Hills. Why?

bluedoggy

I see a huge amount of you fellows REALLY get a lot out of tackling steep hills. Why?
Me personally fucking hate them like the ex wife. So I'm curious why you gentlemen get such a kick out of them. I do see the physical achievement but do you really enjoy it?

moscowflyer

Bluedoggy wrote:

I see a huge amount of you fellows REALLY get a lot out of tackling steep hills. Why?
Me personally ******* hate them like the ex wife. So I'm curious why you gentlemen get such a kick out of them. I do see the physical achievement but do you really enjoy it?

I love hills, even though I'm nowhere near as good at them as I used to be some years ago. Only today I cracked on a hill that 7 years ago I'd have seen through to the bitter end. It destroyed me, but it makes me more determined to MTFU and get up that b***ard next time.

It's you against the hill, man against incline. A personal battle to get to the top without letting yourself get beaten, without suffering humiliation, without retiring to the roadside and crying like a b*tch.

Hills maketh the man.

Gizmodo

Bluedoggy wrote:

I see a huge amount of you fellows REALLY get a lot out of tackling steep hills. Why?
Me personally ******* hate them like the ex wife. So I'm curious why you gentlemen get such a kick out of them. I do see the physical achievement but do you really enjoy it?

And just like the feeling of getting one over the ex wife, getting one over that ****ing hill by doing a PB is fantastic.

bluedoggy

Never thought of it in that way? I just see pain and gasping.
Maybe I have a different mental attitude to it? I enjoy the 'ride' and the fitness it gives me.
A hill just adds unnecessary pain? I reap the rewards by looking in a mirror without sucking in my belly and feeling great! And the misses enjoys my endurance.....
If I tackle those 'Hated' hills, will I feel a sense of personal achievement? I don't know....

TakeTurns

Tackling a tough hill is a mental challenge. It is a challenge of legs too, however it's a mental challenge more so. If you shut off the negativity in your mind and be positive. It eliminates the thought of pain. When I changed my view of tough hills, it made me change my outlook on everything else too. Instead of seeing a hill as necessary pain, I see it as a challenge which I can concour with determination.

As the saying goes, it separates the men from the boys.

pnev

I live in Lincolnshire /

bluedoggy

TakeTurns wrote:

Tackling a tough hill is a mental challenge. It is a challenge of legs too, however it's a mental challenge more so. If you shut off the negativity in your mind and be positive. It eliminates the thought of pain. When I changed my view of tough hills, it made me change my outlook on everything else too. Instead of seeing a hill as necessary pain, I see it as a challenge which I can concour with determination.

As the saying goes, it separates the men from the boys.

Inspiring.

hipshot

Bluedoggy wrote:

Hills. Why?

Because they're there.

I love climbs. The challenge, the scenery, the achievement, the descent. Looking at a mountain/hill and knowing you've 'conquered' it.

I think a headwind on the flat is far more demoralising than any hill.

Silly Old Hector

hipshot wrote:

I love climbs. The challenge, the scenery, the achievement, the descent.

I think a headwind on the flat is far more demoralising than any hill.

This

bluedoggy

hipshot wrote:

Bluedoggy wrote:

Hills. Why?

Because they're there.

I love climbs. The challenge, the scenery, the achievement, the descent. Looking at a mountain/hill and knowing you've 'conquered' it.

I think a headwind on the flat is far more demoralising than any hill.

even more inspiring....

diy

MTB big hills are all about the challenge of getting up something very technically hard. Road hills, well it's because I live in a valley, but it allows you to really focus on your technique. Also when you look at the data you can make real comparisons on performance.

bluedoggy

Maybe I should look at Brass knocker hill then?

southdownswolf

I can't stand hills that are not steep, but drag on forever. Hills that are steeper, where you know it's a "proper" hill or mountain, I love the challenge. I can't wait for my first cycling trip to the Alps :-)

simon_masterson

Hill climbing is a great way of training if you don't have much time on your hands. Climbing out of the saddle is great for your fitness, spinning up hills in the saddle helps with higher cadence, and if you use short steep inclines it effectively gives you intervals as well.

Or that's what I tell myself when I'm out slogging up what North Herts has to offer... (not much!)

Grill

TakeTurns wrote:

Tackling a tough hill is a mental challenge. It is a challenge of legs too, however it's a mental challenge more so. If you shut off the negativity in your mind and be positive. It eliminates the thought of pain. When I changed my view of tough hills, it made me change my outlook on everything else too. Instead of seeing a hill as necessary pain, I see it as a challenge which I can concour with determination.

As the saying goes, it separates the men from the boys.

QFT.

wheezee

Bluedoggy wrote:

Maybe I should look at Brass knocker hill then?

Particularly enjoyable with a queue of revving traffic sitting on your wheel on the bends.

bluedoggy

wheezee wrote:

Bluedoggy wrote:

Maybe I should look at Brass knocker hill then?

Particularly enjoyable with a queue of revving traffic sitting on your wheel on the bends.

You've been there then:)

DavidJB

I mostly dislike climbing all in all but I'm not the best at it. I much prefer rolling courses.

nolight

Bluedoggy wrote:

I see a huge amount of you fellows REALLY get a lot out of tackling steep hills. Why?
Me personally ******* hate them like the ex wife. So I'm curious why you gentlemen get such a kick out of them. I do see the physical achievement but do you really enjoy it?

It depends on what is your the purpose for cycling.

If it is for recreation, of course climbing hills may not be very enjoyable.
If it is for sport/fitness, then hills is what gives you the exercise. Unlike other sports, I think it is possible to cycle thousands of km without getting much exercise at all, by not putting in effort and letting the bicycle do the work for you. Hills will guarantee you get that exercise.

diy

Agree some of the toughest enduro's I've done have been due to the climb. Southdowns way for example is about 103 miles, not particularly challenging even on an MTB. If it was flat most could do it in 7 or 8 hours. But is something like 13,000ft of climb and half of that is in the last 35 miles. Quite a different challenge then.

Robbie1958

Hills? what are they. i just searched my local map of Norfolk and it appears we don't have any...am i missing out? Still what you've never had you never miss. Seems to me the way everybody is talking they are too much like hard work anyway

wheezee

Bluedoggy wrote:

You've been there then:)

Only once, and via Monkton Combe, so not even all of it. Nasty. Especially at the end of a longer run.

bluedoggy

nolight wrote:

Bluedoggy wrote:

I see a huge amount of you fellows REALLY get a lot out of tackling steep hills. Why?
Me personally ******* hate them like the ex wife. So I'm curious why you gentlemen get such a kick out of them. I do see the physical achievement but do you really enjoy it?

It depends on what is your the purpose for cycling.

If it is for recreation, of course climbing hills may not be very enjoyable.
If it is for sport/fitness, then hills is what gives you the exercise. Unlike other sports, I think it is possible to cycle thousands of km without getting much exercise at all, by not putting in effort and letting the bicycle do the work for you. Hills will guarantee you get that exercise.

Gives no exercise? I've lost nearly a stone in 4 months. Although Bath area is not flat - more gentle hills ish.

wheezee

I think it's fair to describe Bath as hilly. Not extreme in any sense, but definitely hilly.

unixnerd

Here in Aviemore we do a ten mile time trial from the Village to the top of the Cairngorm ski road. It's bad enough doing it normally but doing it in a race is murder. Superb view and sense of satisfaction after though. Annoyingly the descent is pretty technical due to frost heave on the road the hairpins.

Whenever I see a big climb on the Tour or the Giro I work out how many ascents of Cairngorm it represents and boggle at the fitness of those involved. The steep bit rises about 1200 feet in three miles but there's a short flat section in the middle to get your breath back.

snickwell

southdownswolf wrote:

I can't stand hills that are not steep, but drag on forever. Hills that are steeper, where you know it's a "proper" hill or mountain, I love the challenge. I can't wait for my first cycling trip to the Alps :-)

I always think that the Alps aren't particularly steep, its the 'dragging on' that makes them so difficult (eg. Alpe d'Huez only averages 8% but goes on for 13+ km).

Frank the tank

I don't seek them out but, when it comes to going up them I just bite the tyre and make myself have it.

Even if I am crap, I take pride in the fact I've never climbed off my bike yet.

I don't break any pots but I will just not give in.

joe.90

I live in Stroud, a valley with hills everywhere. If you don't like hills you'd probably never ride round here!

Needless to say I love em. the challenge, and being able to push myself to the limit.

Lots of strava usage on the climbs round here which also makes it interesting.

It's tough at the moment for me, with base training and HR zones going on it makes no sense to hammer up the hills..so I try to find as flat a route as I can.

sbbefc

I can hardly go on a ride without seeking a good hill, find cycling on the flat a bit pointless. The descent is fun too for the adrenaline junkies.

Frank the tank

sbbefc wrote:

I can hardly go on a ride without seeking a good hill, find cycling on the flat a bit pointless. The descent is fun too for the adrenaline junkies.

Cycling on the Lincolnshire fens is relentless especially when it's windy. No holiday at all.

AllezGaz

Pnev wrote:

I live in Lincolnshire /

Hills are there if you look for em, however normally short and steep