The intention for this month was to focus entirely on preparation for the Rake. Sprint intervals, eyeballs out, practising on steep 25% gradients. But, I got a bit sidetracked last week by the idea of trying to break the Guinness World Record for maximum climbing distance in 24 hours. – which is 20,000 metres in 24 hours.
- Is it possible? yes.
- How hard would it be? Very hard
- Do I want to do it? I don’t know.
- Would preparing for a 24 hour climbing record make me faster or slower for the 2013 hill climb seasons? I don’t know.
- What would it be like to cycle for 24 hours non-stop? No idea, my longest ever ride is 7 hours.
- Is it a good idea to do your first 24 hour – permanently going up and down a 2.4 Km hill average gradient 10%? probably not
- If you went for the record would it be better to use my new wafer thin 85 gram saddle or a 300 gram saddle with some padding in? – Only a hill climber would ask such a stupid question.
- How much harder would it be in a headwind? Much harder. Add on 1 minute per climb.
- Could you get someone mad enough to stand at the top of a hill for 24 hours as I go round and round a cone in the middle of the road? Probably
- Are you allowed to put cones on a public road and do two dead turns in the middle of a road, in the middle of the night on a Derbyshire road? Don’t know.
I’ve been pouring through 100 hill climbs and a growing collection of OS maps, looking for the perfect hill to have a go.
It’s fascinating to look at the different topography and profiles of hills. The record is like 155 ascents of box hill (impossible – you would have to cycle over 800km) or 19 ascents and descents of Alpe d’Huez, averaging 1 hour 15mins for each ascent and descent. It is an achievement to do one ascent and descent of Alpe d’Huez in an hour. The idea of doing Alpe D’Huez twice on next year’s Tour de France is quite controversial. But to do it 19 consecutive times….
20,000 metres, is like cycling up Mount Everest twice (2* 8,880 metres) and then doing two ascents of Alpe D’Huez for good measure.
Anyway I’ve found the perfect hill. Peaslows in Derbyshire.
Average gradient 10% – max gradient 10%. Length 2.4 Km. Number of times required to break 21,000 metres – 125. Average time per climb / descent – 12 minutes. Total distance required 400 km.
400km is feasible. That’s only 25o miles… (just don’t mention the 125 miles of them uphill at 10%) That’s like cycling from London to Bristol, up a hill of gradient 10%.
Coinnoisseurs of humour will say ‘chapeau’ for that use of the word ‘anyway’.
Well executed.
I was thinking a longer climb of around 7 or 8% would be better so each ascent took less out of you and you had longer to recover on the descent, but then I suppose you have to weigh that against the greater distance travelled and getting cold on the way down.
I suppose the key thing is a pretty constant gradient which is why you’re thinking Peaslows?
I think the last record was set on a hill 7-8% so there may be something in a shallower gradient.
Just go for it. You´ll love it and cherish it for the rest of your life.
(PS: Is there a monty python sketch on climbing a hill 125 times?)
Upper Class twit of the year?