Leeds hills - Otley area, am I a wuss?

Leedsblue

Tried Black Hill (Pool - Arthington) recently and wimped out less than half way up. 42*21 gear.

Changed my chainset and tried the Chevin tonight (Gay Lane, Otley). Gave up about a third of the way up. 34*21. Not physically beat, more mentally.

Are these tough climnbs or am I just useless.

I have managed them all before but I was 20 years younger and about a stone lighter as well as being significantly fitter.

Any recommendations for good training climbs in that area appreciated

redddraggon

42*21 is pretty hardcore - Something that I'd have fitted for flattish TTs.

34*21 is still pretty steep - I generally use a 11-25 cassette with my compact - and I still find my way onto the 25t sprocket sometimes.

micken

"Any recommendations for good training climbs in that area appreciated"

Try Creskeld Lane in any gear you choose and then work up from there.

Short, steep and nice.

I'm 50+ years old. My wife took me up this 2 months ago when I got back on a bike after too many years away.

It's part of our training route and I've never needed to stop on it.

Patrick1.0

leedsblue, don't be so hard on yourself, seriously, run a triple if that's what it takes for you to be able to maintain a reasonable cadence up those climbs.

I seem to manage a 39 ring on anything, 20% and higher, I don't know about everybody else but I don't need to use the smallest gear on my back sprocket very often. It is about the training though. In just a few weeks of riding up those hills, you'll just use bigger and bigger gears for the same effort if you apply yourself to it.

Don't you just love headwinds on a long, steep climb? The higher you go, the harder it gets and the smaller your gear gets .

Leedsblue

Thanks for the comment.

My sprockets are 13-23 but I don't like going to the 23 because I like to have something in reserve, even if I wimp out before getting the chance of using it

Creskeld Lane it is. Used to run up that regularly (and still do ) and it is certainly easier than Black Hill which is more or less parallel to it.

Any idea of the relative gradients of the various hills mentioned or how would I find out?

celbianchi

We're racing on East Chevin tomorrow in the Otley 2 stage hill climb. Stage 2 is on theB6451 (Farnley Lane).
I'll be using a 53/39 up front and a 23/11 on the back.
It's going to be fun.

I think East Chevin averages about 12% all the way up.

satan80

out of interest, what sort of speed would riders be going up these climbs when they are racing or competing in competitions?
i'm going up these same roads quite regularly and it would be good to know just how pathetically slow i am.

and what would be a 'reasonable' speed to aim for going up the East Chevin?

BUICK

It's possible to take in a LOT of hills in our area - I 'like' riding to Apperley Bridge then up the hill heading to Rawdon then looping around down Kirkstall road and going the bumpy way up into Bramley - you can then go through Rodley and repeat! It's a 10 mile loop and the Kirkstall stretch gives you a chance to recover.

avoidingmyphd

if you give up before you use it, it's not in reserve. you might as well not have it.

i'm no great climber, but I have to say it's pretty stupid to try cycling up a hill without using your lowest gear and the going on a website to ask for advice.

change gear!

on a more positive note, bikeroutetoaster is great for working out average gradients pretty easily. just make a route that just goes up the stretch of road your interested in, look at the summary page and do height gain / distance.

chriskempton

Leathley Bank's a good one - starts out steady then gets progressively harder as you go, ending up at about 12%. A good climb for pushing yourself a bit further each time, if you're not able to ride the whole thing.

I'd also imagine you'd be better with 11-25.

Leedsblue

Chris, is Leathley Bank the one from the single-track bridge at the bottom that goes up to the right turn to Linley Reservoir and Norwood Edge. I can get up that pretty easily and I also do the climb from Appleby Bridge to Rawdon with about 3 sprockets to spare.

I am not that stupid really avoidingmyphd. I know where I am at and if I realise that dropping to the final cog is not going to help that much then there is no point in going there.

Some good advice there all and I will be checking out bikeroutetoaster as well

John

avoidingmyphd

If I can offer a serious suggestion rather than calling you stupid, I don't think you should be measuring your climbing by reference to how many cogs you have spare at the top. You are already running pretty difficult gearing with a cassette that only goes to 23 . 25 is normal and loads of us have a 27.

Concentrate on getting to the top regardless of how many cogs are left. If you're finding that by the time the big cog becomes an option it's too late, then change gear earlier, when it feels too early to you. Ride the whole hill in an easier gear than you have been thus far. Slower than at present if need be. . You may well find you spin slowly up the hill but past the point where you'd have stopped in the more difficult gear.

Not Another Hill

Iv'e ridden all the climbs out Otley/Ilkley way and for the steepest ones I resort to 34/25. I'm a reasonably quick climber (both short and long climbs) and find that spinning a lower gear makes climbing much easier rather than trying to push a big gear. I would also push a lowish gear early on on a long climb rather than wait until my legs were too knackered to get the benefit of the shift to the lower gears.

micken

I think Creskeld Lane is about 9%, might see you on it some time.

Leedsblue

Thanks all , some good advice there.

Just used mapmyride to calculate some gradients Not sure it is that accurate as on Leeds Road it shows a ascent of 669ft but a descent of 400ft and there is definitely no downhill on it - going to Leeds that is.

Otley - Leeds Rd 1.88 miles 669ft asc 6.7% Otley Gay Lane - East Chevin 1.19miles 525ft 8.3% Creskeld Lane 1.09 miles 315ft 5.4% Black Hill 0.95 miles 417ft 8.3%

micken

Leedsblue, think your right about Creskeld Lane. Just checked on memory map.
Which bit of Otley - Leeds Rd? I'll check that just to make sure we're measuring the same things.

Leedsblue

Leeds Rd from the roundabout at the bottom where the bypass starts to the corner just past the pool bank left turn. That section between the bend and the garage

micken

For that section of Leeds Rd, roundabout to the Old Pool Bank turn off Memory-Map gives 2.82 km and 90m of ascent, about 3.2%.

micken

Did a 1.66km section from the turn off in Otley (just up from Chevin Cycles) up East Chevin Road to where it more or less levels out, that's164m of ascent. Gradient comes out at 9.8%.

Have a play here

http://bikeroutetoaster.com

mididoctors

Leedsblue wrote:

Thanks for the comment.

My sprockets are 13-23 but I don't like going to the 23 because I like to have something in reserve, even if I wimp out before getting the chance of using it

wimp out.. when you can no longer pedal its the time to change down..... 23 is still biggish for most riders of low experience

at a guess you want a sub 40 inch gear in there some how for the steep stuff

satan80

i'll ask again due to the resounding lack of response. 8)

does anyone know what sort of speed riders in hill climb competitions go up these sort of gradients (10-12%)?

i've been hammering these hills recently but have got no frame of reference as to how well i'm doing, apart from my own improvement, but it would be interesting to know what sort of speed is good to aim for

Patrick1.0

14/15 mph for the top places, satan 80. But you have to do a lot of short and sharp stuff on the steep hills for that. Length of the hill used in the race is also another factor. A longer climb with a steeper gradient will obviously require a slightly lower speed.

I should quickly add, that is the average speed you would need for something like the national hill climb championship and those guys can really motor.

satan80

thanks for that mate.

that really is some mental speed up a hill :shock:

i'm waiting for the moment when a rider breezes past me when i'm hammering myself to climb up the Chevin at a mind blowing 8 mph

Patrick1.0

satan80 wrote:

thanks for that mate.

that really is some mental speed up a hill :shock:

i'm waiting for the moment when a rider breezes past me when i'm hammering myself to climb up the Chevin at a mind blowing 8 mph

Got to start somewhere. I am a climber and struggle to get up to those speeds. 12/13 mph is fine for long periods and even for long periods at the end of a 80 - 100 mile ride but 14/15 mph, fresh and fully rested, no, can't do it . I just can't generate the power to go at that speed on a tough gradient yet, let alone sustain it! But the guys who win these hill climbs do. Best thing to do is to forget about average speeds and just give it absolutely everything you've got. They're usually no more than 3 miles, these hill climbs, so you will be running into the red big style for the last few hundred metres.

celbianchi

satan80 wrote:

i'll ask again due to the resounding lack of response. 8)

does anyone know what sort of speed riders in hill climb competitions go up these sort of gradients (10-12%)?

i've been hammering these hills recently but have got no frame of reference as to how well i'm doing, apart from my own improvement, but it would be interesting to know what sort of speed is good to aim for

On the East Chevin climb on saturday Matt clinton won the stage in 3'51. The course record is 3'24 held by Jeff Wright.
As a frame of reference I finished in the middle of the field, as a 3rd cat roadie with 4'53.
There was a hard headwind up the Chevin.

satan80

thanks for the info, wish i had come down and watched that now!

were you racing from Gay Lane to Bramhope Old Lane? which is a about a mile isn't it?

your time looks pretty good to me mate! you'd smoke my boots no doubt

celbianchi

The first stage started adjacent to birdcage walk and finished at the first car park on the left hand side. I reckon it is officially about 1500 yards, but at 11% average, it feels like 3 times that distance.

Stage Two was on Norwood Edge, from the bridge at the reservoir to the road paralell to the TV mast turn off, bit longer and took me 6'16.

Matt did stage 2 in 4'58.
Matt is a top rider though, much better than me and a possible podium finisher in the Nationals in 3 weeks. In fact he could be the winner in my opinion.

Hill climb racing is good fun at the end of the road season.

You should get along to watch / ride. The event I did on sunday was up Carlton bank in cleveland and is evil. Good crowd on the walled section near the finish which adds to the occasion.

Tootler

Where can I find a list of all the hill climbing events in the Yorkshire area? - my interest is purely as a spectator.
I stumbled across one near Holmfirth whilst out on a ride last year - it's mental how fast they go up the really steep stuff.

celbianchi

Tootler wrote:

Where can I find a list of all the hill climbing events in the Yorkshire area? - my interest is purely as a spectator.
I stumbled across one near Holmfirth whilst out on a ride last year - it's mental how fast they go up the really steep stuff.

Look on the Rttc website, events, and select region. All those with HC as distance are hill climbs. They will have the course listed as a code e.g. V9915 for holme valley. This is a legacy of the old coding when racing on the road was illegal and the secret codes for the courses holds to this day.

http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/eve ... District=V

Leedsblue

Where do you find out the course details, i.e where is V9917

celbianchi

Leedsblue wrote:

Where do you find out the course details, i.e where is V9917

that's the problem with timetrialling. HC's come under the control of the RTTC and insist on maintaining these obscure codes.

When you enter you get a start sheet which details the course start and end point.

for a sport like ours, where you want the competitive scene to be welcoming to newbies it is madness.

Oh, and for TT's and HC's you also need to buy the RTTC handbook which gives you the organisers address etc for entering. You'd think that they are happy with HC fields of generally around 30 riders.

Road Racing is much easier to enter.