Tell me how to love hills...

[Javabob]

At the weekend I decided to tackle some big hills around Lyme Regis (14/15%)1500ft of climbing in 28miles. ABSOLUTELY hated it at the time, but I learned what works for me, spinning & sat down for those that want to know. The swearing as I creasted each one helped, as did not puking! looking back now it’s with a sense of pride as I only got back into serious riding before Christmas. Now planning next training ride around home, looking to do several hills repeatedly & not go for just distance.
I’m using the advice in this thread to approach hills without a feeling of dread

 

[colly]

I just found this video taken from a wobbly rear-facing camera on an ascent of Mytholm Steeps. Either the rider was very fit, or riding an e-bike!

The first part of the climb is so brutal that the second half feels easy in comparison but you can see that it keeps going up for a considerable distance.

That cant be far from you Colin
Have you ever been up there on any of your forum rides?

 

[rogerzilla]

I know this is an ancient thread but...

Start climbing slower than you think you should be going. If you feel a bit guilty, as if you're soft-pedalling, this is right. Halfway up the hill, you'll start to pass all those who started climbing at the fastest speed they thought they could sustain, blew up, and had to throttle right back.

Gearing is not that important on an unloaded bike. It takes the same amount of time and hurts about as much whatever gear you choose. On a loaded touring bike you do need lower gears to winch yourself along.

Try a fixed gear if you can. They climb like a rat up a drainpipe. It's not just the low weight, it's the fact that they turn the cranks for you. All you need to do is push and pull.

 

[ColinJ]

That cant be far from you Colin
Have you ever been up there on any of your forum rides?

It starts at Church Lane, about 0.5 km out of Hebden Bridge town centre towards Todmorden, on the right. It comes into Blackshaw Head along Badger Lane.

I toyed with doing it on a forum ride but we used to start from Hebden Bridge and it is a bit brutal without a warm-up! I suggested it a couple of times at the end of a ride, but nobody seemed keen for some reason ...

I might see if anybody fancies a ride with a selection of such tough local climbs included. There used to be an Audax ride called the Hebden Bridge Star which did that, but I don't think it is run any more. (I reckon it killed off all those mad enough to tackle it! ) I thought it was an interesting event but I was not keen on how it joined the climbs up. (There was a lot of u-turning at summits and going back the way you came.) If I organised something similar then I would try not to ride roads in both directions, and keep off main roads as much as possible. It would be interesting to see what I could come up with. It would be 100-110 km in length with 2,000 - 2,500 metres of ascent, including a lot at 15+%.