I believe a year ago there was a thread about this very climb. I think 2-3 weeks acclimating would be, by far, the best idea.

I went from sea level out to CO last year and did some climbs up to around 12,000ft same day I landed. Honestly didnt think it affected me too much - other than climbing for 10mi was new. It was just a hard ride.

However, I went back out on another trip a couple weeks latwr and just drove up to Pikes Peak. Getting out of the car and walking, I felt completely out of breath and light headed. I just had to stand there for a couple mins. Crazy how those 2000ft made such a difference.

(BTW - going up Pikes Peak looked so much fun. I don't think I'd ejoy going down)

I think one day riding from Colorado Springs all the way up to the peak would be awesome. 9000ft or so I think.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/...bic-performance.html

I have moved in and out of altitude quite a few times. This is pretty accurate. I am stronger on the bike and weaker on the run and swim comparatively. There is also the go and do it in under 36-48 hours I believe. I forget the physiological reasoning but track athletes do it like that on purpose.

I would say if you could do the 3 weeks before that would be best. If it is just a couple weeks, do them about a month out from the race, get home for a couple weeks, then go back and race. It is kind of tricky to tell you exactly because I don't know what kind of acclimated physiology you have. There are 3 groups, those that start pumping their own EPO the second they feel altitude, those that have a normal and steady acclimitazation, n and those that just suffer at altitude no matter how long they stay and train. I fall into the first group and have had great races after 10 days of training very high and staying for the race. Others I went with got altitude sick and threw up all week and could not race themselves out of a paper bag at the end of the trip, used the bag for heaving..

I did a two week tour of Colorado last year, culminating in a ride from the Broadmore to the summit of Pikes Peak. Started the trip in Denver where we spent a few days, then on to Boulder, Estes Park, Breckinridge and finally CO springs. I was able to ride progressively longer and harder at altitude before attempting Pikes Peak. Granted I was not racing it, but felt comfortable completing it and enjoyed the descent back to town. And the donuts and fudge at the top were well worth the ride. I think your plan of 2-3 wks to acclimate will be enough to prepare you. Bring gloves and an extra layer of clothing for the top and if you plan to make the descent. I was glad I did.

I did the Peak last summer, arrived on Monday, did the ride on Thursday. Plan was to take it easy and enjoy the ride - lots of stops to take pictures. Everybody has a plan until they hit 13000 feet. Once I hit that level, it was a long walk-ride to the summit. Just did not have the lungs to turn a 34-28. I recommend a 34-32 low gear for the last couple of miles over 13000 feet.

I live in Salt Lake City which is higher than you but lower than The Springs. I went there last year to visit a friend and on the 3rd day Pikes Peak was on our things to do list.
I'm not a very good climber since I always hover around 175 lbs at 5'10". The first six miles was really nice even though it was pointed up nearly the whole way, and I thought to myself that if the whole climb was like this then I'm good to go. Well, something changed from that first stop at the lake until the next stop at the gate. It got steeper and harder and things started to look a little less pretty. I finally made it to the gate which was around 11000 ft elevation and I wasn't feeling that well. We got some drinks and I ate a gel because I knew the last 6.5 miles were going to be horrible. Horrible isn't really the right word to describe it because you actually go through the whole gambit of emotions once you hit that 12000 ft marker.

My buddy told me that once we got around that point I might start to feel light headed, see black spots, feel like throwing up......yeah that all happened right about where he said it would. It only got worse the further up we went. Even the vegetation decided it didn't want to live up that high so all you could see was rocks and the switchbacks that loomed over you. When I say loomed over you, I mean it. You look up and in cartoon like fashion, the switchbacks jump back and forth, front and back, in your vision. I'm pretty sure it was the lack of oxygen and depleted strength that was causing the weird visuals I was experiencing. On top of that I was getting chills and just holding back the puke.

With about 2 miles left, I'm just grinding up this stupid hill as slow as I can without falling over when all of a sudden I hear honking and people yelling and cheering. I look over startled and my wife and kids are driving by to meet me at the top! That was such a happy emotional boost that I started to cry. I never cry unless I'm watching a sad movie and never thought I'd shed a tear while riding my bike. From that moment I started to feel a little surge and battled more emotions as I kept going to about the .50 mile to go mark. The road curved left and looked to be too steep to keep going. I had to stop and catch my breath for a little bit and tell myself I'm almost there and I can do this and my family is waiting for me at the top.

I climbed back on and started the grind up the steepest part of the climb. After getting about half way up I take a look and my buddy is coming back down to give me the rest of the encouragement I need to get there. He says there are people up there cheering once we get there and my family is up there. I start to grind harder and make the final right curve where the road "flattens" a little bit and I'm picking up speed. My HR is spiking now as I pedal harder and harder. Man it's taking me too long to get there and the road is starting to get steeper. I'm grinding and my eyes are welling with tears knowing my family is up there to cheer for me. Tears in my eyes and HR through the roof, I make the final left and up the ramp into the parking lot!..........

No one is there to cheer for me, just a big gravel lot with lots of cars and no one even close to where we were. No clapping, or fanfare, or people telling us we are crazy. All I can figure is that my buddy could see the defeat in my eyes and needed to give me a pep talk. It worked and I made it. I would even go do this stupid ride again.

My family wound up being in the restaurant eating and didn't even leave any food for me.

https://www.strava.com/activities/677240306/overview
Done with my I had a compact crank with 11-28 cassette in the back. Wish I had the 32.

That was great. Deserves a Pulitzer!

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Geoff from Indy
http://www.tlcendurance.com

I go back and forth between my home at 800' and the Rockies about once a year. I can feel the altitude when I get there, but I adapt quickly. I spend the first day relaxing and doing nothing more rigorous than walking around. The next day I do a moderate workout. I eat immediately afterward. The next day, I do intervals. I will do them up to three times during the day, eating after each time. On day 3, I am full steam ahead with no altitude effects. I suspect that I adapt quickly because I grew up there and my body still has the adaptations, because some people never do adjust. I will also add that this technique only works for me for altitudes up to about 12,000'--for example, riding over Trail Ridge Road was easy, but I did get light headed hiking around Pike's Peak.

Also, it is important to hydrate while you are there. The only place I have ever been where I required more water was Death Valley.

Haha..Thanks. I didn't mean for it to be that long but I found myself reliving it as I was writing and it was awesome.

A buddy I work with rode the train up to the top, last year. He asked the guide what would happen if the train lost power. The guide said there were springs that would catch them.

Colorado Springs.

Good luck.

geoffreydean wrote:

I'm toying with the idea of doing a very serious effort for a August 2017 bike climb race up Pikes Peak. I know climbing from 9000 to 14,000 ft is no joke but beyond that I'm wondering if any altitude experts out there might help me with an altitude training acclimation strategy. Short of moving to Colorado for the summer, I could probably swing spending 2 or 3 weeks there. The question is - what would the timing be? The 2 or 3 weeks prior? Or an earlier visit then back home then back for the race? Or would renting an altitude tent be a better solution?

I think you need a bare minimum of 10 days to make acclimation worthwhile from what I've read, so it sounds like you're good there. Some people handle high altitude well and others don't. I did that race last year coming directly from sea level and I was fine. But I'm luckily one of those people that deals with high altitude well. I know guys from Colorado who didn't do the race because they know that they aren't good up high, even though they live at 5-6 thousand feet. No real way to know which side of the coin you fall on here until you get up above 10,000' or so.

Don't even think about doing this without at least a 34x32. Seriously, don't even fucking think about it. If you don't use a 32 I'll make a point of finding you after the race and laughing at you. :-) I was fine in the 28 up until 13,000' feet. There is a nice flat stretch there and then the last 1,000' feet is 10% or more. I was very happy to have my 34x32. Look at the average speed for that last 1,000' feet on the leader board.

https://www.strava.com/segments/4376285?filter=overall


BTW, I found that the Friel chart that somebody posted was pretty right on. At the top, expect your FTP to be about 30% below your sea level FTP. It's worth noting though that the advantage of acclimation drops from 4.6% at the start (9,000') to only 1% by the finish. Basically, everybody is in a bad way up there.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava