Beaten by a hill - bah!
Comments
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Well no-one saw me, so I don't think anyone knows ... apart from the few hundred people who have viewed this thread.Mr Dog wrote:.... hope you faked injury or mechanical failure.
I'm just waiting for someone to have a go at the same hill and tell me that they went up it at 20mph. Go on, you know you want to.0 -
Hello all, I'm fairly new to road cycling and new to this forum. I was on another site, but its not very active compared to this one.
Anyway, this thread has scared me a bit. I'm cycling from Exmouth to Poole in September as a kick off to my brother in law's massive 800 mile ride to Geneva for charity. We'll be passing through the Sidmouth area on the way and its a hilly old route.
I'm going to have to get some serious hill training in before then. :roll:0 -
I remember reading something along the lines of:
"If you get off and push today, you will get off and push tomorrow. If you make it to the top today, you will make it tomorrow."
I'm not trying to sound harsh or belittle anyone (after all the Iron Mountain in Brecon has had me off and walking two years running :evil: ), but I always remember this when struggling on a climb. It gives me the motivation to battle through those tough sections, knowing that the sense of achievement will be worth trying to hang on for that last push to the top.
Since using this, I have not been beaten by a hill. Its worked on the short steep climbs like Constitution Hill, Swansea and numerous times on the long draggy climbs like Black Mountain.
Anyway, off to Maerdy, Bwlch and Rhigos this PM, think im goona be using this mantra quite a bit 0 -
Mark Bom wrote:Hello all, I'm fairly new to road cycling and new to this forum. I was on another site, but its not very active compared to this one.
Anyway, this thread has scared me a bit. I'm cycling from Exmouth to Poole in September as a kick off to my brother in law's massive 800 mile ride to Geneva for charity. We'll be passing through the Sidmouth area on the way and its a hilly old route.
I'm going to have to get some serious hill training in before then. :roll:
Ah you'll be fine. Stick in a nice low gear and just tap away.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Mark Bom wrote:Hello all, I'm fairly new to road cycling and new to this forum. I was on another site, but its not very active compared to this one.
Anyway, this thread has scared me a bit. I'm cycling from Exmouth to Poole in September as a kick off to my brother in law's massive 800 mile ride to Geneva for charity. We'll be passing through the Sidmouth area on the way and its a hilly old route.
I'm going to have to get some serious hill training in before then. :roll:
Ah you'll be fine. Stick in a nice low gear and just tap away.
I'm sure you're right, I just need to find a few hills to train on to ease my worries. When I lived in Devon as a young fella I climbed Peak Hill in Sidmouth, but that was a long time ago!0 -
Mark Bom wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Mark Bom wrote:Hello all, I'm fairly new to road cycling and new to this forum. I was on another site, but its not very active compared to this one.
Anyway, this thread has scared me a bit. I'm cycling from Exmouth to Poole in September as a kick off to my brother in law's massive 800 mile ride to Geneva for charity. We'll be passing through the Sidmouth area on the way and its a hilly old route.
I'm going to have to get some serious hill training in before then. :roll:
Ah you'll be fine. Stick in a nice low gear and just tap away.
I'm sure you're right, I just need to find a few hills to train on to ease my worries. When I lived in Devon as a young fella I climbed Peak Hill in Sidmouth, but that was a long time ago!
Yeah. Cycling's just about pain management. Once you understand it's a painful experience, and that going uphill always feels awful and slow, then you'll be able to get up pretty much anything.0 -
It's not too bad if you stick to the main road - yes, it goes up and down quite a lot round Sidmouth, but nothing really long & steep. Just keep spinning - pick as low a gear as you need to and go as slow as you need to, but keep the legs moving.Mark Bom wrote:We'll be passing through the Sidmouth area on the way and its a hilly old route.
If you plan an off-the-beaten-track route though, you'll have to watch out for the sharp climbs - on the whole the main road takes the route of least resistance - though I'd grant that the hill east out of Sidford is a drag. But like all hills, it's lovely once you've reached the top and can coast - especially if you've got a westerly to help you along.0 -
Only hill I've been beaten by is Hard Knott on last years Lakeland Loop. I'm doing it again next month and determined to do it this time, although I'm thinking of a 28 casette to help!0
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Rick Chasey wrote:Mark Bom wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Mark Bom wrote:Hello all, I'm fairly new to road cycling and new to this forum. I was on another site, but its not very active compared to this one.
Anyway, this thread has scared me a bit. I'm cycling from Exmouth to Poole in September as a kick off to my brother in law's massive 800 mile ride to Geneva for charity. We'll be passing through the Sidmouth area on the way and its a hilly old route.
I'm going to have to get some serious hill training in before then. :roll:
Ah you'll be fine. Stick in a nice low gear and just tap away.
I'm sure you're right, I just need to find a few hills to train on to ease my worries. When I lived in Devon as a young fella I climbed Peak Hill in Sidmouth, but that was a long time ago!
"Pain is just weakness leaving the body" or something like that...
Yeah. Cycling's just about pain management. Once you understand it's a painful experience, and that going uphill always feels awful and slow, then you'll be able to get up pretty much anything.0 -
Damn I thought someone was really going to rub it in with:Mark Bom wrote:Hello all, I'm fairly new to road cycling and new to this forum. I was on another site, but its not very active compared to this one.
Anyway, I went up that hill just below 20mph :roll:briantrumpet wrote:I'm just waiting for someone to have a go at the same hill and tell me that they went up it at 20mph. Go on, you know you want to.
:P0 -
Maybe I should organise a Bike Radar Willy-Wavers Hill Climb there - although I am disappointed at the lack of waving so far.Garz wrote:Damn I thought someone was really going to rub it in with:Mark Bom wrote:Hello all, I'm fairly new to road cycling and new to this forum. I was on another site, but its not very active compared to this one.
Anyway, I went up that hill just below 20mph :roll:briantrumpet wrote:I'm just waiting for someone to have a go at the same hill and tell me that they went up it at 20mph. Go on, you know you want to.0 -
briantrumpet wrote:
It's not too bad if you stick to the main road - yes, it goes up and down quite a lot round Sidmouth, but nothing really long & steep. Just keep spinning - pick as low a gear as you need to and go as slow as you need to, but keep the legs moving.Mark Bom wrote:We'll be passing through the Sidmouth area on the way and its a hilly old route.
If you plan an off-the-beaten-track route though, you'll have to watch out for the sharp climbs - on the whole the main road takes the route of least resistance - though I'd grant that the hill east out of Sidford is a drag. But like all hills, it's lovely once you've reached the top and can coast - especially if you've got a westerly to help you along.
Nice one Brian, yeah, we'll be following the main road so hopefully won't be too painful. I'm down visiting next month so I'll probably head out there from Exmouth and have a reccy. I used to cycle there when I was a yoof, so I just need to forget my legs are twenty plus years older now!0 -
I failed on a very similar hill (two separate black chevrons on a long hard pull) yesterday
In front of a bunch of mates, too
Small consolations:
1) 2 of the other 4 folk on the ride have had to walk up that hill at some point in their cycling lives (they're all much more experienced cyclists than me)
2) I was on a 53/39 double, which - as a newbie female cyclist - I find quite tough on steeper hills
3) I am spending this afternoon fitting a compact
4) The alternative to getting off and pushing was falling over sideways
5) I now know for sure that I can unclip and restart on a hill
Still, it's a bit of a downer I'm not sure the compact will really make that much difference - clearly I need to WTFU 0 -
A compact will make a difference. What size rear cassette do you have? An 11-28 would get you up most stuffIf you do what you have always done, you will get what you always got....0
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Thanks JimBob.
11-25 at the back, Tiagra 9sp. I researched switching out e.g. the 14 for a 27 (I think my Tiagra rear derailer could start to get niggy round about 28 ... ?) but it seemed to involve buying an entire new cassette and just pilfering the 27 sprocket. It seemed less wasteful and less faffy to simply switch the chainset for the time being, and go back to 53/39 when/if I toughen up a bit.
I've managed single black chevrons before, using 39:25; but this hill - late on a long ride - was just too much for me :oops:
As soon as I've regained the feeling in my quads I'll go back and try it with the compact!0 -
Well I got up Winnats Pass but it was the hardest thing I have done on a bke. I had to stop halfway up as a flock of sheep laid on the road and caused a traffic jam. Some of the cars couldn't get started again and I struggled to get moving - ended up cycling across the road to get some momentum.
I can't say I enjoyed it but I am pleased ot have proved to myself that I can climb. The worst bit was after I went over the top of the hill I got mega cramp in my left quad and right calf simulatneously - made the last 15 miles very tough work.0 -
Well done ... though a cunning plan to arrange to get the sheep to lie in the road so you could catch your breath. The Awliscombe Hill didn't have that on-demand feature, neither is it wide enough to cycle across or to turn around in for restarting .... hence my having to walk the last part. I'm still bahing about it, though I've had some good rides since to make me feel a bit better about my riding ablility.sparkins1972 wrote:Well I got up Winnats Pass but it was the hardest thing I have done on a bke. I had to stop halfway up as a flock of sheep laid on the road and caused a traffic jam. Some of the cars couldn't get started again and I struggled to get moving - ended up cycling across the road to get some momentum.
I can't say I enjoyed it but I am pleased ot have proved to myself that I can climb. The worst bit was after I went over the top of the hill I got mega cramp in my left quad and right calf simulatneously - made the last 15 miles very tough work.0
