The first half completely shields the second half from view!
That doesn't look super steep, around what 6% without the flat section?
Tell me how to love hills...
- Thread starter capricapers
- Start date
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That doesn't look super steep, around what 6% without the flat section?
nickAKA
Über Member
- Location
- Manchester
It's hard to put your finger on what it is that gets you over the top when you feel like quitting, but riding in a group can certainly help. I occasionally ride with 2 mates - one's a good few years younger than me & he's taking it all pretty seriously (training for triathlons on the quiet) and is faster & stronger than I am... Climbs for long spells out of the saddle, a bit of a machine, hates finishing behind anyone. The other lad I went to school with, he's relatively slow but fearless... never seen him quit on any climb, takes on everything, he grinds & grinds but always makes it.
Combination of riding with those two spurs me on.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Around that... It isn't super-steep overall but it has some much steeper ramps and especially where you don't want them, right at the top! The main problem for me was that I had already done a lot of climbing before I even got there, I weighed about 16 stone at the time, my back was hurting, and I had paced myself to what I thought was the summit, knowing that there was a huge downhill ahead of me. And there was - only... not yet!
stalagmike
Enormous member
- Location
- Milton Keynes
Watch Fabio Aru and how he gets up hills. It might not work for you but it would be fun trying to copy his style.
OP
OP
capricapers
Active Member
All our expert advice has turned you in to a climber alreadykeep at it
Cheers 13Rider ! You are all so helpful and motivating
Bonus
Veteran
- Location
- Ainsa, Spain
We live in the foothills of the Pyrenees. You soon have to learn to love the climbs!
Come and practice here :-)
Come and practice here :-)
Can confirm, some amazing roads in your part of the world. Went through there on tour a couple of years back. I clearly remember the road to Campo, absolutely no shelter from the sun until the top. Clearly not a place for Scottish people
davidphilips
Veteran
- Location
- Onabike
Only advice i can offer is this hills dont get any easier (for me) no matter how hard i train, but i do get faster the more i do them, so just start to enjoy them and the more you enjoy them the faster you will go up them.
Chappy
Guru
- Location
- Dorchester
I have done this a number of times and I really like it, you feel great when you get to the top.
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Bonus
Veteran
- Location
- Ainsa, Spain
Can confirm, some amazing roads in your part of the world. Went through there on tour a couple of years back. I clearly remember the road to Campo, absolutely no shelter from the sun until the top. Clearly not a place for Scottish people
The road between Ainsa and Campo is a great road for road-riding, clean, wide and not too busy - but yes, it faces south and catches the sun all day. The road heading north from Ainsa to France is better in summer - either early or late. Lots of shade from each side.
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adamangler
Veteran
- Location
- Wakefield
I love hills. Long rides on the flat are boring and throw in a headwind and they can be much more mentally draining than hills.
The great thing about hills is very rarely do they last more than 20 mins in this country so the suffering is over fairly quickly and then you get a break as you freewheel down the other side.
Sometimes I'll climb one grinding, next one spinning, next one out of saddle or all 3 on one climb.
What I like about a good hard climb is the way you don't think about anything else but the pain and your breathing, it's like meditation on the bike just trying to hold the effort all the way up.
The great thing about hills is very rarely do they last more than 20 mins in this country so the suffering is over fairly quickly and then you get a break as you freewheel down the other side.
Sometimes I'll climb one grinding, next one spinning, next one out of saddle or all 3 on one climb.
What I like about a good hard climb is the way you don't think about anything else but the pain and your breathing, it's like meditation on the bike just trying to hold the effort all the way up.
I used to cycle a lot as a young girl and as a teenage tomboy, took great pleasure in beating the boys on the straight, in my single-speed, huge-wheeled Raleigh that my father bought for a tenner.
I had a few road bikes after that and loved them too. The sensation of speed was exhilarating. Then, in the 90s, and noughties, I somehow ditched the racer and went around on a MTB. Now, in my late 40s, I bought a women’s Specialized Tarmac Disc Expert (I secretly wanted the S-Works really!) and took to road biking again. I discovered Strava (the dreaded ‘S’ word) and found, to my amazement and delight that some of my very first rides on my new road bike had segments that put me in the top 10 or 20 of all-time women. HOWEVER, even with a new and beautiful road bike, I am still crap at hills. I can get up them - even though I dread and hate them - but I can’t go fast up them and I certainly don’t enjoy them. On the hills, I don’t know where to look - do I look at the horizon or down at the floor and pretend the ground is flat? I feel a bit of a cheat and a rubbish cyclist if all my achievements and strengths are sprinting or on sharp/severe or even very gentle descents. I can go on moderately long rides (60 miles) on my own, averaging 16mph or more and I am not afraid to plummet down hills at 40mph but my average mph falls to 14.5 overall when hills (inclines) are factored in. Sometimes I climb at a ridiculous 5mph. Is this largely a physical or a mental thing? I am 5ft4’ and have a typically athletic and muscular frame. I have never been skinny. In an ideal world, I would lose 8lb (and be 9 stone) but despite playing a lot of sport (netball, badminton, tennis, yoga) I can’t shift the 8lb.
Sooo, how can I get better at hills? Is it
A) learn to love them (mind over matter)
B) lose the 8lb, you lard-a*se !
C) practice, practice, practice, train, train, train
My pescetarian diet is based on non-processed, natural foods. I am not a cake-eater!
Thanks for reading through this and I hope you can help me to improve. As you can tell, I am very impatient
i hate hills but unfortunatley for me there are loads and some are pretty steep around here and im a fat ass and i encounter them on the way back after cycling 30-40 miles and knackered.
all i can say is keep at them and get used to them, your stamina will soon increase and the hills will get a lot easier, don't be afraid to lower your gearing to the lowest you can and try and keep a steady cadence even if you only do a few mph as long as you stay on the bike tilll the very top you win
when im knackered and climbing a steep long hill i find that thinking about other things and ignoring my burning legs makes the climb feel faster by a fair bit but if i just think this sucks my legs are burning etc wheres the top of this hill it feels like it takes ages.
oh im always taking hills in the saddle it is very rare for me to stand up on my bikes
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delb0y
Legendary Member
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos
Wish I could get up hills at 5 mph ! The last one I went up there was a horse and rider in front of me, and a lady rambler behind me, and we all maintained the same speed... which was a lot lower than 5 mph.
Can't say I like hills, but I dislike not getting up them, so this year I have been actively seeking out the steep ones round these parts. I'm an in-saddle spinner, and with mountain-bike gearing have found I can get up most things, but I still find when things get really steep (20%+) I have to take each pedal stroke at a time and ask myself "Is it hurting too much yet?" and "Can I turn the pedals again?". So long as the answers are no and yes I make another turn of the pedals.
Derek
Can't say I like hills, but I dislike not getting up them, so this year I have been actively seeking out the steep ones round these parts. I'm an in-saddle spinner, and with mountain-bike gearing have found I can get up most things, but I still find when things get really steep (20%+) I have to take each pedal stroke at a time and ask myself "Is it hurting too much yet?" and "Can I turn the pedals again?". So long as the answers are no and yes I make another turn of the pedals.
Derek
nickAKA
Über Member
- Location
- Manchester
My threshold on the really steep stuff is "am I about to fall off?"
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I think 'steep' is when there is a difficult choice to make between leaning forward to stop the front end lifting off the road, and leaning back to stop the rear wheel slipping! It is usually possible to manage it on a clean and dry steep road, but it can be very tricky on a dusty and/or wet one.My threshold on the really steep stuff is "am I about to fall off?"
