hands on the tops to catch the wind and mimic the position

yeh i know

 

[Beebo]

This graph shows the task compared to Box Hill.
The wags have swapped the lables but box hill is that small wiggly line on the bottom left. It looks like a small speed bump.

 

[TheDoctor]

Get a bit fitter. Get a bit lighter. Get the biggest cassette you can.
I've done it on a road bike, and on a Brompton, both from Sault. It's doable by anyone who can ride for three hours and has low enough gears. Sure, it might mean stopping, but the view is worth stopping for!

That. It's hard work, but it's not impossible. I decided to have a go after going up Horseshoe Pass from Llangollen and realising that if I could do that four times over, then that's Ventoux done and dusted.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I know this is an old thread, but it seems to have come back to life. I just stumbled across this link

How to become a better climber… if you don’t live near any climbs

I'm not vouching for the content, I'm not qualified to judge. It may be all utter tosh for all I know.

 

[jowwy]

I just downloaded this turbo training video

 

[3narf]

What is 'threshold?'