How can I improve my climbing?

iandennis
iandennis Posts: 238
edited July 2012 in Road beginners
I did the Evans Ride It out of Liphook yesterday. Whilst I enjoyed the day, the climbing proved to be difficult and I clearly need to train more. Strava is saying that there were 3 cat 4 climbs (whatever that means) and it looks like I'm climbing at about 5mph in some places.

Distance 87.4
Climbing 5624 ft
Time:06:56
Average Speed: 12.6mph
Max Speed:36.1mph

What should I be doing to increase my climbing speed ? Climb more hills obviously I guess.

I'm riding a Secteur Elite with the Apex Groupset so should be able to get up most climbs with the bike. Is it just a case of fitness ?

I suffers yesterday despite wearing a new pair of Assos, my bottom was feeling the distance. Is it worth getting chamois cream and does it work on numbing the area?

thanks

Comments

  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    Chamois creme will reduce friction to mimimise/stop any tissue damage - if you numbed the area then the damage will still happen you just won't feel it till the numbness wears of!

    The secret of climbing is power to weight ratio - so if you have any surplus body fat lose it and increase your power with e.g. hill repetitions, more riding etc etc

    Not being facetious at all as both potential problems (fat and weak legs) I have in abundance :D
  • iandennis
    iandennis Posts: 238
    Thanks,

    I'm 15stone so the power to weight ratio is a very good point. I have rugby players legs, powerful but not good for lots of climbing. The weight is coming off slowly, I have lost 3 stone since I started cycling but probably need to lose another 2 :(
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Re the ar$e area, it's more a case of keeping at it and after a while it toughens up enough for it to no longer be a concern.
  • buzzwold
    buzzwold Posts: 197
    I thought ASSOS were best at stopping painful ARSOS.

    On the category side of things - I understand from other posts on this forum that these relate to the TdF categories, which themselves are based on gradient and distance. Cat 4 is lowest, then through to Cat 1. The hardest are classified as HoC.

    Keep plugging away or look at some of the hill climbing techniques videos on the interweb and the articles in the forums and the magazines.

    On final thought, I wonder how many of us scout the route before we go on it. I plan to do this for any event I take part in using one of the web based tools so that I can gauge the effort, gradients etc. I've caught myself out putting in fast flat stuff only to struggle to get enough energy to get up a hill slope.
    Someone's just passed me again
  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    buzzwold wrote:
    I thought ASSOS were best at stopping painful ARSOS.

    Brilliant - that should be their new advertising slogan :lol:

    For ARSOS get ASSOS Insert suitable cheesy music and pictures of happy bums!
  • lc1981
    lc1981 Posts: 820
    Some good tips on improving your climbing here: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/fitness/article/improve-at-climbing-without-big-hills-34615/.
  • nickel
    nickel Posts: 476
    buzzwold wrote:
    On final thought, I wonder how many of us scout the route before we go on it. I plan to do this for any event I take part in using one of the web based tools so that I can gauge the effort, gradients etc. I've caught myself out putting in fast flat stuff only to struggle to get enough energy to get up a hill slope.

    Always worth doing, if you don't know a route its worth checking out where the climbs are and use mapping software or strava to work out how long a climb is. Personally I hate it when I'm plugging away up a long climb with no idea how far until the summit, so I always make sure I know how long the climb is.
  • unixnerd
    unixnerd Posts: 2,864
    I live somewhere hilly so I'm used to them! You need to find a comfortable pace and get into the zone, just keep plugging away and don't push too high a gear. Practice and weight loss will improve your climbing. It also helps to start the hill with the best entry speed you can manage.
    http://www.strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible Price.
    Specialized Roubaix SL3 Expert 2012, Cannondale CAAD5,
    Marin Mount Vision (1997), Edinburgh Country tourer, 3 cats!
  • navrig
    navrig Posts: 1,352
    iandennis wrote:
    Thanks,

    I'm 15stone so the power to weight ratio is a very good point. I have rugby players legs, powerful but not good for lots of climbing. The weight is coming off slowly, I have lost 3 stone since I started cycling but probably need to lose another 2 :(

    There's your answer - keep doing what you have been doing.
  • styxd
    styxd Posts: 3,234
    I'm 15stone so the power to weight ratio is a very good point. I have rugby players legs, powerful but not good for lots of climbing. The weight is coming off slowly, I have lost 3 stone since I started cycling but probably need to lose another 2

    The weight is the key really, the lighter you are, the much easier it is to climb hills.

    How tall are you though?

    It depends what you want really, you dont need to lose another 2 stone if you're fairly fit and healthy, if you want to be fast up the hills then you probably want to be losing more than 2 stone. 13 stones is still a fair lump to be dragging up hills.

    I guess it depends on your height aswell.
  • gog555
    gog555 Posts: 63
    Going to do a bit of a thread hi-jack here.
    How can i improve my climbing when i live in Cambridgeshire????
    Will it help on what ever sort of hill i can find if i leave the bike in a big gear so its harder to ride up? So i need more power to get up the hill. Or will this just produce more muscle which is heavier.
    Or do i really need to travel and find some real hills?
  • styxd
    styxd Posts: 3,234
    [/quote]How can i improve my climbing when i live in Cambridgeshire????
    [/quote]

    Why do you need to improve your climbing when you live in Cambridgeshire????
  • gog555
    gog555 Posts: 63
    styxd wrote:
    How can i improve my climbing when i live in Cambridgeshire????
    [/quote]

    Why do you need to improve your climbing when you live in Cambridgeshire????[/quote]

    So when I do sportives with hills i don`t conk out half way up
  • t.m.h.n.e.t
    t.m.h.n.e.t Posts: 2,265
    gog555 wrote:
    styxd wrote:
    How can i improve my climbing when i live in Cambridgeshire????

    Why do you need to improve your climbing when you live in Cambridgeshire????[/quote]

    So when I do sportives with hills i don`t conk out half way up[/quote]
    Try cycling on hills
  • ianbar
    ianbar Posts: 1,354
    try and hit as many hills as possible, and vary the type is long short, steep, gradual etc. you could do hill repeats but thats not to everyones liking.
    enigma esprit
    cannondale caad8 tiagra 2012
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    Try a few CAT 2 & 3 climbs. Your legs will think nothing of a CAT4 climb then :?:
  • thecryof
    thecryof Posts: 31
    Only one way to improve climbing hills. Climb more hills.
    2011 Giant Defy 3
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    Erm, move to Cornwall? Plenty of hills down ere
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    The advice to lose weight and climb more is quite correct. I started cycling about 2 years ago after much rowing. So I was too heavy for hills at 14st and a bit too big up top. I liveon the edge of the Peak District, so have the tools on my doorstep. Funnily I have always liked the climbing challenge, but wasn't great at it to start with. We are all different and I have found that my climbing forte is longer power climbs rather than short sharp really steep gradients.

    Plenty of base miles in the hills has borne fruit though. I am down to 13st, which is still about a stone above my optimum for climbing, but I have got better and better on the climbing front. Hills which I struggled to keep the pedals turning on two years ago now hold no fear and I can spin up them easily. Now the challenge is setting a great time going up them! My climbing has improved on all gradients, but the basics are still the same - I am still better on the less steep power climbs. Having said that, I can still stick with most, even on the steep stuff. The fact that I know that my climbing improvement is still work in progress makes me smile as I know there is better to come!

    The first week of June this year was a Pyrenees cycling trip from the Atlantic to Mediterranean coasts. 450 miles in a week with 64,000ft of climbing over many of the great Cols including Peyresourde, Aubisque, Marie Blanque, Mente and of course the Tourmalet. The key is to start with a good base level of fitness and climbing, stay seated and spin in a low gear just below your Anerobic Threshold. That's the quickest way up an 18km climb like the Tourmalet! The trip was immense and certainly has given me a great hill climbing base fitness. So just get out there and push, push, push and it will slowly happen!

    Good luck.

    PP
  • cadseen
    cadseen Posts: 170
    edited March 2014
    Loose weight if applicable then improve fitness and strength.
    IMO dont need to keep training on hills.
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    cadseen wrote:
    IMO dont need to keep training on hills

    That is a comment that goes against the grain somewhat! Could you enlighten us to how he is going to improve his climbing (which was the OPs question) without doing any climbing as training? Even the great Wiggo spent days in Tenerife climbing Mount Teide as training to get better on hills for the Tour. I would love to hear the training regime you advocate....

    PP
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    Pilot Pete wrote:
    The key is to start with a good base level of fitness and climbing, stay seated and spin in a low gear just below your Anerobic Threshold. That's the quickest way up an 18km climb like the Tourmalet! The trip was immense and certainly has given me a great hill climbing base fitness.

    Cool story bro

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