hill reps ?

stronginthesun
stronginthesun Posts: 433
edited March 2009 in Road beginners
anyone do them ?

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  • Doobz
    Doobz Posts: 2,800
    nope - I have North Wales and some pretty epic climbs 30 miles from home so just ride arround them all day :)
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  • stevewj
    stevewj Posts: 227
    started doing 5 x up the steepest hill locally, 0.83 miles long. Start in 53x12 and keep going until cadence drops below 40 then drop a gear at a time to keep cadence around 42 (no lower than 38) usually ending up in 53x17. Takes 3.40 on first one slowing to 3.55 by the last one. Hope it will bring about an improvement in ten and twenty five mile tt times. HR rises to 90% by the top of the climb. Just wish I lived in an area with longer climbs in as ideally I'd like a ten minute effort. In March I also do a 5 x half mile slight incline session increasing gears from 53 x 16, one gear at a time to 53 x 12 all at two mph above ten mile tt pace - a real lung buster - reach threshold before the end of each one and usually am bent over gasping at the end. A GREAT Pete Read session.
  • stronginthesun
    stronginthesun Posts: 433
    stevewj wrote:
    started doing 5 x up the steepest hill locally, 0.83 miles long. Start in 53x12 and keep going until cadence drops below 40 then drop a gear at a time to keep cadence around 42 (no lower than 38) usually ending up in 53x17. Takes 3.40 on first one slowing to 3.55 by the last one. Hope it will bring about an improvement in ten and twenty five mile tt times. HR rises to 90% by the top of the climb. Just wish I lived in an area with longer climbs in as ideally I'd like a ten minute effort. In March I also do a 5 x half mile slight incline session increasing gears from 53 x 16, one gear at a time to 53 x 12 all at two mph above ten mile tt pace - a real lung buster - reach threshold before the end of each one and usually am bent over gasping at the end. A GREAT Pete Read session.
    sounds a bit severe for me ! used them in running in the past and greatly improved race times , will start this week .
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    stevewj wrote:
    started doing 5 x up the steepest hill locally, 0.83 miles long. Start in 53x12 and keep going until cadence drops below 40 then drop a gear at a time to keep cadence around 42 (no lower than 38) usually ending up in 53x17. Takes 3.40 on first one slowing to 3.55 by the last one. Hope it will bring about an improvement in ten and twenty five mile tt times. HR rises to 90% by the top of the climb. Just wish I lived in an area with longer climbs in as ideally I'd like a ten minute effort. In March I also do a 5 x half mile slight incline session increasing gears from 53 x 16, one gear at a time to 53 x 12 all at two mph above ten mile tt pace - a real lung buster - reach threshold before the end of each one and usually am bent over gasping at the end. A GREAT Pete Read session.

    What do you gain from riding with such a low cadence? Surely you don't ever ride like that in an event?
  • stevewj
    stevewj Posts: 227
    The low cadence with big resistance is used is to develop power when pedalling in circles. Its a standard session for turbo trainers but I can't motivate myself to do anything but steady rides watching tele on the turbo.
    Incidentally, the original says 38 with a bracket after it not 3 8) - presumably 8 and a bracket is the symbol for a face in sunglasses - these computers are too clever for their own good.
  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,953
    Interesting. I would imagine going at such a low cadence would cause speed to drop dramatically. I always figured hills to be more of a cardio workout than a power one so if that assumption is correct wouldn't a higher cadence be better? Power to weight ratio and all that.
  • daintonj
    daintonj Posts: 18
    Some heavier riders find it easy to power up a hill than spin up them like lighter riders can. For a short hill I'd rather have my cadence drop slightly and have me stand than change down dramatically, for longer hills I'll sit and spin (as much as I can) but I'm convinced the extra power training from not spinning does make a difference. Not that I don't get dropped at every large hill once I'm in a fast pace line, but I do descend like a rock.
    Genesis Vapour w/mudguards - FCN 6
  • stevewj
    stevewj Posts: 227
    phreak wrote:
    Interesting. I would imagine going at such a low cadence would cause speed to drop dramatically. I always figured hills to be more of a cardio workout than a power one so if that assumption is correct wouldn't a higher cadence be better? Power to weight ratio and all that.
    Ordinarily on a ride I would drop the gearing and pedal a fast cadence. On this session my speed drops substantially, as you can imagine, grinding up at a cadence of 40 means you can just about keep pedalling in circles without falling off. This is what produces the power. I would never do this on a normal ride, I would prob go up it with a cadence of 80 - 90 and fly up it by comparison. With regard to weight, I am a bit under ten stone. Anyway, first tt of the year in two weeks so will know more then about if it has made a difference.
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    Yes, sort of - but only using a 0.4/0.5 km road at 4-6% - and that's only done 4 or 5 times during one of my short loops. I do it in an easy gear.

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