2 bits of advice re: hills pleeeease

Harry B

Firstly does anyone have a decent programme for gym work that would aid by getting up the lumpy bits? I've tried the gym staff but they're useless

Secondly I've read that one of the biggest parts of good hill climbers is mental strength. I seem to start the climb of every hill I come to with thoughts like "oh god not another bloody hill, perhaps I could find another route" or "sod this for a laugh, I'll get off and walk in a minute". Any ideas of how to improve mental strenght/ It's not a problem in other parts of my life, I seem to thrive on pressure :?

Any advice would be gratefully recieved

claash

Have you tried a spinning class at the gym to start to build the "desire" to climb hills?
I found that after doing some spinning I could really have a go at tackling hills!!

Also I used to dread all hills but now I set myself goals: mentally mark a spot that I have to get to, then once I have reached that decide do I want to carry on furhter up the hill or get off and walk the next bit...... By doing it that way I have acheived a goal and not given up!
And 9 times out of 10 I carry on because I can and reaching the goal has given me the additional will to carry on!!

heavymental

Go out and ride hills!
Look at the road a couple of metres infront rather than at the top
Go at a pace you can maintain
Go at a cadence you are comfortable with
Stay relaxed in your upper body
Get out of the saddle when you feel the need
Unless you're living somewhere very hilly, you'll be at the top within a few minutes so don't avoid them. Just get used to recognising you have to go up them and do it. After a while you'll be a grimpeur.
Don't be intimidated. It won't kill you and you probably have the gears to get up most slopes eventually....if you don't...go get a new cassette, compact or triple.

ride_whenever

With regards to your mental attitude, I think you need to man up a bit. If you've got a computer track your speed up the hill,and keep trying to beat your PB up it.

jswba

"oh god not another bloody hill, perhaps I could find another route" or "sod this for a laugh, I'll get off and walk in a minute"

Replace this with Claash and Heavymental's suggestions! Then you get 'oh, that bit is quite short' and 'oh, I've done it already, not far to go to the top.'

I had this block for a while and focusing only on the five metres in front of me was a big help. There used to be a 'killer climb' near to my house; it's now a little bump.

heavymental

Oh...and go to the Alps. Once you've spend an hour and a half toiling up some monsterous mountain, most hills in Britain seems like a walk in the park. Even if its steep, at least it isn't 25k long. 10 minutes climbing becomes very minor.

heavymental

Oh, and never get off and walk. Unless its actually impossible to ride, stick it in your tiniest gear and plod on even if you're going so slow that your computer is starting to wonder if the magnet has fallen off the spokes. Setting yourself the target of not getting off the bike is a good start.

Oh, and watch a few youtube vids of great climbs. Armstrong on Alpe du Huez ia a good start for some mental images to have in your head.

unclemalc

[quote="jswba
There used to be a 'killer climb' near to my house; it's now a little bump.[/quote]

Before the spring I did this regular ride which stopped before a 'steep' slope, which I wouldn't go past because I knew what coming back up would be like on the return trip. I had only done it previously under duress. At the far end of that section was another 'hill', which always did me in.
Then, after a biggish ride with friends for charity, during which I was confronted with 'real' hills, over long distances I realised I had just been p*****g about and now those 'hard' bits are what I do every ride, with ease....
Just get over your bogey bits every time you ride and after a short period (unless you knacker something) you'll look back and wonder what all the fuss was about...

homercles

Heavymental wrote:

Oh...and go to the Alps. Once you've spend an hour and a half toiling up some monsterous mountain, most hills in Britain seems like a walk in the park. Even if its steep, at least it isn't 25k long. 10 minutes climbing becomes very minor.

Seconded - hills that would usually sap my will to live have been a bit of a giggle since I came back from doing Tourmalet, Ventoux and Alpe d'Huez this summer. Have also noticed that they seem to crush my mates still - it's all in the mind, I tell them, as I whizz up carefree!

Harry B

homercles wrote:

Heavymental wrote:

Oh...and go to the Alps. Once you've spend an hour and a half toiling up some monsterous mountain, most hills in Britain seems like a walk in the park. Even if its steep, at least it isn't 25k long. 10 minutes climbing becomes very minor.

Seconded - hills that would usually sap my will to live have been a bit of a giggle since I came back from doing Tourmalet, Ventoux and Alpe d'Huez this summer. Have also noticed that they seem to crush my mates still - it's all in the mind, I tell them, as I whizz up carefree!

I'd love to go to the Alps but I'm worried it would become a "walking" holiday :oops:

boybiker

It is 90% mental attitude and trying not to think about it too much.
I found myself on top of a hill which usually gives me grief the other day just because I was distracted and wasn't thinking about it.
I was going to try convincing myself that hills don't really exist and see if that helps

Harry B

I could just move to East Anglia but that might be running away from the problem :roll:

heavymental

Where do you live Harry?

Think the advice above should be enough to get you up most things. Just do it.

Ambermile

Harry B wrote:

I could just move to East Anglia but that might be running away from the problem :roll:

I may "appear" flat, but believe me, there are some fierce little buggers around here... there's still one that scares me but I'll have it!

Arthur

Nuggs

The sheer humiliation I would feel if forced to get off and walk is enough to keep me going. Even when going so slowly that I'm struggling to keep my balance, getting off is simply not an option. Ever.

knight2k

My rule for climbing hills is that if you have to get off and walk then it's back to the bottom and start again.

You'll never walk again.

Steve I

Go mountain biking in a hilly area and tackle some crazily steep slopes. If you don't get your weight distribution right either the front wheel will come up, or the back will spin. You'll be sat on the nose of the saddle trying to apply power from a half seated, half standing position while trying to steer a smooth line avoiding obstacles. Effort will be near or at maximum heart rate. After that, climbing on tarmac will seem quite straightforward.

markos1963

Harry B wrote:

I could just move to East Anglia but that might be running away from the problem :roll:

I know my tag suggests a lack of incline in the area but I jest,we might not have any long climbs around here but there are a few stiff challenges(Gas Hill in Norwich)

Avoid at all costs walking, if you can't make it turn around and go a different way if you have to. Keep setting goals for each climb, the next lamp post, junction, squashed rabbit etc. Don't worry about speed, keep a good rythym either sitting or standing and aim to ride to a point past the summit. Change up a couple of gears when out of the saddle and drop back a couple when sitting and you should be fine.
My 11yo son, who's a strapping lad gets up a local 1 in 10 on his steel framed MTB with knobblies just by using these methods so I think you should be able to ok. Good luck, practice makes perfect.

mikedobson

Agree with all of these posts. plus my own two pennies' worth: don't fight them. I used to look on them as adversaries and enemies, something malignant to spoil my ride. I went through all the same thoughts you express and more besides and then I realised that a) actually I couldn't avoid them, b) they were never as bad as I feared, c) accepting them and just plodding through them was actually mildly pleasurable. Now, in all honesty, I quite enjoy the challenge. I like the tightness in my legs as the gradient increases, I like waiting until the last possible moment to change down a gear, I like the easing off as the summit approaches and the promise of the view and descent.

Treat them with respect and accept that it's just a bit hard and you'll be fine.

John Stevenson

The trick with hills, if you're not yet hill-fit, is not to attack them.

Stick the bike in your lowest gear, get into a rhythm and flow up.

If you get halfway and find yourself with spare energy, you can always change up a gear, but if you go like a loony from the start and burn out you can't recover.

The good thing about hills is that if you ride lots of them, you get fit damn quickly!

cchapman

I'd agree with all the previous respondants that it's primarily mental attitude, and that 'the next lamp-post', counting to 100 or in extremis 10 is the key, but I would l feel there is nothing wrong with walking - the thing is to keep moving, stopping for a rest achieves nothing. And as for gears, throw them away, as everybody knows, uphill they only make you go slower. And if you're young - don't talk about pain, you don't know what it is yet.