(upbeat music)
- Well, when we were invited to Oman to come cycling
and they told us that Jebel Akhdar
would be one of the hardest climbs you'd ever do,
I didn't realise that they were not exaggerating.
- [Chris] Not at all, this is hands down the hardest climb
I've ever done or hope to do.
- What, do you reckon it's even harder than the Passo Giau?
- I don't think you can compare them,
because not only in this steeper, it's also longer.
- Yeah, but we shouldn't complain about the steepness
because it means we get up quicker.
- [Chris] Yeah but we are going slower.
- Well, we're going slower horizontally,
but we're going faster vertically.
I'm mean, basically if it's steeper
it's a more efficient way of climbing.
So you get a higher VAM,
a higher vertical ascent rate in metres per hour.
- Right, so if that's what a VAM is,
how many do you think you could do in one hour?
- I don't know, I've never thought about that really.
That sounds like a really painful challenge.
- [Chris] Hm, kind of like the hour record
on the track but for climbers in a way.
- Yeah, I wonder if that's a thing.
Do you think there's a world record?
- I don't know, you should have a look.
- Might just stop and have a look.
- Well, let's pull over.
- Hang on.
Well actually, it is listed as a world record on
the Guinness site, but no one's got it!
- So if no one's got it, then presumably
anyone could go and get it.
- Yeah.
- You could go and get it.
- Actually, Jebel Akhdar is the perfect climb
because not only is it steep, but it's long
and there aren't actually that many climbs in the world
that are this steep for this long.
- Hmm.
- You know what, I think I'm gonna give it a try.
- Really, but we're, no.
Emma, Emma, come back!
We're over halfway up!
Emma!
She is mad.
- [Emma] Actually, this attempt at a strange kind of record,
was not entirely spontaneous.
Because when we planned our cycling trip to Oman,
and I saw the profile of Jebel Akhdar,
I knew this was something special.
The first ramp of Jebel Akhdar rises
1400 metres over 14 kilometres.
There really aren't many road climbs
that average 10% for that long.
And steep gradient equals better ascent rate.
Now, I mentioned this idea to ROTOR
and after using their equipment for many years racing,
they agreed to support me in this little challenge too.
- The main reason I'm not riding back up the hill is,
the hill, the mountain.
I'm 30 kilos heavier, which you can see
it's taken her a lot longer to get to the bottom.
(claps)
Good job Emma.
So Emma, after that long descent, how are you feeling?
Have you warmed up?
- Warmed up?
Are you crazy?
I said when I'm retired I'm never doing the warm up again.
I hate warm ups.
They're the most stressful thing about racing.
In fact, I've got quite anxious just thinking about warm up.
- How about your pacing strategy?
Have you thought about that?
- Well I've thought about it.
Problem is I don't really know my FTP anymore.
If I ever did.
So I think I'm gonna go for quite a conservative,
I think, 230 watts and kind of reassess every 10 minutes.
And go up or down by five watts.
- Well you've got a whole hour.
You'll probably set an FTP record doing it.
- There's a good way to find out I suppose.
To try to get the maximum amount of vertical gain
in one hour, I made some little alterations
to my Orbea Orca Aero.
To bling it up, if you like.
So, I kitted it out with Zipp 202 tubular lightweight wheels
complete with Continental Pro Limited Edition Tubular Tyres.
For a steep climb, like the first part of Jebel Akhdar,
gear choice is obviously very important.
So I've gone for 34, 50 at the front.
And at the back, I've got an 11, 30 cassette.
Which is actually the largest cassette you can run
with a short cage GeoAce derailleur.
Another feature that I specially requested
for this challenge,
is to use ROTOR
Q Rings. Now after years and years of racing with Q Rings
I am fully adapted to using oval chain rings.
And I find that they help me to smooth out the dead spot
in my pedal stroke.
So I feel I can pedal more powerfully with a higher cadence
and more smoothly with Q Rings.
Also my legs ache less afterwards.
As Chris mentioned pacing is absolutely crucial
for a challenge like this so I'm lucky enough
to be using a ROTOR 2INpower Powermeter.
Which actually measures torque
on both sides of the crank set.
This also allows me to complete
an optimal chain ring position analysis
before the challenge by using
the ROTOR Torque 360 software.
So we went out on a long-ish ride
and used the software to analyse where the dead spots
and the peak spots in my pedal stroke were.
My chain ring setting is number three,
which is kind of average.
- So as Emma is about the start enjoying
this most epic of climbs, we should explain VAM.
Velocita Accensionale Media.
Or, average rate of ascent.
Measured in vertical metres gained.
For context, what is a good VAM?
Well this year, Tibo Pinot took the record
on the famous Monte Zoncolan
at a rate of 1700.
However, this climb doesn't actually last an hour.
It was 40 minutes.
So you would expect a higher VAM.
On the same day, the gruppetto climbed over
14 minutes slower, resulting in a VAM of 1250.
Annemiek van Vleuten recorded
rates of between 1375 and 1480
up La Colombiere
on her way to victory in this year's La Course
by Tour de France.
But there was a descent in the middle of this climb
and the upward effort again didn't quite total an hour.
And what could you or I expect to climb at?
In September, weighing 78 kilos I climbed the Passo Giau
in 55 minutes with a VAM of 970.
I rode to an average power of 290 watts,
which should give you a rough guide.
Right Emma, this is it.
This is the start of what is probably the hardest
60 minutes of your career
and certainly the most important.
How are you feeling?
- Uh, yeah, a bit scared actually.
- Right, well, the blue line or the blue sign rather,
is the start line.
So when you get there, I'm pressing go.
- Running start.
- Good luck, Emma.
- Thanks.
- Enjoy.
- Not sure I'm supposed to enjoy it.
- I'm going to enjoy it.
(upbeat music)
- [Emma] With the first steep ramp towering above me,
my power was well over target.
And, I could feel the burn, but I thought no!
I will push on through.
230 watts was clearly far too conservative.
However, time slows down around threshold.
I call it the Special Theory of Threshold Relativity.
Where 13 minutes feels like 53.
(upbeat music)
- Emma is now 13 minutes into the effort
and as you can see it goes up in ramps.
Good work Emma!
- After my initial enthusiastic start,
the watts that had felt so easy for the first 10 minutes,
now somehow don't.
Working at this rate, my body had heated up
really quite suddenly
and I didn't seem to be moving fast enough
to generate a breeze to evaporate my sweat and cool me down.
It's funny because obviously I'm longing for a flat section
where it's a bit easier,
but also on the flat I can't get a higher VAM.
So I need to look forward to the steep sections.
I was not expecting to get wet on this ride.
(upbeat music)
I'm out of gears,
at an RPM,
of
about
70.
(breathing heavily)
Maybe I should have gone even smaller on the cassette.
Man it's hot.
Forget the wind.
You're riding slowly uphill.
There isn't any breeze from travelling.
So it really gets quite warm.
My sweat is dripping like crazy.
(upbeat music)
- So Emma has absolutely annihilated
the first 5.6 kilometres of the climb.
She's done it in around 21 minutes
and this here is the finish line in the Tour of Oman.
She's done that, pretty much as fast as most of the men did.
But she's gotta go all the way to the top.
She's got another eight kilometres to go.
- [Emma] At present, stage one of the Haute Route Oman
in March 2019 is the only chance for most people
to ride this beautiful beast of a climb.
Because usually you have to get special permission
to ride through the check point at the base.
- Emma is now 34 minutes into the climb
and she is obviously over halfway,
but has shown absolutely no sign of easing up.
There are a few of these little ramps
that ease off a little bit,
which enables her to then hit the next one even harder.
She's looking good.
(upbeat music)
To get to this point, Emma has now ridden 11 kilometres
and climbed over 1100 metres,
and she is currently on 49 minutes
which puts her effort estimate of around 1400 metres
well within reach.
Good work Emma, you're doing a really good job!
- [Emma] Okay, I'm gonna be sick.
I haven't dug this deep for a long time.
The thing about bunch races is that there's usually
someone to chase or someone to drop.
But solo time trial is just your own motivation,
and willingness to suffer.
Facing off in a duel with your own lactate burn.
- So with only five minutes remaining,
Emma is now over 1800 metres,
and doing an amazing job too!
(upbeat music)
Emma now has only 50 seconds remaining of her effort.
And we're gonna have to find a little finish line,
an imaginary finish line that we can
guess to work out where it is.
(upbeat music)
Oh drop it, stop, stop!
- I haven't actually been sick on my bike,
although I feel like it.
That's part of a muddy puddle, I promise.
It's amazing, pacing.
You know how you asked about pacing?
- Yeah.
- Did I pace it, no.
Did I go off at 250?
Mm.
- [Chris] What'd you finish up with?
- An average of 231.
- [Chris] That's what you said you were gonna do.
So it's not far off.
- But I started like this, and finished like that.
- Well, the good news is you've gone so fast,
that even with this little rest,
if you got back on your bike now,
you'd take the KOM all the way to the top.
What'd you reckon?
- And my final ascent in one hour, 1275 metres.
Which seemed disappointing to me,
knowing the VAM I can hold on shorter climbs.
But just like your top speed isn't the distance
you could ride on the track for the hour,
your best ascent rate is not
what you can do in an hour uphill.
Oh man that was rubbish!
I didn't even do 1400 metres.
- That was not rubbish!
It was absolutely brilliant.
But it's also a world record.
- Well, only because no one's done it before.
That doesn't really count.
And I bet someone's gonna message in
that they've done more than that on Strava.
- Well, that throws it out to them, doesn't it?
If you think you can beat Emma's monumental effort,
why not have a go and let us know
how you got on in the comments?
- Yeah, it's great fun, I promise you.
In fact, you can even come and ride this very climb
in the Haute Route Oman next year in March.
- Yeah, well you've had a recce now,
maybe next time you make it all the way to the top.
- Yeah. I hope so.
I feel like I could go faster.
I want to come back and do it again.
- Well, if you thought Emma did a great job today,
why not give her a big thumbs up.
- And click down here if you want
to see our epic ride in Oman.