Who's idea was gravity? (Or, getting up hills more easily)

[KneesUp]

I live on the edge of the Peaks, which is lovely, but hilly, and I've never been much good with hills. I'm perfectly happy for go for a longer ride on the flat, so I tend to drive to somewhere else and start there. For reference, the combined weight of me and the bike in ready to ride form is about 90kg.

The hilliness means I ride less that I would like, as I have to allow travelling time, and it means the rest of the family don't have access to the car. But I can't avoid hills forever, and it would be nice to start a ride at home and not be knackered within the first few miles. I can easily create a loop starting at my house that is quite hilly - indeed I've just plotted the most obvious 5-mile 'block' to cycle from my house and it's 151m of ascent in 7km. or 115ft per mile in old money. So I thought as the evenings get lighter I should probably start doing some laps.

My question is, what is the best way to get better? Is it just a case of ride as much as I can, push if I have to, and keep doing it? Or is there a more scientific approach like doing shorter bursts of maximum effort, or using higher gears for a shorter time, or using lower gears so I can complete it and gradually building up?

I suppose what I want is the magic formula to get better without it being hard work. Any ideas?

 

[rugby bloke]

I started a similar thread a while ago ... you may or may not find the content useful !
To summarize - lose weight and do more climbing ...
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/different-types-of-hills.194642/

 

[Rooster1]

You are so lucky. I have to ride on flat stuff for 15 miles before I get to the hills I want to ride up. I'm a hill seeker. Ultimately, I hate them all the same once I have climbed for a bit.

 

[ColinJ]

The combined weight figure for you and the bike is all very well but it doesn't really tell us what we need to know. If the bike weighs 15 kg then you could buy a lighter bike. If you weigh 80 kg but are only 1.60 m tall then you could do with losing some weight. If your bike weighs 7 kg then you can't improve on that much and if you weigh 80 kg but are 1.96 m tall then there is not a lot of scope for sensible weight loss.

I am 1.86 m tall and the combined weight of my bike and me is currently about 95 kg. I am getting up the similarly hilly roads round here ok.

My secret is to use a combination of big sprockets and small chainrings. I have a choice of 26/28 and 28/29 on my two road bikes, 34/36 on my CX bike, and a luxuriously low 22/32 on my MTB.

With low climbing gears like those there is no problem spinning the cranks round. It is just a case of pacing. If I start to run out of breath, I slow down. If I feel it is too easy, I speed up. After a few months, breathlessness seems less of an issue, and speeds will have increased.

 

[Sharky]

But gravity is great for the descents and doesn't require any effort. Therefore if you start and finish at the same height, it must mean that for 50% of the ride, no effort has been required at all!

 

[nickyboy]

You and your bike weigh less than me and my bike. I live in a very hilly area where 100ft/mile is standard. I do long, hilly rides for pleasure. You need to do the following:

1. Ride up hills as hard as you can without expiring
2. Generate mental toughness to block out the pain

Don't worry about weight loss, gearing, cadence etc etc. Just ride hard up the hills and try to forget that it hurts. You will get better at climbing as a result

 

[jefmcg]

But gravity is great for the descents and doesn't require any effort. Therefore if you start and finish at the same height, it must mean that for 50% of the ride, no effort has been required at all!

50% of the ride in distance but not time.

Let's say you go up hill at 10mph, and downhill at 30mph. Then a 20 mile hilly loop, you spend 1 hour going up hill, and 20 minutes going down hill. So by most people's measurement, 75% of that ride is uphill.

 

[windyrider]

Ballast, is,what you need, this can be carried on the bike in the form of extra water bottles, or internally by drinking loads prior to your ride. When encountering a hill stop and have a pee, you will be lighter and able to attack the hill with vigour and determination, should you start to flag as you ascend, either stop for another pee or empty some of those extra water bottles. Friday afternoons posts may not carry advice necessarily used by the author.

 

[Tin Pot]

There is no force of gravity.

When it comes to hills, remember that you are surfing the curvature of space time.

Well it distracts me for a bit anyway.