Climbing difficulties
So I have been cycling for about a year now. I started off very weak and out of shape. I am a bit improved but continue to struggle on climbs. In real life I beat my friends ( who are not serious about cycling) on climbs but any sustained climb and I just break early. I moved to boston and admittedly haven't been able to test myself on any climbs here over the past 5 months during which I have had significant improvement on the trainer.
On Zwift, my FTP has increased gradually to 203 W. I weight between 160-165 pounds with significant variation. 6 Feet tall.
I have had to switch to group C because Zwift Power will not let me race in Group D anymore. I can keep up on the flat but always get dropped on the first climb. I tried to dig into the data a little more and noticed a few patterns:
- My power average during a climb is the same as during the flats which was surprising for me. I am totally drained at the end for some reason and feel as thought I exerted myself more. If I keep hanging on to the back of the group I tend to drop off in the subsequent decent and I noticed my power drops significantly after the climb ( maybe mental, maybe Im just exhausted).
- My cadence surprisingly goes up not down. My average cadence on a recent rid was 87 RPM leading up to a climb but got up to 97 during the climb. I definitely did not feel that way during the ride and I know for a fact I don't ride that way in real life when measured with a cadence meter. The cadence on zwift is being measured by my Saris cyclops trainer which in the past was accurate.
Any tips on how to fix this? Should I be pushing through to my limit during those climbs? If so how do you not get dropped right after? Should I be shifting up to higher gears/ dropping cadence to see if that helps keep power up? I want to stick to group C if I can because I can tell I will improve but it sucks to always just finish on flats at the back or finish half the race/ group ride if there's a climb. The moment you are dropped, its hopeless