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2015-05-11 3:04 PM

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Expert
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Subject: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Trying to be a better cyclist and am learning to climb this year.


2015-05-11 3:14 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Extreme Veteran
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Maryland
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

use a power meter

2015-05-11 4:07 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Expert
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Austin, TX
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Pedal down so you can coast up.

This applies to rolling terrain. Many people let up at the top of a hill, even when it is obvious that you'll be descending right into another climb. Hammer that descent and the next climb will not be as long.

It took me years to finally realize I need to "spin" up a hill. I used to grind it out in the hardest gear I could manage. Then on a very long climb in Utah I had an epiphany and learned to find the right balance of spinning a decent cadence versus either grinding too big of a gear or spinning too easy of a gear.
2015-05-11 4:08 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Extreme Veteran
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Raleigh, North Carolina
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

Keep the cadence up and don't hesitate to use the small chain ring.

2015-05-11 4:27 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Master
3888
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Overland Park, KS
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Don't "dodge" routes that have hills. Go AFTER them! Ditto on the rolling hills, get after it as you crest one hill and get some speed to prepare for the next. Sure you will need to recover from time to time but you can always "limp" home the last few miles of a ride if you really challenged yourself. If you use Strava it can be fun to set PR's as you progress. What I notice is that a lot of Strava segments have climbs that are the steepest part of a climb etc. but a lot of them have a segment called "xx climb longer". I've noticed that I rank higher on the longer climb segments than the shorter. That's because a lot of riders slow down as the hill starts to flatten.

Other advice, On group rides I try and stay with the "racers" of the group, usually Cat 3/4 road bike racers. They tend to charge climbs more than other parts of a ride.
2015-05-11 4:30 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Master
2802
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Minnetonka, Minnesota
Bronze member
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
"Keep your bottom close to the rock to keep your weight over your feet and to minimize the pull away from the wall on your hands/fingers" - Oh wait, that was rock climbing.

Best road biking climbing advice was: "Spin to win up hills!"


2015-05-11 4:41 PM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

-Lose weight if you need to

-Keep spinning as long as you can, don't get out of the saddle unless you run out of gears or you want to change up muscle groups

-If you need more gears, get a compact crank and/or smaller cassette

-Climb more hills

-Hills teach you patience.  Do you want to hurt a lot for a short while or a little for a long while?



Edited by ChrisM 2015-05-11 4:41 PM
2015-05-11 4:48 PM
in reply to: ChrisM

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Elite
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Spokane, WA
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

Two words: Hill Repeats

Seriously, hill repeats help me get into hill climbing shape faster than anything else. The downhill is your recovery, then hit it again. I picked a long, steady hill that I could not even finish the first time. I had to get off and push. Within a month I could climb it 20 times in one session. Hard to argue with those kind of results.

2015-05-11 7:49 PM
in reply to: ChrisM

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Extreme Veteran
959
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Greenwood, South Carolina
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Originally posted by ChrisM

-Lose weight if you need to

-Keep spinning as long as you can, don't get out of the saddle unless you run out of gears or you want to change up muscle groups

-If you need more gears, get a compact crank and/or smaller cassette

-Climb more hills

-Hills teach you patience.  Do you want to hurt a lot for a short while or a little for a long while?




X2

2015-05-11 8:19 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Canyon, Texas
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Easy up the hills and fly everywhere else. Stay in the saddle, drop to your lowest gear and spin as much as is comfortable, regulate your HR. No shame in a cadence of 50 going up a monster.
2015-05-11 8:36 PM
in reply to: tlancer23

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Expert
2373
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Floriduh
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Move to Florida. Flat as a pancake :-)


2015-05-11 9:27 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

A lot of it has already been said, but hills are about...

1.  Maximizing power output.  Pretty obvious here...the more fitness you have, the faster you can climb.  There really isn't anything special about climbing fitness as compared to say flat riding fitness.

2.  Minimizing weight.  Weight makes very little difference on the flats, but will penalize you more and more the steeper the road gets.

3.  Proper gear selection.  If you are running out of gears, you aren't allowing yourself to pedal at the ideal cadence to generate power.  See point #1.

4.  Proper pacing.  For longer or steeper climbs, pacing is extremely important.  When you ride on the flats and you go to hard, you can easily shift down and soft pedal until you recover.  Maybe you can even coast, get a drink of water, and let your HR settle.  When you go to hard on a climb, you may not have that luxury.  You may not have any more easy gears to bail out into and can't recover.  See point #3.

2015-05-12 5:09 AM
in reply to: DV 1

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Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Originally posted by DV 1

Trying to be a better cyclist and am learning to climb this year.


As Sean Kelly told us before on a cycle Tour... " When you see a Hill"... "Paddle as F***"
2015-05-12 7:25 AM
in reply to: davidfoley

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Member
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Exton, PA
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Just remember one quote;

" shut up legs"
2015-05-12 7:27 AM
in reply to: DV 1

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754
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Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Ride more hills.

If you can, ride with someone who is slightly faster than you and will challenge you. They can even be significantly faster as long as they are willing to stay within sight. The hardest hill workout I have had is with a former pro rider. There is a 7 mile long route of non-stop climbing just outside of town. He hung next to me and chatted while I sweated and panted. Because he was with or barely ahead of me, my competitive instincts, stupid and vain as they are, kept pushing me to ride faster and harder. Of course, he could have dropped me like a bad habit without breaking a sweat, but the way he was riding really got me to push myself.

Once you get better on this hills, when it comes to your easiest "don't train in it". Keep it as an emergency reserve, and force yourself to ride in as long as possible in training rides in one gear harder than you want to use. A couple years ago before doing the Savageman 30 for the first time, I took my bike into the shop to get my 25t cassette swapped out for a 28t. The sales guy who also coaches told me not to do it. He said that I was too strong a rider, and I would become dependent on the 28t. I explained the situation, and he grumbled something then said, "don't train in it". He was right. I very rarely go beyond my 23t. Only if a grade is over 15% or if it is really hot will I go to an easier gear.
2015-05-12 7:37 AM
in reply to: DV 1

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Champion
7136
5000200010025
Knoxville area
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
raise your w/kg

That will make you a better climber than anything else.


2015-05-12 8:39 AM
in reply to: 0

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Pro
6011
50001000
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

Originally posted by Jason N

A lot of it has already been said, but hills are about...

1.  Maximizing power output.  Pretty obvious here...the more fitness you have, the faster you can climb.  There really isn't anything special about climbing fitness as compared to say flat riding fitness.

2.  Minimizing weight.  Weight makes very little difference on the flats, but will penalize you more and more the steeper the road gets.

3.  Proper gear selection.  If you are running out of gears, you aren't allowing yourself to pedal at the ideal cadence to generate power.  See point #1.

4.  Proper pacing.  For longer or steeper climbs, pacing is extremely important.  When you ride on the flats and you go to hard, you can easily shift down and soft pedal until you recover.  Maybe you can even coast, get a drink of water, and let your HR settle.  When you go to hard on a climb, you may not have that luxury.  You may not have any more easy gears to bail out into and can't recover.  See point #3.

^^^This^^^

The less obvious implication of this is that it's preferable, but not necessary, to train on hills.  For an experienced cyclist, it's possible to be fairly well prepared for a hilly ride even if all your training is someplace as flat as Florida.

 

 

 

 



Edited by TriMyBest 2015-05-12 9:04 AM
2015-05-12 8:51 AM
in reply to: 0

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Champion
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Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Originally posted by Jason N

4.  Proper pacing.  For longer or steeper climbs, pacing is extremely important.  When you ride on the flats and you go to hard, you can easily shift down and soft pedal until you recover.  Maybe you can even coast, get a drink of water, and let your HR settle.  When you go to hard on a climb, you may not have that luxury.  You may not have any more easy gears to bail out into and can't recover.  See point #3.



As an excellent example of this, and since the Giro is ongoing, watch the later climbs in a mountain leg of a professional bike race. You will see guys that are sitting within the group and hoping to hang on to the top; if they get unhinged, due to riding too hard for too long, it is easy to lose minutes per km over the rest of the climb. It almost looks like they are going backwards as the group continues up the climb.

Practice riding hills so that you are able to go strong over the top and then recover on the descent. If you routinely die before the top of a hill, start with an easier gear and back off on the effort.

Shane

Edited by gsmacleod 2015-05-12 8:51 AM
2015-05-12 9:49 AM
in reply to: TriMyBest

Master
10208
50005000100100
Northern IL
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

Originally posted by TriMyBest

Originally posted by Jason N

A lot of it has already been said, but hills are about...

1.  Maximizing power output.  Pretty obvious here...the more fitness you have, the faster you can climb.  There really isn't anything special about climbing fitness as compared to say flat riding fitness.

2.  Minimizing weight.  Weight makes very little difference on the flats, but will penalize you more and more the steeper the road gets.

3.  Proper gear selection.  If you are running out of gears, you aren't allowing yourself to pedal at the ideal cadence to generate power.  See point #1.

4.  Proper pacing.  For longer or steeper climbs, pacing is extremely important.  When you ride on the flats and you go to hard, you can easily shift down and soft pedal until you recover.  Maybe you can even coast, get a drink of water, and let your HR settle.  When you go to hard on a climb, you may not have that luxury.  You may not have any more easy gears to bail out into and can't recover.  See point #3.

^^^This^^^

The less obvious implication of this is that it's preferable, but not necessary, to train on hills.  For an experienced cyclist, it's possible to be fairly well prepared for a hilly ride even if all your training is someplace as flat as Florida.

Swap trainer for Florida and that's exactly what I've seen. I also live in northern Illinois so it's not terribly hilly when I do go outside.

And agree with all the points made. Work on your power output. Hills become easier as you get stronger. Weight tends to come with better fitness for me largely through eating better to execute workouts more effectively. Some time in there see about the gears on the bike to see if they are adequate for the rides you'll be doing. I have an 11-23 for flatter rides and 11-28 for hilly. Plenty of range for me and simple selection process. Some people may need different. Pacing certainly does matter. The earlier power development will also help in understanding this as that is part of executing a workout well.

2015-05-12 10:23 AM
in reply to: brigby1

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Ellicott City, MD
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
High cadence!
2015-05-12 3:25 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
If your race has hills, train on hills.


2015-05-12 4:27 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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Pro
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Vancouver, BC
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

Don't attack the bottom of the hill.

2015-05-12 5:55 PM
in reply to: jeng

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Champion
6503
50001000500
NOVA - Ironic for an Endurance Athlete
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

Train on bumps until they become pimples.

Then train on hills until they become bumps.

Then train on mountains until they become hills.

(And lose 10 lbs)

2015-05-13 2:27 PM
in reply to: DV 1

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DC
Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.
Pretty obvious so I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned: Stay seated. Far more efficient than getting out & really killing your legs.

Out-of-seat uphill riding has it's own benefits, but for hill-climbing-specific rides... all saddle time.
2015-05-13 3:50 PM
in reply to: Porfirio

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Subject: RE: What's the best climbing advice you ever got.

Originally posted by Porfirio Pretty obvious so I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned: Stay seated. Far more efficient than getting out & really killing your legs. Out-of-seat uphill riding has it's own benefits, but for hill-climbing-specific rides... all saddle time.

uhhh.  look up  

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