Everesting Ticknock - July 2017

fat bloke

Question.

Can you do a Homer and get some Sherpas to drag you 3/4's of the way up? :pac:

Weepsie

Thud wrote: »

If after 34 attempts the Garmin says you are under target would you do a 35th or stop knowing that the 34 times 256 should have got you there.....

Strava will overestimate it anyway

Alek

How accurate are the Garmin barometers (I've gotten different meters climbed from the same routes on different dates, and between my old garmin 500 and new 520)?

They can be more or less accurate on lumpy rides, where you have loads of rolling hills - older units (800, 500) sample altitude with less precision and will give you less total elevation if you roll down and up a lot. But on a long ascent they are comparable with newer ones - 810 and so on.

Is it the Garmin reading that counts or 34 times the 256m that Strava has the climb segment as (is that what the Strava "Correct Elevation" button does?)?

So far my 800 was consistent within 5m on that climb.

If after 34 attempts the Garmin says you are under target would you do a 35th or stop knowing that the 34 times 256 should have got you there.....

I would do another one just in case. I need the number on the display, not strava-corrected elevation. But this is why I want to use 3 gps units - to pick the elevation from one of the 2 units that are closer together.

Alek

Can you do a Homer

What's doing a Homer?

robyntmorton

Alek wrote: »

What's doing a Homer?

Simpsons reference: While Homer slept the Sherpas would carry him up the mountain. Just leave a running GPS in your pocket.

Alek

Haha, no!

But wait, if one of you can wear the HR strap....

wanderer 22

For the last few reps?

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/relic-mtb-40t-road-extender-49508/

godtabh

colm18 wrote: »

For the last few reps?

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/relic-mtb-40t-road-extender-49508/

GCN did a hack/bodge of the week in something similar. Could be handy!

Alek

In fairness I was toying the idea of 36 on the back... but 40? Nah, I'd fall off the bike at these speeds

Esroh

Alex.
May your plan come to fruition and that you get every metre you need. Anyone who even considers something like this has my full admiration .

Alek

Ok, after trying 1/3 of the elevation yesterday (a bit flatter though - in 100km, while Ticknock only is approx. 4500m in 100km) I know a few new things:

1. I would like to have a bailout gear, 34/36 perhaps. The 36/34 (that I train on) was getting progressively harder to pedal on the 15%+ ramp during the last few reps.

2. I can't stomach nuts very well. I've eaten plenty, two Banana Dogs (baguette with a lot of peanut butter and whole banana inside), three Nature bars (bheagh) and 200g of Lidl's Fruit and Nut mix. I was feeling bloated for the whole day after that, and today the only thing I can't think of is nuts. I guess my body knows.

3. The tiredness hit me quite hard after 2700m. Legs were fine, it was the head / vision / concentration that was getting worse. Maybe it was dehydration, as I had only 2 bidons for 6 hours of climbing, and after a few hours of rest I was up and running again. In fact legs are super fresh today, I could easily hit the hills again now. Good sign.

4. The road was super busy with mountain bikers, cars and all sort of walkers, including families with prams taking the whole width. Still, I was ok to descend, didn't feel nervous. Disc brakes took a lot, I will definitely need another set of pads. But then, it won't be nowhere near as busy on a week day.

5. Guys from the biking.ie hut said that Tuesday may be a better day as it seems the quietest. I'll think about that.

Alek

Alek wrote: »

Ok, after trying 1/3 of the elevation yesterday (a bit flatter though - in 100km, while Ticknock only is approx. 4500m in 100km) I know a few new things:

1. I would like to have a bailout gear, 34/36 perhaps. The 36/34 (that I train on) was getting progressively harder to pedal on the 15%+ ramp during the last few reps.

2. I can't stomach nuts very well. I've eaten plenty, two Banana Dogs (baguette with a lot of peanut butter and whole banana inside), three Nature bars (bheagh) and 200g of Lidl's Fruit and Nut mix. I was feeling bloated for the whole day after that, and today the only thing I can't think of is nuts. I guess my body knows.

3. The tiredness hit me quite hard after 2700m. Legs were fine, it was the head / vision / concentration that was getting worse. Maybe it was dehydration, as I had only 2 bidons for 6 hours of climbing, and after a few hours of rest I was up and running again. In fact legs are super fresh today, I could easily hit the hills again now. Good sign.

4. The road was super busy with mountain bikers, cars and all sort of walkers, including families with prams taking the whole width. Still, I was ok to descend, didn't feel nervous. Disc brakes took a lot, I will definitely need another set of pads. But then, it won't be nowhere near as busy on a week day.

5. Guys from the biking.ie hut said that Tuesday may be a better day as it seems the quietest. I'll think about that.

Awesome, best of luck!

smacl

Alek wrote: »

1. I would like to have a bailout gear, 34/36 perhaps. The 36/34 (that I train on) was getting progressively harder to pedal on the 15%+ ramp during the last few reps.

Assuming you're freewheeling the downhill and don't need any big gears, maybe just chuck a 30t chain ring on the front with your existing rear setup which gets you 30/34? A granny ring from a road triple should do the trick.

Alek

Its not a bad idea at all! I have a triple on the other bike, I wonder what the Q factor is though... they're both Shimano road cranks.

Thanks, I'm off to calculate the gear ratios now

[edit]

30/32 is the same ratio as 34/36

Alek

In Your Face Shimano: Sora 3500 rear mech, short cage (sic!), 34t front, 11-36 back.

robyntmorton

I should admire this, but I can't see past the QR lever on the wrong side. For shame!

Alek

NO! This is intentional, to prevent tightening it against the disc rotor when I'm tired. Done it once, never again

Peterx

Perhaps there's a QR lever on both sides? Marginal gainz

robyntmorton

Alek wrote: »

NO! This is intentional, to prevent tightening it against the disc rotor when I'm tired. Done it once, never again

When you say it, it sounds logical. Fair enough so.

smacl

Alek wrote: »

In Your Face Shimano: Sora 3500 rear mech, short cage (sic!), 34t front, 11-36 back.

And you can tell SRAM to keep their X-Dome cassette for 385 euros too!!

Alek

Well, I wouldn't be so sure about 11-42, but I'm curious to try 11-40 if I only had one handy

Thud

marginal gains. time to saw off those handlebars, should hang on to the brakes though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBNTOwuXNRQ

iwillhtfu

I'd consider going 30 up front and one of the absolute black oval chain rings. You will rarely be on the lower end of that cassette and more often than not coasting on the descents.

nilhg

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I'd consider going 30 up front and one of the absolute black oval chain rings. You will rarely be on the lower end of that cassette and more often than not coasting on the descents.

You won't get 30 in 110mm BCD, OP would have to change cranks I think

Alek

The other issue is that I don't have a separate bike for training, and 30x11 is way too low for anything else, while I can get away with 34x11 and 40kph.

See, the concept is great, but I don't see myself swapping the cranks twice a week I'll see how I get on with 34x36 over the next few days.

iwillhtfu

nilhg wrote: »

You won't get 30 in 110mm BCD, OP would have to change cranks I think

True I was going to say you may need to swap the crank.

Alek

Just short of 1300m metres today, only.

Legs are wooden - I was so slow I didn't have time to top it up to 1500m before work. I guess that's the toll of 3000m on Sunday...

34/36 on a short mech works beautifully, shifts just as it should. The problem is that no matter how low gearing you have, you always hit a point you wish there was one more... especially on the final ramp on Kippure I can normally do it on 34/27, but since I had 36... fecking snail pace :pac:

smacl

Alek wrote: »

especially on the final ramp on Kippure I can normally do it on 34/27, but since I had 36... fecking snail pace :pac:

Fair play, I struggled enough at the weekend on Kippure on 34/32 and saw 6.4kph on the Garmin before I got to the top. I was actually thinking of this thread when I got there, was wondering how low a gear you'd still get any benefit from, and reckon you'd want to figure it out based on your minimal acceptable speed and desired cadence at this speed. By the last ramp my cadence had dropped to 50rpm (I'm a pretty appalling climber!) and I reckon it would have been less of a struggle at the same speed at 60-65rpm.

Alek

It is different kind of struggle, but struggle either way. With harder gearing you have no choice but do it sporty style, out of saddle (or almost), puking your guts out at the end. With 34/36 I can do it steadily crawling up... but that's kinda boring, if it wasn't training Being local top of the world, Kippure deserves special approach

mr spuckler

Alek wrote: »

Just short of 1300m metres today, only.

Legs are wooden - I was so slow I didn't have time to top it up to 1500m before work. I guess that's the toll of 3000m on Sunday...

34/36 on a short mech works beautifully, shifts just as it should. The problem is that no matter how low gearing you have, you always hit a point you wish there was one more... especially on the final ramp on Kippure I can normally do it on 34/27, but since I had 36... fecking snail pace :pac:

1300m before work? :eek:

and there was i was proud of my 450m yesterday!