It is that time of year to start obsessing about getting ready for the hills of Lake Placid. Since I stink on hills, I am giving them serious thought. I have been setting up spread sheets of gear ratios and all that stuff. I started to wonder just why it was I stink so badly on hills. My mind wandered back to freshman physics (no asking how long ago that was). I pulled out my text book (yes, still have it), and I did a little homework. I found the results very interesting.
It turns out that one watt is equal to 44.25 foot pounds/minute. If I hop on my computrainer I quickly learn that it hurts to put out 200 watts for a long period of time. It also hurts to climb hills. No fair laughing at these numbers.
If I assume that my bike with me and my expanding middle weigh about 180 pounds fully equipped, that on a hill essentially all the energy goes into hauling my excessive mass against gravity, and that a bunch of the hills on that course are an approximate 7% grade (not sure of that but I will try to measure next time I am in town) and that I put out 200 watts during the climbs, I should expect to climb the hills at 8 mph. As it turns out that is just about exactly my speed up those hills. No comparing me to my Kona qualified friend who goes up the hills at 12 mph.
If this "model" is correct, it seems that no amount of strength or other kind of training will help unless it trains my body to put out more than my current 200 watts. Only that kind of training together with losing weight from my middle and my bike will help. Of course I need to have an efficient position and technique so that I am actually able to keep putting out those watts without fading excessively. In my case that means I have to spin.
Does any of this make any sense?
From the flatlands,
It turns out that one watt is equal to 44.25 foot pounds/minute. If I hop on my computrainer I quickly learn that it hurts to put out 200 watts for a long period of time. It also hurts to climb hills. No fair laughing at these numbers.
If I assume that my bike with me and my expanding middle weigh about 180 pounds fully equipped, that on a hill essentially all the energy goes into hauling my excessive mass against gravity, and that a bunch of the hills on that course are an approximate 7% grade (not sure of that but I will try to measure next time I am in town) and that I put out 200 watts during the climbs, I should expect to climb the hills at 8 mph. As it turns out that is just about exactly my speed up those hills. No comparing me to my Kona qualified friend who goes up the hills at 12 mph.
If this "model" is correct, it seems that no amount of strength or other kind of training will help unless it trains my body to put out more than my current 200 watts. Only that kind of training together with losing weight from my middle and my bike will help. Of course I need to have an efficient position and technique so that I am actually able to keep putting out those watts without fading excessively. In my case that means I have to spin.
Does any of this make any sense?
From the flatlands,