Bailed out on a hill for the first time .....

kingofthetailwind

Right about here:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=church ... 9,,0,10.69

I've done longer climbs round this area, but the grade just seemed steeper on this road. Looks pretty flat on Street View though! And doesn't help that there's a cyclist casually cruising up!

I still went on to do my second longest ride at 65 miles and my most climing at 2800ft. But quitting is bothering me!

Gave up on any hills yet? Went back for a second attempt straight away?

farrina

Hard to tell from street view as to gradient etc of the hill. It appears to be a long drag rather than particularly steep.

If your legs are tired these can be the hardest hills to climb as they niggle away and unlike a short sharp one which you can see how far to go and attack they just seem to go on and on.

The best training for hill climbing is more hill climbing!

Don't be hard on yourself as well as a physical challenge it's a mental one. We all have been there and in the future you will be that cyclist cruising up the hill.

Best wishes

Alan

sherer

happens to me all the time, usually it's my heart \ lungs that give out before my legs. I also struggle with balance at low speed, once I slow down to 4mph I wobble all over the place and usually have to climb off then

danlikesbikes

On the road bike I have never felt the need to give up, though have after a long hard ride had to sit up & cruise in the smallest gear before.

Never went back for the second time during the same ride as pretty pointless as fitness, energy etc already down. I did however then go and find some a steep climb with a loop road back to the bottom and get out early on a sunday morning and just do a loop with a short recovery to the bottom again and just repeated this.

Has made me a more confident & competent climber and teaches the physical technique how to pace a hill and given me a the mental ability to not worry any more about climbing.

gaddster

The other bloke is on a Defy with some nice looking wheels, he's hurting but doing a good job hiding it..

Just keep setting small targets, try not to think of the overall climb or it'll get to you. I hate climbing but now living in a hilly area it's slowly improving my ability. Keep at it!

Kieran_Burns

I bombed on this one: http://goo.gl/maps/eLz7c

I just ran out of gears and speed. Couldn't clip in quickly enough to get started again, so I took the longer easier climb up

rick_chasey

Happens to everyone.

Go at it again asap.

Try to not let it get into your head you can't. Think of it as just a matter of perseverance and you'll get up it eventually.


And yes, it'll hurt lots.

Grill

Happens to the best of us. I had to walk a section a couple months ago (mind you it was over 40%). Never feels right, but that feeling of unfinished business can motivate you to improve and finally conquer said climb.

pollys_bott

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Sneck+Y ... 67.05,,0,0

I learnt the hard way that 70-odd steady miles around Leicestershire & Rutland was no real help for 70-odd miles around the North Yorkshire Moors. I got up the bugger the following year though...

kingofthetailwind

Cheers for the replies/advice. I've come to the conclusion that I just wimped out! I need to recite Rule 5 in my head I think.

This segment is one section of the category 4 hill, the part I had to stop on: http://app.strava.com/activities/49687678#877730248

Strangely, despite stopping for a good three minutes before finishing the hill I'm not last! 70th out of 81. I know Strava pauses your overall moving time when you stop, but didn't think this was the case with segments.

Definitely gonna tackle it again next weekend.

mrbubbaman

I dipped out twice today on the Surrey Cyclone event around the Surrey Hills. I've never experienced hills quite like today, made it up most of them, but the 1 st time I got off was mainly due to the traffic bottle neck, but the 2nd one really was incredibly hard and I just ran out of energy.
Still completed 62.4 miles and is the furthest I've ridden by double

canny_lad

Keep at it. Cracked a steep hill at the 3rd attempt yesterday. It's the only hill that has made me walk (so far) and it's a great feeling when you eventually get up in one go. I fell off half way up another hill this time last year when I just ran out of steam. I went back down the hill a bit to the pub, had a couple of pints and then finished the hill. I can do it in one now without much of a problem. It's surprising what you can do when you set your mind to it.

pollys_bott

Practice suffering - most of my riding was steady pootling; the cumulative effect of numerous short sharp digs at gradients up to 20% was a bit of a shock to the system! I got some great advice from the Training board, in a very big nutshell 'ride more hills and / or get used to working harder for longer'. I rode hills more often, and often harder. I put sprint intervals into my commute and now do it all in the big ring. I'm even now going up some of Rutland's 18% 'bergs' in the 42 front ring which would have been un-thinkable for me a year ago. You'll enjoy it, even when your heart feels like it's about to burst out of your chest as you reach the top of the hill...

Mikey23

I walked a couple of times in the coasting in Cornwall today, 4500ft of climb and 12 cat 4s in 38 miles. The long steady drags on main roads I coped with ok but the narrow country lane scary descents and brutal up hills really messed me up.i didn't really mess up my ride physically because I was walking at the same pace I could have ridden, but mentally I sort of gave up. I tend to avoid challenging routes, so the solution for me is to mtfu and do them till I get more confident and competent...

supermurph09

Grill wrote:

Happens to the best of us. I had to walk a section a couple months ago (mind you it was over 40%). Never feels right, but that feeling of unfinished business can motivate you to improve and finally conquer said climb.

Bang on. 2 local climbs (both cat 3 on strava and both in the 100 climb books) Rowsley Bar and Slack Hill. They both beat me first time around but the utter frustration I felt motivated me to ensure that did not happen again! Sure enough next time around and twice since I've arrived at the top. I think mentally when you know you can do it your legs will cope.

patrickf

KingOfTheTailwind wrote:

Cheers for the replies/advice. I've come to the conclusion that I just wimped out! I need to recite Rule 5 in my head I think.

This segment is one section of the category 4 hill, the part I had to stop on: http://app.strava.com/activities/49687678#877730248

Strangely, despite stopping for a good three minutes before finishing the hill I'm not last! 70th out of 81. I know Strava pauses your overall moving time when you stop, but didn't think this was the case with segments.

Definitely gonna tackle it again next weekend.

Strava definitely doesn't pause for you on segments, so you didn't do badly at all!

Keep at it and you'll get to the top.

My biggest killer to date? Carlton Bank in the North York Moors. That one's on the cards again over the summer months.

cyclingsheep

Hardknot Pass with 110 miles already in the legs did it for me. First time I'd had to stop and still one I have to go back and beat

marylogic

Keep trying, you'll get there.

I had to walk up "the dragon" in February

http://app.strava.com/segments/2448957

I got a lot of good advice on here (hill reps, higher cadence with lower gearing etc) and yesterday I defeated the dragon! Thanks to everyone who helped.

Cleat Eastwood

Dont think of it as wimping out, think of it as a tactical retreat

One thing to do is to find the lowest speed your comfortable with - a lot is said about the 'it doesnt get easier' quote - but it helps if you have a speed you can go to to recover - even its 3 or 4 miles an hour - youre still moving. And listen to your body - then next time you're on an unfamiliar cimb you'll know whether to up the effort or save energy.

kingofthetailwind

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

Dont think of it as wimping out, think of it as a tactical retreat

One thing to do is to find the lowest speed your comfortable with - a lot is said about the 'it doesnt get easier' quote - but it helps if you have a speed you can go to to recover - even its 3 or 4 miles an hour - youre still moving. And listen to your body - then next time you're on an unfamiliar cimb you'll know whether to up the effort or save energy.

I'll call it a tactical wimpout!

I bailed out at between 5-6mph I think, any slower and I start to lose control. Just more practice required I think.

Grill

You can also zig-zag steeper hills to make them easier.

Pross

Most recent one for me, I've ridden it all the way previous times but fitness has just dropped off and weight had gone up. It sometimes gets to the point where you have to unclip while you still have the momentum to do so. I still hate it though.

http://goo.gl/maps/DQFSI

chrisaonabike

Grill wrote:

Happens to the best of us. I had to walk a section a couple months ago (mind you it was over 40%).

Over 40% ?????? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Are there any actual hills that steep in the UK???

Inutero

KingOfTheTailwind wrote:

Strangely, despite stopping for a good three minutes before finishing the hill I'm not last! 70th out of 81. I know Strava pauses your overall moving time when you stop, but didn't think this was the case with segments. .

I stopped for a few minutes prior to http://app.strava.com/activities/48282009#845947438 for a drink and a nibble, thinking the start was as i turned the corner up to it. I'd been dreading it since i rode down it earlier thinking "Christ, that's steep!" Managed 57/78. Definitely going back for a proper crack at it soon!

danlikesbikes

Pross wrote:

Most recent one for me, I've ridden it all the way previous times but fitness has just dropped off and weight had gone up. It sometimes gets to the point where you have to unclip while you still have the momentum to do so. I still hate it though.

http://goo.gl/maps/DQFSI

Know that road quite well & its quite good if you like hills & a pain if your are struggling. Glad to know its not just me that finds that road hard though!

Grill

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

Grill wrote:

Happens to the best of us. I had to walk a section a couple months ago (mind you it was over 40%).

Over 40% ?????? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Are there any actual hills that steep in the UK???

I should say that it hit 40%, obviously on a constant that's impossible! It's this little bastard here:
http://app.strava.com/activities/40952980#679631748

It was made more difficult by the fact that I'd just done this one:
http://app.strava.com/activities/40952980#679631732

Pross

Danlikesbikes wrote:

Pross wrote:

Most recent one for me, I've ridden it all the way previous times but fitness has just dropped off and weight had gone up. It sometimes gets to the point where you have to unclip while you still have the momentum to do so. I still hate it though.

http://goo.gl/maps/DQFSI

Know that road quite well & its quite good if you like hills & a pain if your are struggling. Glad to know its not just me that finds that road hard though!

Didn't know you knew this area. Worst thing was my sister lives at the bottom of the hill, I saw by brother-in-law as I went past and gave a cheery wave to make it look like I was going to sail up and then had to admit I didn't make it!

Pross

Grill wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

Grill wrote:

Happens to the best of us. I had to walk a section a couple months ago (mind you it was over 40%).

Over 40% ?????? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Are there any actual hills that steep in the UK???

I should say that it hit 40%, obviously on a constant that's impossible! It's this little bastard here:
http://app.strava.com/activities/40952980#679631748

It was made more difficult by the fact that I'd just done this one:
http://app.strava.com/activities/40952980#679631732

That's a new one on me, I never really make use of the western or Rhymney valleys as they're so built up. It looks a challenge though!!