Castelli Ride Series SkillZ and DrillZ, December 21

Today closed the books on another great SkillZ and DrillZ and the last one of the year.  Building on last week’s session focused on choosing and working through the proper gearing for the sprint, this week we focused on proper climbing techniques.  We also spent a little more time on selecting a cadence, just to make sure that we don’t blow out our legs.

Here’s a replay of the ride:

Like normal, we started out by working on our group dynamics at a 1.5 watts per kilogram (w/kg) pace.  The focus, like every week, is trying to “feel” the draft.  Unfortunately, Zwift hasn’t figured out the VR technology yet for us to actually feel the difference when we are in a good pocket or bumped out.  So, we have to practice moving around the bunch.

Today, the goal was really to stay in the front third of the pack.  The reasoning behind that positioning is different than IRL riding.  In a live peloton, most of the crashes happen after the front third, as people fight for wheels or have a lapse in concentration.  We try to avoid those at all costs.  Crashes hurt and can be expensive.  Fortunately, Zwift has eliminated that concern (well, maybe, depending on if you saw the GCN visit to Zwift HQ), so we don’t have to worry about crashes disrupting the peloton.  However, you still need to be in the front third to be able to react to any attacks or splits in the field.  One moment of inattentiveness very early on can cost you the race, no matter how strong or prepared you entered the event.

After our warm-up and group dynamics period, we got right into our climbing work.  One of the most important aspects of climbing is gear management.  Too often people choose gears that make no sense, way too low or way too high.  Fortunately, way too low or easy of a gear often takes care of itself quickly.  With too little resistance due to gearing the bike will naturally slow due to gravity to a point where cadence will even out.  Of course it is a waste of time and energy, but the problem solves itself.  Other than highlighting that a rider’s ability to respond is compromised by pedaling too light of a gear at too high of a cadence, there is not much more about which we can discuss.  The harder gears, however, serve a purpose on the climbs but can also lead to problems.

The first thing we did was drop into a gear that allowed for 60-65 RPMs at 1.5 w/kg.  I chose that range for a few very specific reasons, all of which we would experience during the ride.  First off, that is the lower end of the cadence range where I have found cyclists to be able to maintain efficiency and a good position.  Any lower, most cyclists tend to start rocking their hips, and sometimes the whole body, from side to side to compensate for the extra load.  That can lead to bio-mechanical issues as you change the angles in which you apply power which can lead to knee, hip, and back pain down the road.

Do we all rock back and forth from time to time during a hard part of the race?  Sure.  But, many triathletes also pee themselves rather than stop on the bike, and you don’t see them doing that in training or in daily life.  Well, at least I hope you don’t.  The point is that we shouldn’t practice or emulate the bad form that sometimes happens during the throes of a really hard race after hours of fatigue have eroded our mind’s ability to control our body.  So, I think everyone gets the point.  Don’t ride too low of a cadence to avoid unnecessarily risking injury, and do stop to use the bathroom during training rather than peeing on yourself.

As we moved through the first 30 minutes of the ride, we maintained the lower RPMs to make even the flat roads feel like we were going uphill. ( I’m not going to lie.  There was a bit of fun in the torture for me.)  Anyway, we then got to the nitty gritty of climbing.  Do we stay seated, or do we stand?  Ah, that is the question for the ages.  In general, I recommend staying seated and climbing at a tolerable cadence between 75 and 90 RPMs trying to maintain steady power.  If you need to stretch or plan on attacking, then get out of the saddle.  Climbing out of the saddle can be very taxing and is not the most efficient way to get up the road.  As Dr. Haskell pointed out, “But I have seen Contador at the tour out of the saddle and dancing on the pedals!”  That is true.  I have also seen Lebron James jump over a grown man and slam a ball through a hoop.  I can’t do that.  In fact, I probably couldn’t do that with a trampoline.  So, why would I think that I can do the same thing as Alberto Contador?

To demonstrate the effort of standing climbing, we shifted up a few gears, raising out of the saddle at about 75 RPMs, still holding 1.5-2.0 w/kg.  Despite the fact that we really weren’t putting out much more effort, virtually everyone’s heart rate shot up ten beats per minute.  That’s because it takes more energy to hold yourself up and balance while riding out of the saddle.  All of that being said, accelerating and attacking while out of the saddle can be very effective.  As we came up to the ramp heading out of the tunnels, I instructed everyone to rise out of the saddle and begin accelerating up the short climb.  That very short climb combined with the accelerations blew the group to bits, forcing us to spend the next two kilometers trying to regroup.  Everyone paid a price, though.  To a rider, everyone was out of breath.  That very short stretch of road, less than 400 meters, took a match from everybody and multiple matches from a number of folks.  Now, that effort hurt, but were it done on a short climb at a tactically significant point in the race, a rider could bridge a gap or jump away from a group with that kind of savage effort.  So, it’s not that climbing while standing is something we shouldn’t do.  It’s just more like one of the “dark arts” that we really need to understand before we put it into play.

Through the Esses, we practiced more repeated efforts out of the saddle.  During any upticks in the slope, we got out of the saddle, and we sat back down for any flats or downhills.  The repeated jumps showed both how much an advantage you can get but also the high cost of doing so.  On our last lap, we executed a different drill coming up the ramp out of the tunnel.  Whereas we sprinted up the ramp, standing, on lap two, this time we went at it seated.  However, I made everyone get to the lower end of our RPM spectrum, as close to 60 RPMs as possible at the base of the climb.  When we hit the base of the ramp, I instructed everyone to start speeding up, trying to bring the RPMs up to 85 RPMs only by increasing power to the pedals, no shifting of gears.  That was a struggle.  It was a great way to highlight the inability of a rider pedaling at low cadences to respond to any change in the race.  On the previous lap, we hit the base of the ramp at higher RPMs and were able to motor up it much quicker and with a sharp acceleration.  From a seated position with low starting RPMs, we showed that the likelihood of being gapped was pretty significant.  Moving on toward the Esses, we did that same drill as on the previous lap, but I encouraged everyone to keep a steady effort through the switchbacks and the Esses.  Yes, there would be a higher power output while standing due to the added pressure of bodyweight, but the idea was to control the body to avoid wild power or effort swings, needlessly throwing the body into the red zone.  Almost everyone rode the last climb much better.

After that, it was a quick cool-down and review of the day’s materials.  It is important to remember that climbing is as much of a skill as any other part of cycling.  Yes, lighter riders don’t suffer as much from the effects of gravity as the bigger folks, but smart riding and sound tactics can tilt the odds back in your favor.  Like we have talked about during the previous few weeks, it’s all about riding smarter, not harder, than your opponents.  Sure, on a straight-up drag race with all things being equal, the lighter rider will win a climb almost every time.  However, if you practice your gearing and know for how long you can ride hard out of the saddle, you may be able to surprise the climbers and steal a victory from them.

SkillZ and DrillZ will be off next week due to holiday travels, but we will be back on 4 January with another addition.  We hope to se see you there, and as always, Ride On!

Castelli Ride Series SkillZ and DrillZ – December 14

Wow, what a ride.  A little over 70 riders joined us for today’s SDR, with a good portion of them jumping on Discord.  It made for an entertaining evening rather than just a bit of suffering while sprinting.  As a quick caveat, our sprinting class today was focused on sprinting to beat an opponent not to get a green jersey from taking a Zwift banner.  The two do not necessarily correlate.

Like usual, we left the pen at 1.5 watts per kilogram with the goal of staying bunched up to practice working in the draft.  We strung out a little more than usual, as many of the newcomers were still learning the format of the SDR.  After a few minutes of riding the streets of Richmond, we were able to get the group more-or-less together, and I proceeded to go through the focus of today’s ride, mastering the sprint.  Now, we covered sprinting a few weeks earlier, but the focus of that class was really just about timing.  Today, I elected to target the actual mechanics of sprinting from the point of gear management.  Too often, people start in too big of a gear, making the “wind-up” a slow, inefficient process, or start in too small of a gear, leading to a premature spin-out.  Neither are optimal, and can lead to a disappointing finish.

For our first iteration, I talked through the concept and directed everyone to get in a fairly easy gear, pushing 80 RPMs +/-.  The point of the first iteration was not to have a great sprint, but to work through the gears in a methodical fashion.  The concept we would use is the “rev and shift” concept.  Basically, the rider “revs” the gear, raising the cadence to low-to-mid 90s, shifting to a harder gear, and repeating.  We did this through three shifts.  I explained that realistically a sprint with a lead-out would only allow you to have one or possibly two shifts, but it is just as likely to not have any shifts if the lead-out train did its job.  The real point of the exercise was to demonstrate a method of gear utilization that can help set up a strong sprint.

Going into a little depth of gear choice, that sweet spot of the low-to-mid 80s cadence while putting out a good effort, allows enough resistance to create a burst while not spinning out too quick.  Trying to open a sprint with a bigger (think smaller cog on the rear cassette) gear and a lower cadence may allow for a higher starting power, but the rider’s ability to quickly increase that power relative to other riders is likely going to be low.  Think of it like a diesel engine in a tractor trailer.  Sure, it can hit high speeds like your Honda Civic, but it takes significantly longer to get to those speeds.  Likewise, pedaling at a higher cadence is not conducive to an effective sprint.  Yes, you will be able to respond quicker, but gear management will become an issue.  Due to the lighter resistance, it is not likely that the rider will be able to get out of the saddle and put max pressure into the pedals right away.  Instead, the rider will have to make two or three rapid shifts while keeping tension on the pedals, increasing the chance of a dropped chain.  Additionally, power output and power transfer efficiency tends to be lower at higher RPMs than at RPMs in the 80s to low 90s.

We did a few of these iterations, going through the one or two shifts at higher power outputs and at a much faster pace.  Once everyone had the concept, we moved to sprinting from out of the saddle vs from a seated position.  I explained that you could do either, but sprinting from out of the saddle would allow for a higher power output.  It does have a big downside, though: you can’t sprint from an out of saddle position for a very long time.  Thus, you better time it right, or you run the risk of getting overtaken just before the line.  Like from the seated position, we did a similar drill, but using harder gears.  Ideally, you will only have one shift while standing, as you only have about 15 seconds of sprint time before your legs give out.  So, I usually make my shift at the end of my “wind-up” or a few seconds into the sprint to keep the build going.  This point led in to a good discussion about the time to reach peak power and the time one can hold it.  Since I don’t have physiological data on every Zwift rider, in general I would put forth that most riders should get to their peak sprint power within five seconds and should try to hold it for an additional five seconds.  Any longer than that is gravy in my book.

After finishing up with the different sprinting styles, we played a few games, including Match Sprint, Lead Out, and Max Power.  Match Sprint is simply a one-on-one sprint.  Because not everyone was on Discord, I couldn’t do complete pairings, but we selected a few riders as the designated opponents who would initiate the sprint.  Everyone else had to pick which rider he/she wanted to sprint against and get positioned to respond.  Think of Match Sprint like the sprint event on the track or the final kilometer of a road race when the breakaway riders are trying to time the sprint and almost come to a standstill.  I will have to say that it was a challenge to execute, but we did a few iterations of it.  By the final one, it went rather well.  The initiators launched at various times, meaning that the sprints varied from 100 to 400 meters, just like in real life.  Following Match Sprint, we switched to Lead Out.

Lead Out is just how it sounds.  Riders partnered up, with one partner as the lead-out and the other as the sprinter.  The lead-out rider performed the “wind-up,” and the sprinter did his/her thing.  Now, I’ve mentioned the “wind-up” a couple of times but never explained it.  The “wind-up” is simple.  Riders in front of the sprinter progressively lift the pace, going faster and faster, until they are spent, leaving the sprinter left to finish the job.  The point is to allow the sprinter to launch from a higher speed without having to expend the copious amounts of energy to get to those speeds.  Physics laws state that accelerating a body is the greatest expenditure of energy, therefore using a team to make the sprinter’s acceleration easier means that he/she will have more energy for the final burst.  If the sprinter has to burn off the matches in the book just to get to the launch point, nothing will remain in the tank.  Thus, during the Lead Out game, we had one partner serve as the final rider in the sprint train, also known as the “lead-out” rider.  It allowed the sprinters to go faster at the same power output.  To see this in action, check out the video below at the 2:46:20 mark.  You will see how Justin Wagner used his lead-out men effectively to set a best time for the sprint during the Zwift Team Worlds race.

Lastly, we played the Max Power game.  Again, it’s just like it sounds.  We went for 5-second power, one at a time.  Most people did a pretty strong ramp-up or “rev,” and quite a few people broke 10 w/kg.  It was not a scientific study by any stretch of the imagination, but it was fun just to see what we could individually do.  Once we finished up with our individual effort, we did one more iteration but at much higher RPMs just to show the ineffectiveness of that technique.  Within a few seconds, everyone quickly got that, as there were many complaints of being sloppy and bouncy.  Exactly.  That’s why we don’t do that.  Anyway, we wrapped up at that point with a couple of minutes of cool-down spinning and reviewing today’s lesson.

Thanks to all who joined in, and I look forward to the next SDR where we will go over climbing techniques in a very controlled environment.