Climbing long gradual hills.........over long distances

Louis84

What do you think is the best technique for climbing loooong gradual hills when you are cycling long distances (other than walk, I'm onto you lot). Is it to sit down and keep a steady pace going or....... is it to stand up, lean forwards over the front wheel and pedals in small bursts


I've bee trying to work out which is best whilst trying to include these factors.......A) I want to get up the hill as fast as possible I need to conserve energy for the rest of my journey as there are a few other hills very similar

stumpyjon

For me it's definitely sit and spin, most efficient in the long run. My major problem is boredom, I just lose the will to go on before my legs give way. I try and avoid looking at the horizon and concentrate on something 10 yards away, once I get there I pick something else to stare at and so on. On road I often use the drain covers.

MountainMonster

I've found that sitting and keeping a steady pace is the best way to go about this.

I climb for about 10km of riding every ride I go on, and for me the only way to ride up the hill without knackering myself out completey, or risking back end sliding loose is to sit on the saddle and keep a steady cadence with pedaling.

A tip I highly recommend is to not set the gear in the lowest possible, and pedal too fast. Rather, pop the gear up to 2 or 3 from the minimum you feel comfortable with, and pedal a bit slower and steadily. This helps to avoid your legs getting tired from simply just the cadence, and also helps to build muscle a bit better so your next ride is a bit strong.

Hope this helps!

jairaj

yup agree with the others sit down and spin away. Try not to spin too fast else you'll burn up quickly. Also find it easier to keep traction at the rear sitting down, but that probably just means I need to work on my technique more.

If it a particularly long fire road climb the occasional quick stand up and sprint can help relive your muscles as you use slightly different muscles standing up

ride_whenever

the most efficient way is to wheelie up them.

Prevents boredom and the uphill gradient makes finding the balance point and maintaining it without having to change gear much easier.

AndrewBF

If I can sit down then I have to be able to pedal at a cadence of 80 rpm and change gears to maintain that.

If this gets too low (especially below 70) then it is time to stand up. I do my stand up cadence at 40rpm - changing gears to maintain that. If it gets too easy then time to sit down again and be steady at 80.

Oh, and psychologically think that there are no such things as hills, just level roads and paths with more resistance than others.

njee20

I do my stand up cadence at 40rpm

I don't think I can turn the pedals that slowly!

Definitely sit and spin, not at 120rpm, you'll just send your HR sky high and end up knackered, aim for a similar or slightly slower cadence than you would adopt on the flat, 80-90 is sensible.

AndrewBF

njee20 wrote:

I do my stand up cadence at 40rpm

I don't think I can turn the pedals that slowly!

You need to upgrade to ProperHills(tm) then to start pedaling that slowly

Anonymous

AndrewBF wrote:

njee20 wrote:

I do my stand up cadence at 40rpm

I don't think I can turn the pedals that slowly!

You need to upgrade to ProperHills(tm) then to start pedaling that slowly

^^I concurr.

NigelSWales

i'm going to try this 60RPM method.. normally anything over 50metres and i'm off and walking .. although im fairly unfit, and only recently quit smoking so i'm hoping i'll start to improve over the coming weeks, but i;d agree that psychology must play a part to, i see a hill and think oh no i'll never make it without getting off, need to change my mindset i think.

MountainMonster

NigelSWales wrote:

i'm going to try this 60RPM method.. normally anything over 50metres and i'm off and walking .. although im fairly unfit, and only recently quit smoking so i'm hoping i'll start to improve over the coming weeks, but i;d agree that psychology must play a part to, i see a hill and think oh no i'll never make it without getting off, need to change my mindset i think.

if it's any condolence I can tough out some very serious hills. I live in Austria, and there are some very serious mountains round the area I live in. I still smoke 20 a day.

Stuntman

Standing up burns more calories and definitely loses traction. Stay seated on long hills, 80rpm works fine.

Short sharp inclines in a long incline might require you to stand and deliver a short sharp load of power to get you over them a bit faster. and then get back in the saddle and get back in to your rhythm.

Wheelying up them is much more fun though... and for a challenge try no-hander wheelies!

warrerj

AS ABOVE ...

Sit down keep a good cadence and visualise the sweet single track decent ;-)

If you push to hard a gear you'll be using the fast twich fibers in your leg that will burn out way to fast. Keep the gear low and leg spinning.

Splottboy

Sit, spin steadily, look ahead, sing a little "ditty" in your head to numb the pain/boredom.

Try the X Factor version of "Mercy" by that crazy-dancing-singing-nutter-lady...

Chronicbint

How do you measure cadence? Do you really need to know your cadence?

The Northern Monkey

I find it a whole lot easier when riding with someone else... a long boring climb is a good opportunity to chat about random bikes related stuff.

On your own its a right slog... I usually start singing songs in my head

Anonymous

singing songs in your head?
Lightweight. REAL crazy people sing made up songs out loud.

Stuntman

You don't need to know your cadence but at the right cadence your hear rate will settle in a lot faster and you'll use less energy. It's a lot of trial and error as to what speed works best for you.

Singing is the best way to pass time on a climb, or whistling the Italian Job theme.

scrawsh

Nine of us aged between 14 and 60 did Dalby red route a few weeks ago and on long uphills I sang my version of any Elvis song I could think of (not very well), nearly got pushed off a few times tho'.

Another favourite is DReams 'Things Can Only Get Better' - this works when giving a helping back push to anyone struggling.

Wheelying uphill !!

Cheers

stevesavage71

i spin seated to save energy, but on long climbs I get out of the saddle every few minutes for about 30 secs just to rest the big muscles and use others. This also prevents me getting numb nuts (if you know what i mean)

Tommy Gun

Stay seated if its only a medium hill, riding out the saddle burns more glycogen (considerably more)- especially if you lose traction when your weight moves forward


Otherwise start at the top of the hill

Tommy Gun

Stay seated if its only a medium hill, riding out the saddle burns more glycogen (considerably more)- especially if you lose traction when your weight moves forward


Otherwise start at the top of the hill

evo3ben

I would say my fitness levels are about average getting out on my bike 3 times a week plus some upper body work. I also smoke about 15 a day :oops: I dont really get out of breath on hills but my main bother is my legs. They seem to start hurting very quickly :? I sit in on my seat all the way but end up dropping to the granny and spinning away till my legs can do no more. Maybe i should try some new methods?

njee20

Climb more hills!

Stuntman

Sorry but yep, more hills, more riding and less smoking. Don't go too hard at the beginning of the hill either

Your fitness won't be around average if you're smoking 15 a day will it?

njee20

And upper body work will make climbing tougher, just carrying dead weight.

Barteos

There's not much difference between riding on the flat and climbing not-so-technical hills and it's is all about generating SUSTAINABLE amount of power at the most efficient cadence (90-100rpm for most, if possible) while being seated.
The problem with climbing is mainly psychological as most of people don't like going slowly and simply push themselves TOO HARD. Those who suffer most are the heavier riders with poor power/weight ratio.

Pacing and patience is the key

ADDED: As for training, I'd say that you may consider spending less time climbing and more time riding longer distances +2.30h at the CONSTANT (doesn't mean slow) effort, in order to improve your aerobic base = endurance. Winter is a great time for that.
After all XC pros spend most of the time on road bikes

SiLanc

You shouldn't need the weight over the front unless the front wheel is popping up on your pedal stroke. I only get out of the saddle on climbs if I can sprint up it inless than 30 seconds, anything longer is only going to hurt more and waste energy.

njee20

If you're finding the front lifting you're better to shuffle forward on the saddle and bend your elbows than stand up anyway.

SiLanc

Njee20 is correct. You'll know when you're in the right position as the front of the saddle will be where the sun don't shine and your elbows will be pointing towards the floor.

Uchiga

Differant riders have differant comofortable methods. Look at all the XC riders. Some will stand up, up a hill where as others will sit down all the way. Florian Vogel had a stonking race and he sat down up the hills and was pulling away from people who were standing up. I do believe he gave a standing Absalon the slip as well through sheer sitting down power. It was noticeable how much more traction he was getting through the rear wheel as he was sitting down as well. Guys on full sus bikes had distinct bobbing as they went up the hills standing up and even when they sat down there was a bob but definatly not as bad. Spinning and keeping the same cadence everywhere is the most effiecent way round any trail or in any endurance race. It isn't however the fastest way to get around places if your aiming for a fast time on just a single lap. Standing up and sitting down changes your body position and uses differant muscles, relaxing tohers and allowing for a brief recovery time.

I personally sit down on as many hills as possible and do so whilst trainning on a singlespeed bike. Of course practising the stand up is also good trainning. Sometimes i stand up, up hills over long distances just to train my pedalling technique etc. Keep the cadence the same and because of the rhythm you have built up over your ride you should be fine.