I am in charge of a training program here in San Diego for the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge. The ride is to support CAF which is the Challenged Athletes Foundation. I absolutely love this Foundation, and I am so excited to be a part of the organization this year.
The actual ride is from San Francisco to San Diego. It is a long way, so we offer a training program that runs for 20 weeks. Our goal is to have everyone make it down the coast comfortably by October.
We did our first big climbing ride the other day. They climbed over 5000 feet in 60 miles. It was a huge accomplishment for many of the riders who had just started riding 6 weeks ago!
I got together with my group leaders and they came up with some great tips for dealing with the heat and also with climbing in general. I’m going to pass along our tips because I think that they can help any new cyclist.
• Eat and Drink - On the car ride down to the ride start, begin your hydration; by drinking while on the way. Drink your preferred electrolyte “fuel”. Also make sure you eat while your on your way down to the ride start, to ensure that you plenty of fuel for the ride.
• Thin Base Layer - If you use a base layer t-shirt you might consider using a thinner version, or consider going without a base layer under your jersey.
• Unzip – Unzip your jersey on the climb let your body breathe, and let the air cool you as you go uphill.
• Electrolyte Replacement Tablets – Consider using some electrolyte tablets like Hammer Endurolytes, MotorTabs, or Thermolyte to augment your sports drink. Consider this if you are a prolific sweater (i.e. sweat a lot). This will help ward off cramps.
• Tires – a little less air in the tubes for hotter rides is smart to help reduce heat related flats. If you have black colored wheels / rims, keep your ride in the shade to keep the tires cool!
• Top off your fluids at SAG stops… Drink a full bottle or more while at the SAG in addition to filling your bottles for the next section of riding. The SAG is a great place to catch up on fluid replacement.
• Balance – as you climb steeper sections trust your balance, and work your balance. As the hill gets steep many of us tense up and resist the hill, work towards being relaxed and supple let the hill come to you. If you are relaxed you can pedal VERY slowly and still keep the bike upright.
• Rhythm – Find a rhythm or energy while you climb that is “yours”. Your rhythm is made up of your pedal stroke, breath and cadence the speed of your pedals.
• Breathe – Focus on your breathing when the climbing gets tough, allow your breathing to be deep and controlled, breathe from your tummy and not so much from your chest.
• Trust - Trust yourself as you climb especially on the steep stuff, trust you balance and your ability to make the bike move up hill. YOU CAN DO IT!
• Shift your weight – When climbing in the saddle you can make subtle adjustments that will help distribute the work load between your legs different muscle groups. This will help you rest one group while working the others. Also alternate sitting and standing. When you stand, downshift (into heavier gear) and then shift back to your easier gear when you sit again. This helps you keep the same speed when you stand.
Most importantly…. Enjoy the ride!
3 responses
1 Joel Price // Jul 29, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Great tips Mari! Thanks for sharing. I really wanted to do the Qualcomm Challenge this year but will be in London on biz. But my goal is to figure out a way to do it in ‘09.
2 Kevin Davenport // Jul 30, 2008 at 9:02 pm
I had a blast on Sunday Mari! I stayed at the first SAG only long enough to refill my water bottles and left to attempt to catch 1a. Luckily Lisa dropped back a bit so I could have some company
. See you tomorrow at Torrey Pines hopefully.
3 Doug // Jul 31, 2008 at 8:29 am
All good tips. Here’s another, on days when the heat index is over 95 degrees, consider not riding at all. A few years back several of us went out on a very hot, sunny day to climb Palomor. But instead of the usual South Grade, which is shady, we tried the east grade which is much more exposed. This resulted in one guy getting heat exhaustion (I went down and took rt 76 and didn’t even complete the climb).
In very hot humid weather, like you get in the midwest or northeast in the summer, your body losesthe ability to cool itself. If you do a hard ride in that kind of weather, you will not get a quality workout like you can on a cooler day- your body is using a lot of its blood flow to the skin to cool itself. Reduced blood flow to the stomach will make it harder to eat and drink.
I am always amazed when I see people riding at 2 pm on a very hot day. I go at dawn if I hear the heat index will be in the high 90s.
Another tip is to carry an extra bottle of just plain water to pour on yourself. In drier climates you can get a lot of evaporative cooling from pouring water on your head and neck!
You can also use insulated water bottles to keep your drinks colder. This will help lower your core temp in very hot weather.
Don’t guzzle down a liter of very cold drink at a rest stop. This is a big mistake, it will knot up your stomach. Drink slowly!!
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