Elevation profile for the Ironman Mont Tremblant bike course.

I opened my Training Peaks schedule on Christmas Eve to find a 3-hour hilly ride that my coach, Vince Matteo, had scheduled. This would be my first 3-hour ride since September. For me, the three-hour ride is a sure sign of beginning base training for an Ironman. With Ironman Mont Tremblant 7 months away that’s exactly right where I need to be.

Usually, I would opt to do my long ride outdoors. But, a few factors drove me to the CompuTrainer for this ride.

Most importantly, it was only 35-degrees. The hardy among you may scoff and say this is a balmy temp. But thanks to Raynauds, my extremities will freeze to extreme numbness if I ride for any prolonged period in sub-45 degree temps.

Second, “hilly” does not naturally occur within an hour-plus driving radius of my house, which is squarely located in the flattest county in all of New Jersey.

Third, I was lucky enough to get a CompuTrainer file of the Mont Tremblant course, thanks to my Twitter friend Ryan. I’d had the file for a few weeks, and in that time, I had only had the opportunity to try out the first 18 miles or so. I really wanted to give the course an extended whirl.

Somewhere I had read that one 56-mile loop of the two-loop course was 1900 feet of climbing, and 3800 overall. Big deal, I thought at the time. Lake Placid is 2600 for one loop, and 5200 overall.



I walked to the pain cave with a little swagger in my step. I pumped myself up for the ride: I’m going to crush this course!



And then I started riding.

The first thing you might have noticed in the elevation profile is that there are no flats of any substantial length. The course goes up and then down, and then up and then down, and then…you see the picture. The elevation profile reminds me a lot of Rev3’s Quassy Half Iron, which is constantly undulating like this.

I cranked away on some of the steepest of these hills (up to a 15% grade–the highest the CT goes) in my easiest gear, and with an

RPM of 55. I could have pushed harder, but my coach’s instructions were to keep my effort (HR and watts) steady–and not to exceed a moderate-hard effort under any circumstances.

On it went for 3 hours: Mash, mash, mash all the way up. Whoosssshhhh all the way down.

Oh my – a loop is only 1900 feet of climbing? I thought to myself somewhere around mile 30 or so. I was starting to doubt my information.

There doesn’t appear to be any single climbs of any substantial length, like some the climbs on the IMLP course, which seem to go on for-ev-er.

But, the climbs (and descents) on IMMT definitely feel steeper than any at IMLP. Similar to the undulating nature of the course, the level of steepness reminded me of Quassy. Good thing we are sign up to do Quassy in June!

I realize the CompuTrainer file may not be a perfect representation of the real course. However, I know the CT version of the IMLP course is pretty darn close to the real thing. I have no reason to think differently about the IMMT course. So, I feel certain that this ride gives me a realistic idea of what I’m up against.

And, boy, am I against a lot of up.

When I finished my ride, I checked the CT report for the course information. Across the 112 miles, the course climbs over 8500 feet. Uh, yeah, that’s a far cry from 3800 feet.

Upon completing my 3-hour tour in the pain cave, I realized that I would have to improve in a few areas: maximize momentum from the downhill into the climb; cornering (I could tell there were twists and turns from the 3D screen); and build strength for these monster 10+% grades.

I feel confident about my climbing ability, as I felt plenty strong at Placid in the final miles of the course. So I will simply–yet likely painfully–build on this existing strength to avoid mashing by the top of these steeper climbs.

Vince and I have also discussed a more climbing-friendly cassette in order to claim my “queen of the mountains” title. No, there won’t be any fancy jersey – but I will proudly have the title in my mind.

Seven months to go. It’s back to the pain cave, friends.

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