Spinning class - The road to Loudenvielle

It's been a while since I posted one of my classes, so here's another one of those stages from this year's Tour de France - this time the stage from Foix to Loudenvielle. After the usual warm up to loosen up the legs, it's time to start climbing - a comfortable climb at a steady pace, gradually increasing resistance. Then a flattish road (although that's no excuse to take it easy!) before another short but fast climb to get HR up to an uncomfortable level (around 80% HRR). A quick lull before the climb continues - not long enough to recover completely so even this steady climb feels that much harder. As we get closer to the top, we test our limits by increasing resistance. Then it's another quick recovery as we head downhill, before the big climb of the day.

So far, it's been a mix of hard steady climbs and fast but lighter climbing - now it's time to put the two together, starting again with a steady but relatively quick climb but gradually increasing resistance until it gets very uncomfortable and climb out of the saddle to maintain momentum. HR by this stage will be around 80-85% but, two minutes from the top of the climb, an increase in resistance and HR to 85-90%. Somewhere in that final minute, HR should cross the lactate threshold, the "red line", where breathing becomes difficult and legs start feeling a slight burning sensation. So the two-minute recovery as we head downhill should come as a relief, a chance to bring breathing under control.

With the final climb starting only three minutes from the finish, it's time to use up whatever energy is left in the tank. A fast climb but with quite hard resistance to start the climb with HR at 80-85%. After a minute, a slight increase in resistance to bring HR upto and slightly beyond the red line at 85-90%. Only one minute to go and it's going to be flat out - another increase in resistance to raise effort levels and HR up to 90-95%, crossing the line with a last gasp and complete relief at completing this challenging ride.

Of course, it's not necessary to push so hard - climbs can be taken more comfortably by lowering resistance and effort levels, while maintaining a steady cadence (leg speed) and with enough resistance to ensure controlled pedalling. HR will be approx 10% lower but still leaves a feeling of going from the aerobic, 70-75% zone to the slightly uncomfortable but manageable 80-85%. Self-control is sometimes necessary, e.g., when returning from injury, after a long break or if suffering from a hangover (been there, it's not nice!).

Warm up - 4 mins
Seated climb - 5 mins
Flat road - 4 mins
Fast climb - 5 mins
Recovery - 1.5 mins
Steady climb - 6mins
Recovery - 1.5 mins
The big climb - 8 mins
Recovery - 1.5 mins
Fast standing climb - 3 mins
Cool down - 5.5 mins

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