The joy of hill climbing

[fossyant]

Can't get away with hills with MTB's and even that needs a different technique due to the 'ground'. What effectively might be classes as a steep drag with tarmac, is a succession of 'intervals' - ride hard to get over obstacles, then try to recover over the easier terrain, before the next challenge.

As the 'old fashioned' saying - "practice makes perfect'. Hills never get easier, you get faster.

 

[fossyant]

Over the last few years I've worked hard on climbing, tough going when it's flat as a pancake for miles round here, about 25/30 miles to any decent hills. I like the challenge of them, there's usually fantastic scenery where there's hills & they are all different

I attempted Swiss Hill earlier this year & failed, it had been damp & drizzly most of the day & when I arrived there the cobbles were quite slippy, so much so that my rear wheel kept spinning & I was just getting slower & slower, until eventually I had to stop on the end of a driveway. I used their tarmac drive to get some momentum again, but it was all in vain When it goes left & climbs again I had to quit & turn right So on that basis it gets my vote for least favourite of 2019

It's ace Swiss Hill. Major challenge in the damp. Don't stand up, you've got to ride it sat down - PS I know the driveway to the left on the first part of the climb

 

[ianrauk]

I was never a great fan of hills. When I did a tour of Spain in 2016 in the Sierra Nevada's. The route we did was a stupidly hilly one. To be honest I wasn't looking forward to it. The tour was 295 miles with over 28,000ft of climbing. So it was going to be tough. Pencilled in on one of the days was a climb of the Pico Velete. A 30 mile climb topping out at 11,000ft. Europe's highest paved road.
This pic gives a great idea of the climb.

However, strangely, I found the climb hugely enjoyable. I found myself getting in a state of climbing Zen. Relax, find the right climbing gear and spin the pedals whilst taking in the most amazing views. If I remember correctly it took about 4 hours to climb the mountain, and about an hour and 20 to descend. The climb was far more enjoyable the the descent.
Of course this wasn't the only mountain on the tour, but it did help me look at climbing hills in a different way. Hills and mountains are there and it's easy to get stressed about them. I now take my time, I don't hare up them. I'm no racing snake and i'll get there eventually.
I found the tour so enjoyable that we went back to Spain again this year and did another mountainous road trip. This time we did about 26000ft of climbing over 339 miles and I enjoyed every single, long climb.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm loving hills again. The only problem round here there isn't any

That's the first time that I have noticed that you are in Peterborough... I'd only ever noticed the Scotland part before!

 

[CXRAndy]

Im happy doing hills, just slower than most, weighing 95+kg. I can power over small bumps, longer climbs, I get dropped.

I go to Tenerife for a week of mountain punishment with sun

 

[Ice2911]

I was never a great fan of hills. When I did a tour of Spain in 2016 in the Sierra Nevada's. The route we did was a stupidly hilly one. To be honest I wasn't looking forward to it. The tour was 295 miles with over 28,000ft of climbing. So it was going to be tough. Pencilled in on one of the days was a climb of the Pico Velete. A 30 mile climb topping out at 11,000ft. Europe's highest paved road.
This pic gives a great idea of the climb.
View attachment 496093


However, strangely, I found the climb hugely enjoyable. I found myself getting in a state of climbing Zen. Relax, find the right climbing gear and spin the pedals whilst taking in the most amazing views. If I remember correctly it took about 4 hours to climb the mountain, and about an hour and 20 to descend. The climb was far more enjoyable the the descent.
Of course this wasn't the only mountain on the tour, but it did help me look at climbing hills in a different way. Hills and mountains are there and it's easy to get stressed about them. I now take my time, I don't hare up them. I'm no racing snake and i'll get there eventually.
I found the tour so enjoyable that we went back to Spain again this year and did another mountainous road trip. This time we did about 26000ft of climbing over 339 miles and I enjoyed every single, long climb.

I know what you mean about the climbing state of mind. On my fully loaded tourer it’s finding the right gear and spin away. I get there when I get there but just seem to switch off and strangely enjoy the ride, the views definitely help.

 

[mudsticks]

I live in Devon, you can't cycle more than half a mile without going up hill.

So you can't enjoy much cycling, if you don't like hills.

My nearest 'fitness tester' is Peak Hill going west out of Sidmouth.

I expect there's some online thingy that tells you how steep and long that is, but it's a fair pull with a steeper sting in the tail towards the end.

Anyhoo, I'm 'fit enough' in my book, if I can make it up there, without standing up out of the saddle..

 

[3narf]

I love climbs. I moved from Stroud to Tetbury a year ago and my total climbing dropped 20,000 feet. I like short sharp climbs I can do on my singlespeed but I need to find some longer ones - I'm planning on climbing Mt Ventoux this summer.

 

[presta]

There aren't any hills around these parts, but when I'm touring I make a beeline for the places where I used to go fellwalking.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

We were out on a relaxed club ride last night when we came to a 7% hill. Cue bit of friendly fun to reach the top first. Hit my highest HR of this year and came in third. Then further on, a 8% hill which I got to the top first at a very slightly lower HR. All brilliant fun and good for fitness.

 

[Threevok]

Where I live, if you're not doing hills, your not going anywhere

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Where I live, if you're not doing hills, your not going anywhere

Yeah, whenever I rider in Wales I have to remind myself the hills are a bit longer than round here and that I need to pace it out and not hit my max HR in a couple of mins.

 

[Algarvecycling]

I like hills, always had a decent power to weight ratio and only weigh in at 65kg and have a 6kg road bike!

Last Sunday I did a 110km with over 1600m of climbing involved, taking in a 6km stretch at an average of 8% and then Foia, our highest point of the Algarve, which is a 7km segment at an average of 6%. Geraint Thomas won a recent Volta do Algarve stage there, so my PR is way down a very prestigious list of Pro's! Lots of shorter hill segments before these two though and it is uphill pretty much non-stop for 20km or so and 900m on the road to Monchique and Foia from where I am.

Malhao is the region's toughest climb and gets to nearly 20% in places! Another Pro Tour favourite.

Although I'm ok on longer, steady hills, I am a pretty decent sprinter too so do better on short ones at 5-7% of around 1 - 2 minutes at full gas when going for KOM's and racing etc.

We have an MTB Club ride this weekend where we are doing a 43km route that will climb nearly 1700m.

 

[johnblack]

If I head out one way from my house it's pretty flat with the odd hill, if I head the other, I can guarantee plenty of short sharp climbs at 10-15%, the longest anywhere near me is about a mile. I always tend to head out to the hilly side. I want to stay as bike fit as possible for as long as I can so avoiding hills is pointless.

Having never ridden mountains, before I went to to the Alps I got myself ready for the long duration climbs by using a Wattbike on a harder setting, riding a lower cadence (I only have a 39-28) at sweetspot, horrible, but nicely effective. Next time I might just swap out to a compact!

 

[ColinJ]

Hey, I'll tell you who loves hills... Liam, son of our @PaulB. I was just reading the current issue of Cycling Weekly and spotted him as a featured rider in a fitness article - 2019, Your Year In Numbers. Apparently, he cycled 10,682 miles with, wait for it... 1,077,906 ft of ascent! Wow!!!