Hill climb race prep

term1te

My local club has its annual hill climb TT this weekend. 308 m climb over 5.3 km, fairly consistent gradient with 8 hairpin bends. Apart from making the bike as light as possible, does any one have any tips for an event like this? The start and finish are painted on the road, so I've had a few trial runs over the years, my pb is 17.48. Clearly too late for any training, but all advice gratefully received.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dornach-Gempen-hill-climb

Jeff Jones

Don't start too hard

jibberjim

It's not that steep, so don't over obsess on weight, start working on aerodynamics.

nolf

Keep spinning.

What I mean by that is that if you are big gear crunching and lose momentum (power cuts out, too tired etc) that can destroy your time. If you focus on keeping the legs turning over that can help.

chris281192

stay seated, get out the saddle to kick on the steeper bits

chriskempton

Have a light meal 3 hours before your start time, sip energy drink through your warm up (20-30 mins on the flat if possible, start easy then throw in a few 1 minute efforts, finish it 3 mins before your start) and neck a caffeinated energy gel 10 mins before start time.

Hold back on the early part of the hill - you want to produce a steady effort, and that will feel gradually harder and harder as you go on. If you feel like you're trying hard in the first third, chances are you've gone out too fast.

term1te

Thanks for the comments guys!

Thick Tester

Liquid diet for 3 days prior and press on the pedals.