Keeping up climbing fitness with a lack of available hours..

[mgs315]

Hi all,

I’ve been working towards climbing ability where possible but recently been encountering long weekday hours accompanied with many Sundays (which are my club ride days) working away.

Any recommendations on what to do to try keep whatever gains I’ve made and look at improving? Alas it’s usually way too dark when I start and finish right now and I’ve currently resorted to gym spin classes and personal interval sessions on the spin bikes with a few road hours here and there when time allows.

Whilst I guess I’m keeping a decent enough level of fitness with the classes I’m worried about losing my distance ability whilst still climbing well (currently happy to do 50ish lumpy miles at around 14-15mph).

Any tips for keeping speed up over longer hilly miles when time is tight? Ideally anecdotal stuff.

 

[dan_bo]

Go hard mate. As much as possible.

 

[ColinJ]

Go hard mate. As much as possible.

But allowing adequate recovery time in between those hard efforts ...!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Yep, hard intervals. What do you mean by too dark? Nothing a good front light will not sort. Hill repeats if one is close. An hour going up and down a suitable hill keeps the climbing fitness going.

 

[Racing roadkill]

If you want hill endurance, ride hill repeats, as steep, and fast as you can manage. If you want distance fitness, you have to ride for a long time, there’s no getting around it. L.I.S.S for distance, fast hard hill repeats for climbing endurance.

 

[hoopdriver]

Nothing replaces being on the bike, but if you are looking for gym stuff to supplement your training the cross-trainer (elliptical machine) is pretty useful. Set the resistance on a fairly high level and go for some long hard slogs. I have been doing that this winter, since I don't much care to ride on frosty pavements (especially not on frosty hilly pavement!) and have been very pleased with the results. I'm more hill-fit now than I was last autumn and I've hardly been on the bike at all over winter.

 

[screenman]

Lose weight, if you have none to lose do not gain any.

 

[Racing roadkill]

As Colin Chapman famously said, add lightness.

 

[ColinJ]

Nothing replaces being on the bike, but if you are looking for gym stuff to supplement your training the cross-trainer (elliptical machine) is pretty useful.

I thought they would be good for me the last time I went in a gym, about 20 years ago. In reality the particular pattern of movement was very bad for my iffy hips. I don't have joint problems when cycling or walking, but the elliptical machine made my hips ache in less than 5 minutes. I went back to using the gym bike, and my favourite - the Concept 2 rowing machine.