My power meter purchase is going to necessitate new chainrings, so I wanted to assess my gearing and see if I wanted to stick with the compact 50/34 chainrings I have now or go for something a little bigger. Riding in the flatlands as I do, I don't have a lot of opportunity to use the small ring, so it sometimes seems like that gearing is wasted space. I can max out my top end gear, but haven't yet come close to maxing out the low end. So Gatineau Park would let me test both - the climb to Champlain Lookout would let me see if I would actually get all the way up to the biggest cog in my cassette (25t), and I figured on the descent I would be hitting the speeds needed to see if I would spin out in the smallest cog (11t).
So far all the races I've done are pretty flat, but it's possible at some point down the line I try a race in Tremblant or Muskoka, which are pretty hilly courses. Besides assessing my gearing, I also wanted to assess myself. I never train for hills so wanted to see how my legs responded to the climbs.
Lots of people (roadies, mountain bikers, hikers, and drivers) out in the park on this beautiful fall day. Perfect weather and the leaves are just starting to change. It took me about 45 minutes to get up to Champlain lookout from P3. I didn't do a race effort but certainly wasn't doing a Zone 2 ride either.
In terms of gearing, I think my current setup is fine. For some reason I couldn't shift into my biggest cog, so rode the steepest grades at 34/23. I could have used the 25 a few times but don't think I'd need a 28. I got down to 50/11 a couple of times but never got the feeling of spinning out. I could have pushed it harder but descending over 50km/h on a twisty road got a little scary. This is actually where I really noticed my lack of experience with hills. The climb was fine, but I didn't have a lot of confidence going down. I ended up catching a pack of cyclists and stayed off the back of them for the descent, following their lead. I rode all the big descents out of the aero position.
I topped out just under 55km/h, which I've actually done before, but on a much smaller, straighter hill, and primarily under my own power. It's much scarier to coast at that speed than it is to pedal it - I felt less in control. So I don't really know if I'd need a bigger chainring. Based on some calculations I should be able to go over 65 km/h in 50/11 without spinning out (68.3 km/h @ 120rpm). Going to a 52t chainring would get me up over 70 km/h, but I don't know if I'd ever have the opportunity to go that fast (or want to).
In terms of climbing ability, I felt fine. I passed quite a few fit looking roadies and never felt really taxed. Seems like cycle fitness is cycle fitness and I think my tendency to ride at a high cadence and use my gears probably serves me well in hills. So unless I end up doing Muskoka or Tremblant I don't think I need to add hill training to my plan, and even then I don't think I'd need to be heading up to the Gats on a weekly basis.
It was a nice ride though - fun and beautiful. Not sure when I can get there again, but I will be back.
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