Hill Climbing V Wind

thegodplato

What do you lot think is worse, a hill climb or miles of open windy roads?

Also, when hill climbing is it better to be out of the saddle in say the bottom sprocket/big chain ring and pumping the pedals hard but slow or go to the small ring and peddle easily. I ask it cos I want to improve my climbing and think if its too easy to pedal its not doing me any favours in the leg strength department.

Have just done a 42mile run this morning through the Trough of Bowland and, embarrassingly, didn't make it up the 1 in 20 hill that I can across after about 20miles or so! Must improve!

themekon

You could always try climbing a hill going into a headwind. That would make it hard work. Big ringing it sitting down will certainly build strength it worked for Graham Obree then again using a lower gear and learning how to pedal up worked for Lance Armstrong so a bit of both would be ideal.

Peddle Up!

themekon wrote:

Big ringing it sitting down will certainly build strength...

Not kind to the knees though.

slowondefy2

I don't mind the wind, cos then I go find the Strava segments that use the tail wind, then zigzag my way back along the country lanes avoiding the open wind . Also, being a fat-arse, hills hurt me double whereas wind affects everyone

I find that, for hill training or for getting a hill PB, standing up in a high-ish gear is the way to go. Sitting down is a much more efficient way of getting to the top but for me, it's slower. Even on the flat I find mashing the pedals faster than spinning because personally I find it much easier to build muscle strength and lacate tolerance, than actually get CV fit.

In general, training-wise - I think mixing it up is a good idea. Unless you've already identified a specific deficit in your abilities, and then you can design rides specifically to train that area.

Peddle Up!

+1 to the "big blokes suffer more going up hills" sentiment.

Weirdly, I find that when I'm fighting a headwind it feels very very slow, but when I look at my speed I'm going faster than I thought. :?

wishitwasallflat

Check my name and you know what hills do to fat old men like me - BUT - I much prefer them to headwinds. Headwinds feel so relentless and pointless - at least with a hill climb you know when it ends!

daxplusplus

wishitwasallflat wrote:

Headwinds feel so relentless and pointless - at least with a hill climb you know when it ends!

My thoughts exactly. It doesn't help that on my 25 mile commute homeit is, more or less, straight and into the usual direction of the wind. So if there is a head wind then it's the entire trip home :shock:

Speller78

I'll take the hill every time, hills dont randomly change gradient overnight like the wind changes strength, plus there is the sense of achievement you get from climbing a hill. Grinding away for miles against a strong headwind is soul destroying.

Lossie Loon

Hills for me, as they are never as relentless as a headwind and you get the sense of acheivement getting up them. As for sitting down v out of saddle, I find I get up quicker when in the saddle, but feel more comfortable out of the saddle - so I mix it up depending on whether I am chasing a PB, or just want to be comfortable.

Oh, for everything to be that slight decline (not enough to make it properly 'downhill' in feeling though) with a tailwind!

Monty Dog

themekon wrote:

learning how to pedal up worked for Lance Armstrong so a bit of both would be ideal.

I think what you'll find is that regular visits to Dr Michelle Ferrari's motorhome is what 'worked' for Lance and rest was a load of bollox cooked up by the likes of Chris Carmichael to sell training programmes to gullible amateurs

themekon

Monty Dog wrote:

themekon wrote:

learning how to pedal up worked for Lance Armstrong so a bit of both would be ideal.

I think what you'll find is that regular visits to Dr Michelle Ferrari's motorhome is what 'worked' for Lance and rest was a load of bollox cooked up by the likes of Chris Carmichael to sell training programmes to gullible amateurs

The only reason I mentioned Lance Armstrong was for an example of pedalling a lower gear as opposed to grinding a big gear both of which will help with climbing.
I take it you are not a Lance Armstrong fan then ?
Try as they may nobody has proved anything yet, and if it was the case every other rider in the peloton would have been just as guilty.

wishitwasallflat

Lossie Loon wrote:

Oh, for everything to be that slight decline (not enough to make it properly 'downhill' in feeling though) with a tailwind!

Yeah - slightdelinetailwind - that's gonna be my new forum name once I need to dissapear and resurface incognito ala Lord Lucan, Hitler, Elvis, the bigbee, speedking and the late lamented decalist !

Rigged

I had a 2.4km climb yesterday into a full on, strong headwind. The natural lie of the country lane just seemed to channel a gale into my face. I normally do the same climb at a steady 8-9mph but yesterday I was down to a 3mph crawl and had to take a couple of breathers. The wind was sufficient to have blown a substantial branch from a tree, taking out a power line to a small village. Luckily, being on a bike, I could slip between the cones blocking the road and nip through instead of facing a diversion of 3.5 miles to get back home . It was probably the most frustrating climb I've ever done, though. The wind has a weird way of just relentlessly beating you down. At least with hills you reach the top and feel you've beaten them. There's no such reward at the end of a ride into a strong headwind!

rolf_f

On a hot day last year I cycled 50 miles from Goole to Lincoln into a headwind. I've never found a 50 mile climb to match that day

ALaPlage

Speller78 wrote:

I'll take the hill every time, hills dont randomly change gradient overnight like the wind changes strength, plus there is the sense of achievement you get from climbing a hill. Grinding away for miles against a strong headwind is soul destroying.

+1 Hills hurt but the satisfaction of reaching the top makes it almost enjoyable.

CambsNewbie

At least hills don't move and you know once you've got to the top it's going to go down and short of an earthquake will stay that way. I swear I've been out on rides where the wind has changed direction as I've been out. And I've cycled to work in a headwind thinking a least it will be behind me on the way home, only to find I'm going home in a headwimd!

Out here in Beds/Cambs I can't remember when it wasn't windy when I went out!

y33stu

I'll take hills everyday. As a big bloke both hurt, but as others have said, getting up a hill is an achievement, cycling for 3 hours into a headwind is just annoying. At least the Mrs can understand why I'm tired after telling her I rode up a bunch of hills, tell her I rode into the wind and she'll say..."and?"

Border Cyclist

themekon wrote:

You could always try climbing a hill going into a headwind. That would make it hard work. Big ringing it sitting down will certainly build strength it worked for Graham Obree then again using a lower gear and learning how to pedal up worked for Lance Armstrong so a bit of both would be ideal.

Hills often provide shelter from a headwind in my experience 8)

Muffintop

Border Cyclist wrote:

themekon wrote:

You could always try climbing a hill going into a headwind. That would make it hard work. Big ringing it sitting down will certainly build strength it worked for Graham Obree then again using a lower gear and learning how to pedal up worked for Lance Armstrong so a bit of both would be ideal.

Hills often provide shelter from a headwind in my experience 8)

Untill you hit the top and are nearly rolled back down it when it hits you.

Hill climbing all the way. A headwind to me is like someone incessantly tapping my forehead with their finger.

blackpoolkev

I get more than my fair share of windy conditions around Blackpool,with no natural shelter for miles.
I used to curse the wind,but now I use it as an opportunity to develop an efficient tuck.Look in amazement as your speed creeps up as you curl up to shelter from a headwind.I found adopting a tight tuck uncomfortable at first but you get used to it.

desweller

I dunno actually. These days I often find it easier to put my bloody-minded hat on when there's a strong gusting headwind + maybe a bit of rain. Up to a point I can be faster (note that's not the same as 'fast', which I most definitely am not!).

neeb

Give me hills any day. Big, looming, obvious things that you can have an attitude towards. Headwinds by contrast are capricious and difficult-to-size-up, you're never quite sure how much of your slowness is due to the wind and how much to not pedalling hard enough or not being on form that day. They screw with your head. That said, long, false flats, i.e. hills pretending not to be, can be evil too sometimes like headwinds.

wishitwasallflat

Sometimes it feel like god sent me my own personal headwind that follows me around - I swear I have cycled out one road thinking I'll enjoy that as a tailwind on the way back only to find it's still in my face on the same road! Never known a hill to do that; you can trust hills.

Flexisurfer

Living in East Anglia it's often hard to avoid a decent head wind and we don't have challenging long grinding hills. For me riding into a head wind just requires me to get on the drops and get my head down, pick a decent cadence and try and forget about it. As for LA's tips for riding hills, I think there spot on, I generally pick a high cadence and don't look at the sumit.

Muffintop

Flexisurfer wrote:

. As for LA's tips for riding hills, I think there spot on, I generally pick a high cadence and don't look at the sumit.

What no eye on the prize? I only look up when I'm on them not when they're looming on high though.

Mx