Minehead CC - Porlock Hill Climb

The legendary Porlock Hill Climb... 4.1 miles @ 5% average gradient... and a very stable 5% at that. There aren't than many climbs of that duration in the UK. Not only that, they close the road for the duration of the competition. 

Long climbs are not exactly my specialty so I knew I wasn't going to come out of this race with a good time or position... even if the competition wasn't riddled with pro riders.

I'm not sure if it is the climb itself that attracts the pro's, the well organised event and hospitality of the Porlock community or the £300 prize for the winner. Either way it makes for a very competitive and exciting event... albeit useless for gaining points in the series.

Knowing that I was never going to get that much in the way of points I decided to go into the race with a very specific (if not painful) race plan. Go off hard, blow up and hang on.

According to BestBikeSplit.com I calculated a prize winning (7th) power output of 350W. The longest I have ever held that power output before was about 7-8 mins. This was going to be over 16 mins... but if there was ever a place to try it, it was here. The consistent 5% incline makes it easier to keep the power down... and as it doesn't change much, you don't find yourself going 'into the red' that much. Combining that with a race environment, it was the perfect place to attempt it.

Setting off I was finding it really difficult to hold back (which is typical of a race in general). The first minute I averaged 400W... but I still felt comfortable. Settling into the rhythm I was holding power ok. Fluctuation around the 350W +/- 10W. Before I knew it, I was at the hairpin bends... the half way mark. Getting out of the saddle coming out of the bends I realised my legs were beginning to feel it... they started to feel like jelly. 

From this point on, it started getting harder and harder to hold power. After another 3-4 mins I had blown up. I struggled to even hold threshold. I still had another 3-4 mins to go... it wasn't pleasant.

I'd overtaken my 2 minute man earlier in the climb and my minute man wasn't that far away. I had made good progress for the first half but I just couldn't bring him back in the second. He was holding his ground. It was still a good carrot to aim for. 

I don't really remember much of the last 1/2 a mile... I know I was probably upsetting the spectators with my birthing sounds and I vaguely remember the time keepers asking me if I was ok after crossing the line... I would have replied if I wasn't about to die from lack of oxygen.

As soon as I had caught my breath I made my way down... I always forget to drop off a bag of kit to put on at the top... instead I made my way down the 4 mile decent in nothing but a sweat ridden skin suit. I wont be making that mistake again... cold doesn't even describe it. 

The results were surprising...

Position: 14th/120

Time: 17:31

Average Power: 330W

I knocked 2 mins off last years time and took power PB's for my 8-18 min power output. 

Hill Climb Weekend #2

The second round of hill climbs was this weekend... a total of 4 races in two days! 

Saturday
Race #1 - UHC60c 0.5miles @ 6%

This sort of short hill definitely suits my attributes... 2-5min efforts seem to be my preferred choice. This one will be anywhere between 1:30-2:00 for the majority of riders. 

With a target power of 500W based on my PB power over this duration it was just a case of go hard and hang on! 

There was a slightly shallow section before the 6-8% ramp starts... Get the momentum up and try and hold it for as long as possible. Before you know it, the crest of the hill is in sight and your legs have turned to jelly. Like pushing down with two bits of rope instead of legs you attempt to muster every bit of energy before throwing the bike over the line. With a brutal headwind for most of the climb I was glad to have a disk wheel.

 Average power: 514W
Time: 1:47 (winning time 1:38)
Position: 8th

Race #2 - UHC60b 3.1m @ 2%

This length of hill climb definitely does not suit me... 8 mins really is at the upper edge of my preference. In hindsight, it would also of been worth bringing a TT bike for this one... > 20mph with a downhill section. Not ideal on the hill climb bike with the front derailleur removed for weight saving. I had removed the larger chain ring as well but given the course I decided to put it back on and just manually put the chain on the right ring at the start.

On the way down to the start my chain came off... this was not filling me with hope. I've run the chain on the smaller chain ring without any issues... turns out the larger chain ring is a bit more temperamental. It was too late to change anything... and the inner ring was too small.

Target power for this climb was 375W... it was a tall ask as it was over my PB power output for this duration... but then again, I have never done an all out 8 min effort before. The first section on the climb was more like 4-5% so it was easy to hit power then (maybe slightly too much power)... but once it had flattened out it was hard to keep on top of the gears. It was tough going and I was losing power. Probably went off too hard on the steeper section... power was hovering around 300W for the middle section then it started going downhill... then the chain came off... great! 

In the panic of a situation like this it difficult to know how to react. Fortunately I reacted well and managed to hook the chain back on with my right foot... albeit onto the small ring. Dropping down onto the 11 tooth on the back I span at 135rpm until the climb started again. I don't think I lost much power but the adrenaline certainly took my mind off the pain as I pushed 530W for the last section. 

Average power: 325W
Time: 8:50 (winning time 8:08)
Position: 9th

Race #3 - UHC60a 0.5miles @ 9%

9% average does not do this justice... a flat run-up and a shallow finish makes the middle section about 16%! 

Starting off you quickly spin up to max speed... and then you lose it just as quickly... Hitting 16% gradient like that is like hitting a brick wall. Just as the lactic is starting to build the climb really hits you... then you have another minute before you see the top. For some reason I thought the climb was longer than what it was. Hitting the top I still had some left in the tank. I guess I'll just have to save that for the following day.

Average power: 425W
Time: 3:02 (winning time 2:36)
Position: 11th

Overall I finished 9th in a combined time of 13:40.2... nearly 1 min behind the leader but only 20 seconds separating 5th and 10th.

Later that evening, my private physio (and better half) LouLou treated me to a full leg massage... not only very relaxing they also felt suitably supple... much more effective than a warm down... if not just for the psychological advantage.

Sunday
T1Diabetes.info's UHC26 Hill Climb on Burrington Combe 1.9 miles @ 6%

I can't say this is my favorite climb... in fact... it's far from it. Its too long (8mins in duration) and has too many changes in gradient. The changes are not something I'm used too... steady state efforts are what I usually train for... this year is a little different though. The VO2 Max intervals I've been doing certain will help with this... just maybe not with the duration.

I should be able to do 375-380W for this duration, but like I said earlier... its not really something I train for. Before arriving I had planned to go off with the intentions of averaging that power and seeing what happens. 

Once I started warming up though... I realised that wouldn't be the case... fatigue from yesterday was still present... I did a long warm up of about an hour consisting of a course recce and then 30mins on the turbo. Whilst on the turbo I did a few 15-30 sec intervals at 380-400W... the first few were hard but by the end I was actually feeling pretty good.

Yesterday I average 325W for 8 mins... as 375W was a bit high I aimed for 350W. It was difficult to hold back at the beginning but I did my best and it wasn't long before the pain was building... I just kept counting down the minutes and focusing on holding power. The final stretch was tough... I was out the saddle... I couldn't see the Garmin so it was just a case of smash it out and hope for the best. Crossing the line in 7:45 (ish) I knew it was a good time... a minute quicker than last year and better time than most of the other favorites in the race. I was hopeful of a podium.

Whilst cooling down it was apparent that I wasn't the only quick time... sub 7:30's and sub 7:15's started coming in... Not only that but Jo Jago took the women's course record in an impressive 8:59!

Average power: 345W
Time: 7:44 (winning time 7:14)
Position: 10th


It's becoming quite apparent that despite making some considerable gains this year... The level of competition has increased massively! There are some real quick riders including Junior's and Vet's... even a few domestic pro's have made an appearance. 

These times would have been putting me in top 5's and podium positions this time last year... I know I've got my own game in order though... It's just a case of seeing the plan through to next year and I'll be taking home the £££! ;)

Start of the Season

So after the first serious year of training the race season is finally here!

Training has gone really well with my FTP raising from 257W in November 2015 to 315W… My weight is doing ok at 145lb… still 7 weeks from Nationals so no reason why this cant get down to 138lb. At my current 5 min power output of 430W this will give me a whopping 6.88W/kg… still a bit of the champs with their 7.4W/kg but should be good for a top 20 :)

Race season started a couple of weeks ago with the Dursley Road Club’s Hill Climb on Stouts Hill finishing 1^st at each of the two events. My fastest of the two was 5:06… 8 seconds off the course record. It was a good start but I can’t help but feel mildly disappointed that I didn’t quite take the record… something to aim for next year though :)

This weekend was the first open event in the WTTA Hill Climb Series hosted by Somerset Road Club on the UHC23 course. A 4-5min climb of a reasonably steady gradient of 6%… a good course for me. 5 mins is at the top end of my preferred duration and it’s steep enough to be heavily impacted by weight.

I was really excited about this one… looking at the start sheet I only recognised a few names that are of similar abilities so I was secretly hoping for a podium… or at least a top 5 (to get a prize).

I felt good on my warm up… hitting and holding 400+W was satisfying enough to know it was going to go well.

And it did… setting off it was difficult to hold back to 400W… hovering around 500W for the first 40s. Finally settling into a rhythm I made my way up. There is a left had corner half way and ended up having to ride round the outside of a few local riders that had come to spectate… slightly annoying.

The middle bit flattened slightly and made it more difficult to hold power with it dropping to 370W but managed to get this back in the final minute.

Average Power: 403W

Time: 4:45

Position: 6^th

I was appointed not to get a top 5 or podium position but that just goes to show how tough the competition is.

I just need to concentrate on getting my weight down to sub 140lb and peak that 5 min power back up to 430W… after a few weeks of reduced TSS last month I managed to loose a bit of form… I’m hoping this will peak back to 430W after the next rest week.

In other news… Justine Beiber made an appearance and got a bit of attention…

I think the shades work well… I’ll take the nickname (Justine) and roll with it ;)

A few other shots: