Training for a Hilly Race

So, next weekend's race is a hilly circuit race up in Bellingham, the North Shore CR. Since I haven't really been doing any specific hill training, other than just including some on my regular rides, I got in two hill rides this past week. The first one included repeats of Winery Hill and Hollywood Hill with a backpack loaded with weight - about 10 lbs of random stuff including a big ziploc full of walnuts courtesy of my boss. On my second repeat I got a bit spooked when a car slowed down next to me (I was thinking about slamming on my brakes to dodge the 7-Eleven Big Gulp projectile I imagined was headed my way), but when I looked it was just my pal and teammate Z smiling and yelling "Go Cucina Fresca!"

I did these repeats with easy spinning on the flats, and then brought the heart rate up to 160 bpm on the climbs. Here's the profile (Winery is on the left, Hollywood on the right) - I went back and forth like a marble between the two peaks:

That was Thursday's hill ride, and even with the loaded backpack it wasn't too hard.

So, I needed to step it up for the next hill ride. The North Shore race for cat 3's is 7 laps of an 8 mile course with a total elevation gain of 4080' over the 56 miles. I needed to invent a course that would be similar in distance and elevation, ideally with more elevation gain and less rest in between climbs in order to tax the system greater than expected in the race. I used Bikely, my favorite course plotting mashup, and plotted up what repeats of "Zoo Hill" (SE 54th St. - Cougar Mtn Zoo in Bellevue) with a descent on Lakemont Ave would yield. Lo and behold, it is roughly 7 miles:


with plenty of elevation per lap:

In fact, each lap of my course has roughly double the gain of each lap in the North Shore race.

Saturday, I rode to the course as a warm up, with the intention of 4 repeats, and a goal of sub 15 min ascents of Zoo Hill on each lap. This time is based on the 14:17 I managed in the Cougar Mtn TT race last August, where I was not nearly in as great of shape (I'd only starting riding again in late May), and had no water bottles or extra stuff. Still, I felt it was an attainable goal, since I am definitely in better shape now!

My first climb up took 13:43, assuming I recalled the exact finish line point, and each lap was under 15 minutes without too much difficulty. Also, the descent only provided about 6-8 minutes of rest in between repeats of the climb. The second lap felt even faster, but I didn't check my time. I varied my gearing - the first lap I shifted more, and stood up more, while on the second lap I stayed seated in the 39x25 and spun for all but the short 20% gradient on one switchback. I kept the same heart rate limit of ~160 bpm, although I topped that on a couple of the switchbacks, and was usually in the 150's. After the fourth lap, I was not wasted, but definitely hungry (one Clif bar definitely was not enough), so I stopped at the Starbucks on Lakemont. Fueled up by a double espresso and an apple fritter, I headed through Issaquah and took East Lk Sammamish back home with the most fantastic tailwind.

Stats for the ride:
Distance: 54.2 miles
Time: 3:14:00 (door to door)
Elevation Gain: ~5000 ft, with 4800 ft on the hill repeats, according to Bikely.

I'm pleased overall with the ride. I'll have to include this in my training repertoire, and I am definitely looking forward to this year's Cougar Mtn TT. Maybe I can improve my time by a minute or more over last year!