bianchi10
10-04-2014, 03:30 PM
There is a sprint segment on strava that I have been trying to improve my ranking on. I became frustrated last month when I found out the end of the segment was about 400 feet further than I have currently been sprinting to. I was sprinting to where I thought the end was with hard efforts, yet my time was not improving. After a detailed look at the map, I learned I had to figure out how to maximize my power another 400ft. Doesn't sound extremely far, but with an uphill sprint to the finish and being exhausted at the point I thought I was finishing, mustering up more power is hard to find.
I have been playing with different ways to maintain power all the way through the sprint and the corner. Start off in the drops out of the saddle and I was bonking 3/4 up the hill. Stay in the saddle for too long and by the time I stand out of the saddle to sprint, my legs are burned out.
Today I approached the corner in the drops while still in the saddle pushing out around 36mph (A slight downhill into the right hand where the segment begins a 2% grade uphill). My goal here was to maintain a high speed in the saddle till just past half way and then sprint out of the saddle to the finish. I can visually see that I'm about to come up to the half way mark so I shift down and stand out of the saddle giving it all I got. I looked down and saw I was still maintaining 34mph but I could feel my legs filling up with lactic acid. At this point I can see the finish point of the segment, but it seems a mile away. I put my head down and focus on my breathing. I was still about 25 feet away when my legs essentially gave out and my body collapsed on my bike. I was now at the top of this hill which crests and turns into a 2 mile decent. I tried to keep my legs spinning to work out the lactic but it was difficult. My legs felt like they needed a needle stabbed into them before they exploded! On a good note, I know that I still have the remaining 25 ft I can work on. If I would have been able to maintain my speed to the finish, I could easily take off a couple seconds. Power output in between start and finish can be improved as well.
I was extremely happy to see my ranking, but quickly came to realize that 2nd sometimes hurts more than 10th since you were just shy of being on top!
I will take KOM on this sprint, just need some more time to perfect my attack!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/blknslvrgsxr/forums/Screenshot_2014-10-04-08-57-01-1.png
I have been playing with different ways to maintain power all the way through the sprint and the corner. Start off in the drops out of the saddle and I was bonking 3/4 up the hill. Stay in the saddle for too long and by the time I stand out of the saddle to sprint, my legs are burned out.
Today I approached the corner in the drops while still in the saddle pushing out around 36mph (A slight downhill into the right hand where the segment begins a 2% grade uphill). My goal here was to maintain a high speed in the saddle till just past half way and then sprint out of the saddle to the finish. I can visually see that I'm about to come up to the half way mark so I shift down and stand out of the saddle giving it all I got. I looked down and saw I was still maintaining 34mph but I could feel my legs filling up with lactic acid. At this point I can see the finish point of the segment, but it seems a mile away. I put my head down and focus on my breathing. I was still about 25 feet away when my legs essentially gave out and my body collapsed on my bike. I was now at the top of this hill which crests and turns into a 2 mile decent. I tried to keep my legs spinning to work out the lactic but it was difficult. My legs felt like they needed a needle stabbed into them before they exploded! On a good note, I know that I still have the remaining 25 ft I can work on. If I would have been able to maintain my speed to the finish, I could easily take off a couple seconds. Power output in between start and finish can be improved as well.
I was extremely happy to see my ranking, but quickly came to realize that 2nd sometimes hurts more than 10th since you were just shy of being on top!
I will take KOM on this sprint, just need some more time to perfect my attack!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u30/blknslvrgsxr/forums/Screenshot_2014-10-04-08-57-01-1.png