Looking for a big hill – (Alpe D’Huez training)

[hozn]

@jandvon 60267 wrote:

Hey, I’m a rider of a certain age and like so many tour fanatics, I’d like to try Alp D’Huez in the next year, before my knees give out.

I’m looking for an appropriate hill/mtn to train on in the area, or other training suggestions. Right now, the North Arlington Hills and maybe MOunt Weather are the only ideas I have had.

Thanks

I have never ridden Alp D’Huez (…someday…), so others on the board that have done so may have suggestions. If you are willing to drive a bit — and it sounds like you are — then I do highly recommend riding up around Frederick. Murder’s Row is what you want. e.g. http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1585850

For local stuff, Arlington hills are fun but in my mind they’re too short & punch to provide climbing training. More like sprint training!

I like riding up Loughboro (near Sibley Hospital) from MacAurthur to Foxhall. And then off of Beach Dr., Ridge Rd. up to the top. Then west-bound up Tilden St, another great hill. The Mormon temple hill is also a nice hill. Lots of nice opportunities on that route.

[jabberwocky]

Alp D’Huez has a total elevation gain of 3500 ft. Hard to find anything like that around here. Mount Weather is a decent climb closer in. From Bluemont to the top is maybe 900 ft or so. Sugarloaf in Maryland is another, maybe 800 feet high. Get out into the GW Forest area and you can find some good sustained climbing.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@jandvon 60267 wrote:

Hey, I’m a rider of a certain age and like so many tour fanatics, I’d like to try Alp D’Huez in the next year, before my knees give out.

I’m looking for an appropriate hill/mtn to train on in the area, or other training suggestions. Right now, the North Arlington Hills and maybe MOunt Weather are the only ideas I have had.

Thanks

I did Alpe d’Huez in June, but my “training” consisted primarily of hauling a heavy commuter bike up the Custis 5x a week, with rides of various lengths and elevation changes mixed in. Mt. Weather is a good place to practice, but you pretty much have to do repeats on it if you want to approximate an HC climb like Alpe d’Huez. Riding Skyline Drive may give you more of a feel of a longer hill, but my understanding is that Skyline trades a high gradient for a longer length, so you won’t get the full effect there…but of course it will be good training and a good test of your endurance.

That said, if you’re in good shape and can do the Arlington hills at a reasonable speed, Alpe d’Huez itself won’t be too bad (relatively), as it’s only about 8.5 miles (at 8% gradient)…the challenge starts when you combine it with other climbs in the area or try to do it fast. One of the big things for me was having a good idea of my heart rate zones and how those affect my performance. My HR max is around 190, so I focused on keeping my HR around 160 and pretty much ignored my speed, which ended being about 5.5mph. Also, get a bike with the lowest gearing you can find (I did it on a Supersix with a triple chainring and a 30/25 combo as the granny gear) and just focus on keeping the pedals turning.

[PeteD]

Places that I rode, not really “training” but it helped for Alpe d’Huez.

Mt. Weather loop on a Hybrid with flat pedals.
Sugarloaf
Riding up Walter Reed from 4 Mile Run (several times a week)
Storming of Thunder Ridge.
Catoctin Ridge riding.
Woodburn Rd.
Tuesday Night FB Hill Ride.
Lots of Arlington Loops.

Alpe d’Huez is tougher than anything around here that I had ridden except Coxey Brown. The first 4 switchbacks hurt the most, especially the first, since it’s about 10% and a long uphill haul. Each switchback is relatively flat, so you get a chance to ease off a bit and spin for 50m. After that, it’s just the grade+distance (as referenced above) and learning to get yourself into the grinding mindset.

The best approximation I can give with how tough those first 4 switchbacks are is Walter Reed. Instead of attacking it and trying to ride it quickly, put yourself into your highest rings and spend the 2 to 3 to 4 minutes grinding up it. Same thing with Powhatan Dr. on the Tuesday Night FB ride. That’s what it’s going to feel like. A trip to Skyline Drive, Mt. Weather, or the Blue Ridge Parkway (Thunder Ridge) will give you a lengthier climb and allow you to train your brain to deal with the suffering.

[Two Wheels]

How about the Wintergreen ascent? (up to BRP from the valley)?

[jandvon]

Thanks,

The Frederick stuff looks like it should get me in the mood. And of course, Walter Reed – don’t know why I never thought of that. I bike by it (not up it) all the time.

[jandvon]

The examiner had this to say about Coxey Brown.

http://www.examiner.com/article/where-to-ride-a-hill-named-coxey-brown

[kcb203]

If you want to leave the area, supposedly Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, NY, is the same average grade (8%) and length (13k) as Alpe d’Huez.

http://www.northeastcycling.com/Global_Climbs.html

[creadinger]

@kcb203 60377 wrote:

If you want to leave the area, supposedly Whiteface Mountain in Lake Placid, NY, is the same average grade (8%) and length (13k) as Alpe d’Huez.

http://www.northeastcycling.com/Global_Climbs.html

Great suggestion!

Jandvon, if you like traveling a lot, you could just give all of these a try. Still 5 races left this year!

http://www.hillclimbseries.com/

If you can haul your butt up Mt. Washington, I think you could handle L’Alpe D’huez.

[Greenbelt]

A friend did Stelvio a while back. 6k+ feet in 15 miles!

[krazygl00]

@TwoWheelsDC 60277 wrote:

I did Alpe d’Huez in June, but my “training” consisted primarily of hauling a heavy commuter bike up the Custis 5x a week, with rides of various lengths and elevation changes mixed in. Mt. Weather is a good place to practice, but you pretty much have to do repeats on it if you want to approximate an HC climb like Alpe d’Huez. Riding Skyline Drive may give you more of a feel of a longer hill, but my understanding is that Skyline trades a high gradient for a longer length, so you won’t get the full effect there…but of course it will be good training and a good test of your endurance.

That said, if you’re in good shape and can do the Arlington hills at a reasonable speed, Alpe d’Huez itself won’t be too bad (relatively), as it’s only about 8.5 miles (at 8% gradient)…the challenge starts when you combine it with other climbs in the area or try to do it fast. One of the big things for me was having a good idea of my heart rate zones and how those affect my performance. My HR max is around 190, so I focused on keeping my HR around 160 and pretty much ignored my speed, which ended being about 5.5mph. Also, get a bike with the lowest gearing you can find (I did it on a Supersix with a triple chainring and a 30/25 combo as the granny gear) and just focus on keeping the pedals turning.

I’m more inclined to this mindset. I think that if you are in good shape overall and have the miles under your belt, doing Alpe d’Huez should not present a problem. A little extra hill training should make the experience more enjoyable, but I wouldn’t go too far afield seeking out any climbing rides if it means you won’t get to do them often. It would be better to do repeats several times per week on a good steep hill nearby than it would be to drive hours just to do a ride similar to AdH only once a month or so.

The first serious climbing ride I did was the Three Gap ride in Dahlonega, GA. It is slightly different from what you’re doing in that it is broken into three climbs totaling about 4500ft over ~35 miles. The only preparation I had done was a lot of commuting and a weekly ride up through the hills of north Atlanta. By the time I had finished three gap I was surprised that it hadn’t been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Once you hit the gradient, you definitely shift into a hill-climbing mindset where you just slow to a crawl, keep the feet spinning and crank out the miles. Once past the initial intimidation factor it just becomes a mathematical equation of speed, cadence and heart-rate.

Definitely make sure you have the right gearing like TwoWheelsDC mentioned. One of my bikes (the Jake The Snake which is now kaput ) has a mountain cassette and derailleur and a compact chainring up front, so I can get a 34/34 combo for climbing. And given the shape I’m in now I need it.

[TwoWheelsDC]

For some perspective, this is from Bend 9 (bottom is 21, top is 0), which is right about at the halfway point…

Link to the original, which is a very large panorama I did with probably 8-10 photos stitched together.

[Bilsko]

If gravel is your thing, there’s plenty of climbing goodness in this ride:
http://app.strava.com/activities/52564025

The last climb is a hard 10%+ push – only for about 3 miles, but at the tail end of 75 miles, you’re working for it.

[Author]

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