How To Pace Long Climbs (Cycling Tips) 

I see so many people go too hard too early and I enjoy cruising past them later in the climb 😀

Gotta be one of the best climbing vids! Really nice graphics too. Enjoyed watching.

Really educational- thanks for giving us a lot to look at with the visual and auditory information

Great video and a great lesson in visuals throughout! Very informative and wish I had seen it when I first started riding 7+ years ago. On reflection, my PR's have all been on solo negative splits but all too often when riding I fall into the mode of crushing it early on at the expense of the overall time. Such is ego!

Merci beaucoup. Very educational and like your honesty!! It's about learning and improving.

Phenomenal video, great tactics. So hard to watch someone (or a bunch of someones) roll away from you, but understanding your fitness better hopefully will bring em back. That's where the power meter helps - before I had one, when they rolled off, I didn't have the same motivation to push that I do when trying to hold someone's wheel. Now I try to hold a specific number, almost as good. :)

Dude, I ain't no vegan or nothin....but damn if I don't love your content. Ha. Thanks for making such great content. Looking forward more overlays in the future, cuz you totally neglected the right side of the screen, lol.

Great insight of your effort! As someone who relies only on heart rate, is very difficult to fully understand power data, and the way you manage your heart rate in function of it. I recently rode a 40min climb pacing myself in order to crush my previous PR, so I went heart rate zone5 all the way but letting the hr grow steadly on the whole effort. By this way I avoided hr peaks and the recovery they demand, and allow me to launch a solid sprint by the end of it. Cheers, keep up this awesome vids!

Outstanding video!!

Great Video!!! I'm no where near your level but love the information ...

Sick vid bruh can you do a review on the POC sunglasses coz your reviews are amazing.

Great video. The VC School of Cycling...

Cool video, learned a lot, cheers dude

Great info. I worked out a while ago that riding with a group if others attacked you didn't have to respond straight away because they have burned a match so you can just TT it back up to them and drop them, unless they are super strong obvs. It helps to know the kind of riders you are out with, you get to learn fast who will make an attack stick. Unfortunately the flip side is now everyone knows how strong I am so I end up doing a lot of pulling on the front.

Cool video! Nice discussion on HR zones. You have a very high zone 3.

Great video !! Amazing ride :D

Great video!

great video, very informative with all the real data... super. now I wonder... (this is a bit crazy to ask) could you made a video but showing a real deep crack and the recovery estrategy, to still do a good overall. well I understand if you just laugh about this Q. great videos and keep it doing

Awesome video. I learned a lot

Great vblog. Very nice content. Keep it up.

Very nice video, I'm using a wal-mart bike at the moment but it will have to do for now.

Sweet charts!

Marvelous.

Very insightful.

Don't Chris Froome him. Next time, Peter Sagan him...

CyclingPorn - can't stop watching

I'm learning some of these lessons: Perceived Exertion can be the enemy. Early in the climb, the legs and the engine feel good, so get it while the getting is good - - right? The temptation is to believe that you have to be at "max suffering" the whole way in order to PR a long climb. I'm learning.

Well said!

Not sure if already asked, but what is your weight?

Great vid - as always VC. One question relating to cadence. What are your thoughts on consistency of cadence - ie do you have an ideal cadence zone for climbing? Looking at the data there was a big range in cadence between 60 rpm to 110+ at various times on that climb. Would it be easier to keep consistent power via consistent cadence?

“De-molarize...”? Did it hurt?

Haven’t tried the Hwy side. Did Tollhouse last time I was out there. Only time I’ve ever looked down at my 28 and wished I had a 32 at the end of that thing.

Very cool video

Hey Tyler. How much do you currently weigh? Just curious about your power to weight ratio. All the best!

Dude is a beast

what are your power zones like in terms of % ftp? for me, zone 4 is tempo (85-95%) and zone 5 is threshold (95-105%), I feel like if you had those zones you could be going at zone 4-5 the whole time?

chaz has lift off!!

POWER METER QUESTION !! I am just getting back into cycling and triathlon training. Anyways in Zwift it shows my doing like 160 watts or 240 if I try harder. I got too 345ish on a full sprint. How the hell you make such power ?? Are you super human :-)

Hey I’m new to gravel / road cycling. How are you getting that power meter at the bottom of the screen?

The Vegan Cyclist I don't have a power meter. I read an article recently that you can measure a climb by time and speed. It's less accurate as it does not take into account micro changes in gradient but still works. Break the climb down so if you know it takes say 6 minutes to climb 2.5 miles at an average of say 15mph if you just keep an eye on your speed, don't let it fall below 15mph, so after 2.5 miles you should be around 6 minutes. If climbing at that rate for the first 2/3 you are on pace for your PB, then increase your speed to a sustainable level for the last 1/3 to set a new PB. I have also heard people talking about using VAM as this is slightly more accurate, it does take into account gradient changes, so if you know you can climb at 1200 meters per hour VAM use this number as a marker, then you'll be doing the 'Froomey' where you keep nodding your head down as you keep a close eye on your numbers.

Would be also nice to see the gradients in percent so that I can compare a bit. Great video btw.. I live in the alps and on long rides 150-200 km we have often more than 3000m of climbing (ascent only) and yes pacing is all you have to do.. And its silly to see what some people call "long climbs".. for me all under 1 hr is not a long climb.. A long climb would be 1-2 hrs like the Timmeljoch alpine pass or the stelvio or those :D but hey its all about where you live.

this is great stuff...i just got back from a climb today. i went with a friend who's more experienced and i didn't know the terrain at all, got dropped like a fly on the first climb. mentally broke down. knowing the terrain is so important. on the way back i led and finished ahead, but man...can't get over that break down.

Question if I weigh 190 pounds at 6ft tall am I good at that weight to climb better I do well with groups but when it comes to a race I struggle on climbs should lose little more weight

Any advice I will take. I get dropped consistently on my rides. I live in suburb and PA, with (lots) hills, some at 8% for 1/4 mi. Some at 3% for 1.5 miles, some at 13%. I’m running a 2010 Fuji Roubaix with original componants[105, oval,dt swiss, fsa] I have plenty experience of riding flats , with A group rides average 21-23 mph. But back home I’m averaging 13 mph which is sad since I’m hitting 30+ mph downhill. I see my Strava records improving, and I’m searching for a new bicycle, hill climbing capabilities needed. I have maby 6 hills on my ride and they give me 1,600ish, feet of elevation the max being 13%. Do I look for the lightest bike under 4K. Do I train legs specifically on non. Riding days. Guy what is the secret to being better. Is their a magical squat workout? Or a magical bike. I’m riding three days a week and training 1 day a week. Any advice will be tried, if sensible. Thanks and please excuse my grammar .

Is that going up to shaver?!

And i though i was the only one having that Max HR at 192 while doing a climb.

Good thing you have that ceramc BB, he would have dropped you at the the finish. ;)

Hey VC, what does 250 watts feel like when squatting? I'm trying to get back into cycling but I still have 2 months before I have enough saved up for a bike. It'd be nice to know where I'm at fitness wise compared to the pros before I buy a bike. Is it 20lbs, 100lbs squats? Thanks.

"Jazz has left the building..." 🤣

what was the distance and grade of this climb? that was a great video.

I saw your bike at rubber soul the diamondback

I dont understand why so many cyclists have such a high heart rate. Even when i'm out of legs and struggling my heartrate is only 140 bpm, and when i still have energy i am around 89 to 100 bpm. I can do like 120 rpm at 380 watts for 20 min and have under 100 bpm, the only things limiting me is when my legs start burning, so i can't produce more power for a long amount of time. So when i see people like VC, that i consider way better than me, having such a high heartrate i'm confused. I dont know if it's because i'm a track and field athlete that is used to high cadence due to sprint being my speciality or if it is just that cycling is way easier for my boy due to the fact that i'm not pushing all my boy weight on each pedal stroke.

Man.. have u tried high cadence on climbs.. just look at the Chacs spin. Train it and give it a test

Hey bruh^^awesome videos in youre channel ;-) can I ask how old are you? 190 BPM is really high I thought that the heart rate is going down when you get older ^^

What's the strava segment?

How about with HR?

"..he tried to de-molarize me." LOL Bruh, did Chaz take ALL your molars? J/K Great vid VC!

Hello can you tell me which tool / software you are using for your video display ? Thanks

What's your ftp?

And Chaz rides like Thor hushovd hope I spelled that right

What gear were you running?

Recommend a good slimming diet. I tried a certain vegam diet that recommends unlimited calories. I need to be about 60 pounds lighter I gather.

why do you have all those bells and whistles when all you have to see is that he's sitting and you're standing to keep up.

do you go on group rides where you know you can't hang with all the riders and you end up getting dropped and end up riding alone, do you see any purpose to do that.

The video start with good advice about pacing a climb, then you end up attacking your friend to the top which is clearly different from pacing a long climb :)

More vc cycling school please

Just ride your face off until you fall off your bike or the climb ends. Hopefully the climb ends first. So it's good to know roughly how long the climb is. And if you fall off your bike you went out too hard.

So don't chase Chaz up the climb during vc camp? Haha.

How is your GoPro mounted on your bike ? My cam (Sony) gives me shitty results because of the vibrations, though it's supposed to have a very good stabilization :-\

Really great video, if you want the theoretical side of long climbs (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HlglnUNnAnY.html). Btw chasing a nearly identically matched rider is a great way to get a PR, partly because of the extra motivation, partly because of the draft benefit. So did you get a PR?

dude those sound effects at 0:40 are weiiird

This would kill an old fart like me lol

not even wearing gloves when climbing?

Why don't you Lance Armstrong yourself? lol