sportive or not?

[jdtate101]

Rosmley Hill is my regular training route. I use Strava to track my attempts over time. You're always welcome to come out for a spin with me. I won't be out for the next two weeks as I'm currently recovering from the big V op (snip snip).

This was my last ride:

http://app.strava.com/rides/3282887

If you can manage to ride up Romsley Hill without problems then you should be ok for a 90 run. See if you can get the elevation map for the sportive and build up to the same vertical ascent over time. Other good hills to try in the area are:

Hagley Wood Lane (long and very steep)
Farley Lane (Up to Romsley from the other direction, steeper and shorter)
Mucklow Hill (up to Halesowen, Short and Sharp)
Old Birmingham Hill (Into Lickey...long shallow, but take quite a time...good for endurance)
Rose Hill (Into Lickey from opposite direction... very steep!!)

That should give you a few good hills to try out.

 

[Downward]

Mucklow Hill and Hagley Wood Lane are about the same length although HWL has a nasty kick near the top.

I have yet to get up Farley Lane in 1 go and I'm sure it's longer and steeper than Mucklow Hill and HWL.

I'll be going up Mucklow tomorrow morning commuting for the 1st time for a while now I have moved work.

 

[jdtate101]

Mucklow's a real lungbuster! It's just a shame there is the roundabout half way up as you always stall waiting for traffic, but I suppose that could give a breather. Not done HWL many times, but at the moment it can be a bit slippy with the frost. There's nothing worse than putting in loads of effort and going nowhere!!!

 

[alci4]

Rosmley Hill is my regular training route. I use Strava to track my attempts over time. You're always welcome to come out for a spin with me. I won't be out for the next two weeks as I'm currently recovering from the big V op (snip snip).

This was my last ride:

http://app.strava.com/rides/3282887

If you can manage to ride up Romsley Hill without problems then you should be ok for a 90 run. See if you can get the elevation map for the sportive and build up to the same vertical ascent over time. Other good hills to try in the area are:

Hagley Wood Lane (long and very steep)
Farley Lane (Up to Romsley from the other direction, steeper and shorter)
Mucklow Hill (up to Halesowen, Short and Sharp)
Old Birmingham Hill (Into Lickey...long shallow, but take quite a time...good for endurance)
Rose Hill (Into Lickey from opposite direction... very steep!!)

That should give you a few good hills to try out.

ouch hope your better soon m8

the way i have been riding the loop i hav'nt been riding up to romsley from halesowen the hill to romsley on this loop is from the manchester inn going towards halesowen

would the ride be better for me coming from halesowen? i know it's steeper the way i do it but not as long ( got up without stopping last time so was chuffed )

http://connect.garmin.com/course/496654

heres the gpx for the sportiv not that hilly i think, says elevation 1979ftft

i did this 40 miles yesterday (christ was it cold) and the elevation on that was 1552ft

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141815922

slowly getting my milage up 117 ttl miles in the last 7 days

 

[jdtate101]

If it's only about 2000ft over 90 miles then you should breeze it no problems. I would say (given my first experience of a long sportive) that you do need to do a couple of 60+ mile runs just to get used to the endurance part, as 5+ hrs in the saddle can take it out of you. Make sure you get some good quality gels. As for Romsley Hill, the way I would rank it in order of difficulty is:

Northbound from A491 up money lane is the easiest, it's got a nasty little climb halfway, but also has a flat section. The last climb is short and of medium intensity.

Southbound from the A456 is certainly longer but is flatish most of the way to the base with a steady climb gradient all the way to the last 300yrds when it kicks up to a real lung buster.

Hardest of all is the approach to the water tower up Heath End Land -> Farley Lane. It's shorter than the other two, but far steeper. A real challenge.

Try all three, or you can do what I did one day last summer, all three back to back (now that was a painful day). I'm only in Bearwood (Warley Woods), so not very far from where you started off, so once I'm all healed up if you fancy a circuit I can take you out on some of my regular runs.

 

[jdtate101]

Actually I might give that Motion In Mercia a look as it's just down the road. I'm doing another KTG event, the "Flat Out In The Fens" 154miles in the summer too

 

[BrumJim]

Hardest of all is the approach to the water tower up Heath End Land -> Farley Lane. It's shorter than the other two, but far steeper. A real challenge.

Windwood Heath Road? Now that one really takes it out of you. Starts off steep and doesn't let up until you beg for mercy. And is often slippy, so you are looking for traction all the time.

 

[BrumJim]

k so did the frankley romsley ride again that i did wen

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141293605

average speed up nearly 1 mph but more importantly i didnt stop on any hills (took drink stops for a few mins at the top of some) but no stopping halfway

Impressive cadence there. Its a good base for improving fast. I started with a poor cadence, but good leg strength. My knees are grateful that I changed that a bit, but still spin slower than most riders at my level.

 

[jdtate101]

Windwood Heath Road? Now that one really takes it out of you. Starts off steep and doesn't let up until you beg for mercy. And is often slippy, so you are looking for traction all the time.

Ah yes, the one with the hairpin. Had a go once, but just couldn't get traction. Maybe a revisit in summer is in order. A right little git if I remember correctly.

 

[172traindriver]

The hill up Windwood Heath Road is the KH12 hill climb time trial course. Bromsgrove and Beacon Clubs both use it for their club time trial championships and if you look at the results the best guys go up it in around 3 mins 30 to 3 mins 45. I know most of the Bromsgrove lads and a fair few of the Beacon guys and when I look at some of the Beacon lads times compared to the winner all I can say is he must have been pretty good!!!! Some of the Beacon lads are really quick and the winning margin surprised me, incidently a couple of the Beacon lads I was thinking of have the classic climbers builds.........weigh nowt wringing wet!!!
I have had a bash at the hill a few times and it is a struggle, but also not helped by the very poor road surface and the fact it has a tree canopy covering it, making it always seem slippy due to water and moss.

 

[alci4]

Impressive cadence there. Its a good base for improving fast. I started with a poor cadence, but good leg strength. My knees are grateful that I changed that a bit, but still spin slower than most riders at my level.

hi m8

thanks for the input but which bit of my cadence is impressive (dont really have a clue just trying to pick up some hints as to where and how to improve)

cheers for everyones help and input ( i am down to 16 stone 10 since my opening post so feel quite happy about my progress with my weight loss still not sure how much my cycling is improving though lol)

 

[172traindriver]

Don't get to obsessed with all the blurb. Are you enjoying yourself? Keep working at it in a steady manner, and at your own pace, if you aren't careful you could end up doing yourself damage and setting yourself back.
Think back a few weeks ago to when you first started if you could compare yourseld like for like you would notice a massive change. Just carry on and make sure you are enjoying what you are doing, then it will be a pleasure.

 

[BrumJim]

hi m8

thanks for the input but which bit of my cadence is impressive (dont really have a clue just trying to pick up some hints as to where and how to improve)

Average AND maximum. Legs working fast at both maximum speed and keeping spinning in normal cycling. If you are 16 stone, then hill climbing will be improved dramatically by weight loss - its mainly about power/weight, and with a good candence, you probably have good power already (power = force x speed).

No suggestions on improvement - ask someone who knows what they are talking about!

 

[alci4]

Don't get to obsessed with all the blurb. Are you enjoying yourself? Keep working at it in a steady manner, and at your own pace, if you aren't careful you could end up doing yourself damage and setting yourself back.
Think back a few weeks ago to when you first started if you could compare yourseld like for like you would notice a massive change. Just carry on and make sure you are enjoying what you are doing, then it will be a pleasure.

cheers m8 i hear what you are saying but at the same time if i can improve my cycling by targeting my weak points i will enjoy it all the more

Average AND maximum. Legs working fast at both maximum speed and keeping spinning in normal cycling. If you are 16 stone, then hill climbing will be improved dramatically by weight loss - its mainly about power/weight, and with a good candence, you probably have good power already (power = force x speed).

No suggestions on improvement - ask someone who knows what they are talking about!

cheers for the input m8 hopefully i can keep shedding a few pounds and keep improving

 

[Graham1426]

Hi Guys

Very much enjoyed reading your posts as a local i know the roads/routes you have mentioned.

I live near Dudley Golf club, and the hills around here are killers Portway Hill, City Road, Tower Road all lead to my home so either way it's tough on my commute back home.

I have only just started to commute to work a 12 round trip, i have an entry level MB with knobbly tyres so find the hills really tough. It takes me 20 mins to cycle to work, and a lot longer on my return journey due to having to dismount at the foot of any of the said hills.

I have a CUBE Agree GTC on order, so look forward to eventually conquering those hills.

Happy safe riding

Graham