Single Speeding on the Road

Note the Hollywood sign in the background—that’s the view from the closed road in Griffith Park that’s ideal for climbing intervals sans traffic. 1,000 feet of vert, roughly, from base of the park to the top of the mountain, numerous sections of 10-14% gradient, mostly in the 3-7% range, though.

 

This is an old ass road that requires numerous transitions from mellow to steep and back again loaded with switch backs over varying road surfaces ranging from packed dirt to crumbled asphalt to normal paved stuff, always with debris and deadly cracks all over the place.

 

The single speed road bike forces you to combat many of the same stochastic environmental forces you’d encounter on a mountain bike. If you can master staying in your target training zones in these variable conditions, then you’ve got a good start on mastering the concepts of pacing in races and on hard group rides.

 

Both uphill, downhill, and on the flats line selection, carrying momentum, and applying appropriate levels of force at exactly the right moment become critical if you don’t want to end up zig-zagging back and forth while trying to stay on top of a 46-16 (gear on this build) on a 14% grade.