Hills – drive up them hard, or spin until you are fitter?

[peanut]

my question is; which is the best way to improve on hills so that I'm not dead every time i hit one... should i just spin up them until i lose more weight.. or should i push myself into them and would that make a faster improvement...

Cheers.

Interesting question medi
Like you i am a big bloke recently 17st 10lbs
I started going out on my bike again after a 4 year layoff.
I decided that as I didn't have the stamina and fitness to cycle longer distances and I wanted quick results I decided to devise 3-4 local hilly loops of about 5-10 miles.

Going out once a week initially then twice a week my strategy was this .

2 mile fast warm up loop round the village followed immediately by a stiff climb for 4 miles interspaced by some recovery descents as fast as I could do it.

By week 12 I had some seriously strong leg muscles and my heart recovery rate had reduced from 15 minutes to just 2-3 minutes.
When i started I had to get out of the saddle on every hill.6 miles took me 32 minutes.
Now i can sit in all the way round the loop.6 miles takes me 24 minutes.

I kept a record of each ride on a graph and can trace my improvement .

I would suggest you set yourself a 8 or 12 week program and devise a short local hilly test loop of about 5-7 mileswhich you do as fast as possible on your own once a week ( in addition to your other rides)and record the results You'll soon see some progress

 

[Sittingduck]

Try going from Catford to Crystal Palace, if you're S London based... a very long steady climb, as I recall. Did a CC group ride there back in Jan and it was pretty gruelling for me (heavyweight too)!

Good luck
SD

EDIT: ...and if you're looking for a 7 mile(ish) route with good scenary, not too much traffic and some good up (and down) hills... you could do a lot worse than a lap of Richmond Park!

 

[Plax]

I have a lot of hills where I am. I like to sit down for the hills and spin my way up. Occasionally I will get out of the saddle and go for it, but usually this is only if I feel like trying to beat my personal best or if I'm in a bad mood (find it a good way to let of steam so to speak) otherwise I'll just take it easy.

 

[jimboalee]

Try going from Catford to Crystal Palace, if you're S London based... a very long steady climb, as I recall. Did a CC group ride there back in Jan and it was pretty gruelling for me (heavyweight too)!

Good luck
SD

EDIT: ...and if you're looking for a 7 mile(ish) route with good scenary, not too much traffic and some good up (and down) hills... you could do a lot worse than a lap of Richmond Park!

When it comes to hills, the magic number IS seven.

 

[HJ]

Depends on how long the hill is, on a short hill it is fine to just go for it, on a longer hill you need to be able to sit back and grind...

 

[SimonRoberts0204]

I was going to ask something similar but just saw this posted. My question was:

What speed to you let yourself drop to before you stand up on the pedals?

I've read a lot saying you should slog away in the seat, but today I hit a really steep hill (out of bradford-on-avon in wiltshire anyone?) and sitting down I was doing a meagre 7mph!

Im sure this varies person to person, but just interested to hear your preferences.

,Simon

 

[fossyant]

There is no hard and fast rule...........

Very individual.......

Lots depends upon what gear ratios are fitted as well....

I stand on the pedals at about 14 mph on the fixed, as that's about mid 60's RPM and I have no gears........ heh..heh..

Personally, anything less than about 65 rpm I think, I get up (out of the saddle you mucky lot), but only the fixed has a fancy computer dude......'cos I was wondering at what point my butt cooked pedalling furiously down hill....

Lots depends upon fitness, and importantly core fitness (if out the saddle)

 

[Backache]

As a fellow member of the chunky club I personally find that the only ways I have of getting up hills of any significance are by going slowly or getting off and walking.
Very short hills I occasionally cheat by getting up asmuch speed as possible going into the rise and hoping this carries me up.

Don't have any real hills in my area but whenever I go to places with hills this is all that works for me. However I do intend to practise the things when I can as was advised on a previous thread when I asked a similar question.

 

[Joe24]

With my fixed it depends how i feel. Sometimes i will go up a hill sat down, going at a speed of about 9/10mph with my legs hardly turning. Other times i will stand up and honk up a hill. It just depends.
But, as i demonstrated today on abit of the GNBR(while sort of showing off) you have to attack the hill(basicly, there was a slight hill people were struggling up, so i stood up and powered up it)
Also, try and use some momentum from the bike. So keep your legs turning on the way down, and you should be able to keep more momentum on the up(as i demonstrated again on GNBR. There was a very very nice young lady on a Planet X with TT bars, i span fast down the hill, passing her, and left the rest of the group and her going up as she lost momentum, i did slow down and wait for my group after that though)

 

[peanut]

I was going to ask something similar but just saw this posted. My question was:

What speed to you let yourself drop to before you stand up on the pedals?

I've read a lot saying you should slog away in the seat, but today I hit a really steep hill (out of bradford-on-avon in wiltshire anyone?) and sitting down I was doing a meagre 7mph!

Im sure this varies person to person, but just interested to hear your preferences.

,Simon

this is an interesting and common question for the more unfit and heavyweigh amongst us .

As a 17 stone unfit old git I can empathise completely with this problem.

You need to find the right pace that suits you, the bike and the particular hill that you are climbing at any given time.
There is no one solution.

The most important thing is to find a suitable pace that allows you to stay aerobic and that doesn't burn your legs and lungs out before you reach the top of the hill and recover.

if the hill is short (100 feet or so ) you might find it easier to power up either in the saddle or out of it . You will be at the top before 20 seconds are out and can then recover on the other side by coasting or easy riding.This will help build leg strength.

If the hill is longer (300 feet or more) then you are going to have to quickly find a pace that allows you to stay aerobic and get to the top without blowing up and falling off.

If you do not have a good out of the saddle technique then I would advise you to select the lowest but one sprocket (keep last sprocket in reserve for emergency only) and find a cadence that you know you can carry to the top . Its finding your own rythum. Depending on the steepness of the hill and your fitness this might be as low as 6-7mph.

When you become fitter and stronger you will know how to use your gears more effectively to vary your speed and the amount of energy you are expending in order to get to the top without blowing up.

I would recommend you find a local 5-7 mile local loop which includes 1 or 2 steep hills. Do the loop at least once once or twice a week and record your time ,av speed etc . it will soon improve your climbing ability and strengthen your legs . Your recovery rate will come right down and you should should see significant improvement within 6-8 weeks

 

[jimboalee]

Doesn't anyone want to know about the number 7 ??

 

[Bman]

Nah.

42 on the other hand.........

 

[dan_bo]

yeah go on jim, 7.......?


FWIW, i'm a big lad and I mix it up, depending on my level of confidence in my feggin' 10 speed chain.....

 

[jimboalee]

The 'Magic' number 7 in cycling is 7 Watts / kg.

This is the power requirement to ride up a 25% gradient.

I don't care what the on-line calculators might say, ask any experienced cyclist how difficult it is to get up a 25%.
It is also the attainment level to be a reasonable pro in sustained level cycling.

As some of you will already be aware, the gear ratio to climb a 10% is (1/weight of bike)x1000.
For every 1% increase in gradient, reduce the gear length by 1".
Thus, a 15lb bike will have a 66" gear for a 10%, and a 52" gear for a 25% hill.

A pro rider of 68 kg on his 7kg bike will need 7W x 75kg to get up the 25%, or 525 Watts. This power is OK for 29 to 30 mph sustained riding.

I ride a bike that is 24lb, so it MUST have a gear of 42" to get up a 10%. The total vehicle weight is 100kg, give or take a couple; so to get the Dawes Giro 500 up a 25%, I need to find 700 Watts from somewhere, and the gear to do that is 42 minus 15 = 27 ,,, lo and behold that's a 1:1 ratio, 30 ring to 30 sprocket.

I haven't got this gear, so getting up a 25% is a no-no for me. In San Fran', the bike did have a 1:1 and I got up the hill.

 

[SimonRoberts0204]

good stuff - thanks! Im sure you will redirect me to many previous topics for this question, but '66" gear' << I imagine this is about gear ratios, but how is it calculated?