I coach an athlete who lives in Indiana. His favorite events are mountainous centuries and fondo rides like Six Gap Century, Cheaha Challenge, Haute Route, and the Hincapie Gran Fondo. It's a challenge to have him ready for the mountains at these events because Indiana is pan flat. I do have him perform work at low cadences, ride in the drops to engage his muscles used for climbing, and prop up his front wheel. All of these things help some but do not mimic the constant changes in grade and resistance like on a real mountain. About a month ago I received this text message that changed the way we have him execute workouts:
The Kickr Climb is a device that is used in conjunction with the Wahoo Kickr. The Climb attaches to the fork and changes the height of the front of a bike to simulate grade changes. These grade changes help the athlete engage different muscles just like if they are doing an actual hill or mountain outside.
This is my athlete's setup
In order to make this setup work I sent this particular athlete many GPX files for different climbs I have done. He was targeting the Hincapie Gran Fondo, so I sent him the infamous Skyuka Mountain of course. The athlete takes the GPX files and loads them onto his Garmin 1030. The 1030 sends the course to the smart trainer controlling grade with the Climb and resistance with the Kickr smart trainer. He is also able to slice and dice the GPX file, so he can perform his intervals on the climbs and perform his rest periods on flats at very low watts. For endurance rides I even sent this athlete GPX files with rolling terrain like out at the Donaldson Center Tuesday Night Worlds and other rolling rides I have done.
The Kickr used in conjunction with the Kickr Climb really changes the smart trainer game, especially for people who live in flat areas. It makes the smart trainer more realistic and fun. I am really happy I received that initial text from this athlete about the Kickr Climb because it really took training indoors to another level.
