A Hard Ascent of Tunitas Creek

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This workout analysis shows a very hard but sub-maximal ascent of Tunitas Creek at mile ~100 of the Sequoia Century.

I wanted to simulate the effort level of the last climb of the first day of the Everest Challenge; one cannot go all-out because day two is a hard day as well. So a intensive but sub-maximal effort after some long mileage is the smart move.

Duration: 32:57*
Power, watts: 310
BPM: 158, with max of 167
Distance: 6.26 miles
Ascent: 1718 feet
Speed: 11.41 mph
Temp: 80 - 68° F

* I hit the timer button a few seconds late, so the graph shows 33:01

Analysis

The SRM Cannondale Hollowgram SL power meter is rated for 1% accuracy.

I did not obtain an accurate weight for this climb, since it came at mile ~100 of the Sequoia Century. My estimate is ~195 pounds total riding weight.

This was a very hard effort, but not a maximal effort. Yet it took more than a minute off my previous best time, and that’s after ~100 miles of riding, so I was very pleased.

I passed dozens of other riders, which is a psychological boost. Fortunately, there was one strong rider on the middle area with some steepness who paced me for about 10 minutes, a good incentive, but he then burned out and dropped out of sight.

Interesting to note is that in spite of average power remaining steady, the heart rate climbs steadily (even though the temperature dropped by about 12° from bottom to top). This effect occurs on all my hard efforts. I don’t have a good explanation other than the body trying to deal with the waste products of extreme exertion, which perhaps keeps the heart rate from dipping.

Click for a larger graph. Red is heart rate, green is power.

Power and heart rate with elevation profile, Tunitas Creek at mile 98 of Sequoia Century 2012