Unexpected climbs!!

charliew87

Went out yesterday aiming for my first 50 miler, having done 44 last week.

Went out towards Dorking, gave Box Hill a swerve and was planning on doing a fairly flat route, turned left, went to Reigate and ended up at the foot of Reigate Hill!! It's steeper and longer (550ft up at around 8%) than Box Hill and nearly bloody killed me. Had a lay down at the top and limped home, finishing with a 30 miler!!

Will check the route better in advance next time, however, don't suppose there are any pearls of wisdom as to how best to recover from such a climb and how to make it as pain free as possible!?

jibberjim

Get more appropriate gears.

Gizmo_

I hate that... you think you're following a reasonably flat route, skimming along nicely, and then come round a corner and the road goes upwards like a wall... I don't mind hills (I just settle into a gear and eff-and-blind my way to the top) but they ruin your average speed

Bobbinogs

i think the saying goes "hills don't get any easier, you just get faster". So, if you are looking to go up hills better then the best way is to go up them more often. Look at the pros doing TdF climbs, none of them are smiling but they are just going faster than you would. As Jibberjim says, the right gears make a big difference but so does technique...and practice makes more of a difference (as that will help you make the rigth gear selection too).

I have learned the hard way of knowing where my own red line is and ways to deal with it (the redline being the point which you are max suffering and which is unsustainable for any length of time). You cannot push through the redline so you need to know when/how to back off and still maintain momentum. This really applies to hills you cannot climb but the advice still holds for hills you struggle with.

If the hill has some variations then try to use these to your advantage (I stand where I need to, sit where I can or vary to keep fresh and for the hell of it). Same goes for gear changes, if I stand and feel it getting easier, I often go up a gear as that greatly increases speed but equally I am not afraid to drop a gear when sitting to make the cadence feel right and more sustainable. If you are struggling mid-climb then learn how to handle a bike at slow speeds on a steep incline (without weaving all over the place) and use patience as the magic ingredient.

Pick a hill you currently struggle with and do it once a week until you don't struggle with it. Then, do it twice in one session before moving on to the next challenge. BR has a few good articles about technique and there are a few threads on here so have a shufty around. Learn to enjoy the suffering

Gizmo_

Bobbinogs wrote:

Learn to enjoy the suffering

Or move to Holland.

markos1963

The big mistake is trying to avoid them in the first place. Hills are an enevitable part of cycling so the more you do the easier/faster it gets.

You need to think about your fitness if you have to knock 20 miles off your ride just because you had to ride up one hard hill and have a lie down at the top! :shock:

charliew87

markos1963 wrote:

The big mistake is trying to avoid them in the first place. Hills are an enevitable part of cycling so the more you do the easier/faster it gets.

You need to think about your fitness if you have to knock 20 miles off your ride just because you had to ride up one hard hill and have a lie down at the top! :shock:

Agree. Though the issue with it was a) I didn't know it was coming so was hammering it along the flat before, and b) I had no idea when/if it was ever going to end as it was on a constant bend.

Obvers my fitness is a primary issue with this!!

ineedalager

It will come in time try and put a couple of hills in your regular rides the more of them you do the quicker you will get to the top the tough ones never get any easier but the small hills are a piece of cake when you do enough of them.
Have a look at your gears there's a sticky at the top of this section on gears makes good reading. You may need to change the cassette to help you until you get fitter or if your carrying excess body weight that's going to hinder you on the hills.

One of my regular hills is 17% .8 of a mile long and rises 350ft and 4 years ago when I started MTBing I used to have to walk up it. Then after 18 months of walking it and some weight loss I made it half way up and then pressed on and did the all of it. That was on the granny ring in first gear. A year later I could ride on the big ring on the front in 3rd gear on the back.
I now do hill reps on it and ride that hill 5 times in a row get to the top coast down and ride it again 5 times.

I can now big ringing it up there on the road bike by it still doesn't get any easier. Improving climbing is not going to happen over night it takes lots of hills and time to get better at it. Just pat yourself on the back at getting to the top next time it won't kill you quite as much and you'll have a bit of energy left. If I was you that would be my target do the same route again tackle that hill until you beat it and complete the 50 miler aswell.

ddraver

Gizmo_ wrote:

Bobbinogs wrote:

Learn to enjoy the suffering

Or move to Holland.

I thangyow!

cyco2

ineedalager wrote:

It will come in time try and put a couple of hills in your regular rides the more of them you do the quicker you will get to the top the tough ones never get any easier but the small hills are a piece of cake when you do enough of them.
Have a look at your gears there's a sticky at the top of this section on gears makes good reading. You may need to change the cassette to help you until you get fitter or if your carrying excess body weight that's going to hinder you on the hills.

One of my regular hills is 17% .8 of a mile long and rises 350ft and 4 years ago when I started MTBing I used to have to walk up it. Then after 18 months of walking it and some weight loss I made it half way up and then pressed on and did the all of it. That was on the granny ring in first gear. A year later I could ride on the big ring on the front in 3rd gear on the back.
I now do hill reps on it and ride that hill 5 times in a row get to the top coast down and ride it again 5 times.

I can now big ringing it up there on the road bike by it still doesn't get any easier. Improving climbing is not going to happen over night it takes lots of hills and time to get better at it. Just pat yourself on the back at getting to the top next time it won't kill you quite as much and you'll have a bit of energy left. If I was you that would be my target do the same route again tackle that hill until you beat it and complete the 50 miler aswell.

Phew!!! +1

Muffintop

Gizmo_ wrote:

Bobbinogs wrote:

Learn to enjoy the suffering

Or move to Holland.

Point to note if you manage the first one your friends will hate you and stop coming out with you.

I learned this from experience.

Mx
Quite a lonely rider.

random man

Charlie - embrace the hills. Learn to love them and you'll enjoy cycling so much more. Box Hill isn't particularly steep or long so get in a low gear and go up it. It doesn't matter how long it takes, just don't let it beat you.
One of the great things about hills is coming down the other side - you don't get that on the flat.

ineedalager

charliew87 wrote:

markos1963 wrote:

The big mistake is trying to avoid them in the first place. Hills are an enevitable part of cycling so the more you do the easier/faster it gets.

You need to think about your fitness if you have to knock 20 miles off your ride just because you had to ride up one hard hill and have a lie down at the top! :shock:

Agree. Though the issue with it was a) I didn't know it was coming so was hammering it along the flat before, and b) I had no idea when/if it was ever going to end as it was on a constant bend.

Obvers my fitness is a primary issue with this!!

Now the next time you get to that hill you know it's there and you know you got to the top last time so it should be easier for you that's half the battle won! once you ridden a hill that hills never going to defeat you becasue you know you can ride it!

ricey155

Hitting the hills / climbs is what its all about for me, your testing yourself a lot more and as they say biking is all mental if your fit enough, you get a massive relieve when you reach the top knowing you can then kill it all the way down

as said the more you climb the easier it gets in theory does nothing for your avg speed

i always hit my biggest hill 40+ miles in on my routes never at the start when im fresh :shock:

Gizmo_

random man wrote:

Charlie - embrace the hills. Learn to love them and you'll enjoy cycling so much more. Box Hill isn't particularly steep or long so get in a low gear and go up it. It doesn't matter how long it takes, just don't let it beat you.
One of the great things about hills is coming down the other side - you don't get that on the flat.

Well said.

Last night I did a hill (near the middle of http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/h5NYikrKRRU ) where I climbed 60m in about 1km, but then went round the other side and belted down the other steeper track, 70m down in another km in about a third of the time

Feel the burn, take great big lungfuls of air and remember Rule 5.

charliew87

random man wrote:

Charlie - embrace the hills. Learn to love them and you'll enjoy cycling so much more. Box Hill isn't particularly steep or long so get in a low gear and go up it. It doesn't matter how long it takes, just don't let it beat you.
One of the great things about hills is coming down the other side - you don't get that on the flat.

Completely true, I don't have any issue with hills at all, it's just dealing with them when they aren't expected.

Coming down Box Hill towards Headley is epically good fun. I also enjoy going up it, think I've done it 5 times now and I'm already 90 seconds quicker now than I was on the first ascent.

ineedalager

I went 25 miles toady to take on an expected hill. Birdlip in Glousteshire the scenic route through the Village not the easy route up the main road. I would say it's the toughest one I've got up so far. 16% about 1 1/2 miles of climbing rising form 232 to 966ft I did think half way this one may beat me but it go ta bit easier before a steep finish and I made it OK I could have done with another gear though. I did it on ny Spesh 39 28 could have done with a 30 or 32 it would have been easier. I think with the standard 26 on there I may well have been walking it.

There are no hills This tough wear I live hence a 51 mile roud trip to take it on. Last year I did the same trip and took on Birdlip hill on the main road past thr Air baloon pub and that was easier than I expected. The only off putting thing is the sign at the bottom that says slow lorries for 2 miles!

I don't really get the unexpected bit a hills a hill I didn't ride any slower because I knew I had the hill to climb I did a 16.9mph avg for 51 miles.

slowondefy2

It's the expected hills that do me in. Beforehand I end up winding myself up in knots about it and my legs go like lead weights. When I'm actually on the hill it's never as bad as I thought it was going to be, and getting to the top gives a great feeling of achievement, even if I did only wobble up in the lowest gear...

charliew87

Just went out and ticked the 50 mile box...
http://t.co/KfEbX8lV
next job now to do one with Reigate Hill in the middle of it!

Pross

Returning to cycling after several years and with 4 stone of excess baggage I suffered the humiliation of walking a few hills. Some I knew were there but had never appeared hard in my younger days whilst others were roads I'd never ridden and I wasn't sure where the top was which meant I ended up stopping whilst I still had the momentum to unclip safely. I have now re-ridden all but two (on numerous occassions with some of them) and none got the better of me the second time. I'll be ticking off the final two some time soon and know I can do the one comfortably (Symonds Yat Rock - I originally hit it knackered and in the pouring rain so couldn't get traction).

Keep at it and soon you will be actively trying to fit as many hills as possible into your rides - it makes the ride more 'enjoyable'.

ineedalager

charliew87 wrote:

Just went out and ticked the 50 mile box...
http://t.co/KfEbX8lV
next job now to do one with Reigate Hill in the middle of it!

Well done on that 50 miler. See your planing your hills in already thats the way to do it. Last October I had a week abroad, I missed my bike like crazy an hour in the resort gym on the bike did nothng for me. I went a bit mad first day back 5 hills one of which defeated me a year earlier and another I was told was a tough one. I did them all and 39 miles aswell. I felt it in my legs a bit the next day!

Saturday I'm doing 55 miles with the lads trouble is the start point is a 25 mile round trip so it's going to be an 80 miler. New teritory for me as 60 miles twice solo which was tough so hopefully I'll survive it!