How long????

[giantrock]

How long was when you started riding that your speed got faster and the hills became a bit easier??? I have been riding for around 3mths now between a MTB and the road bike and since riding the roadie I am enjoying it a lot. I can get up to around 20k's on a flat on the roadie and I am still struggling with the hills but am keen to try and make them easier.. So any suggestions from anyone???????

[philip]

your speed got faster and the hills became a bit easier?

The hills either get easier or faster, not both

I think this will depend on a lot of factors - how fit you are to start off with, how often you ride/how long you ride for etc. There's a hill near my place (max gradient 17%) that my dad took 6 months of trying nearly every day until he managed riding up it without getting off and walking.

[chris641]

I've been riding for about 4 months now.

If you want to get better at hills/mountains.. do a lot of them. Simple as that. Practice good climbing technique, both sitting and standing. The more climbing you do the more you will build up the climbing specific muscles. As for a time frame.. depends on a lot of things and its really too hard to tell..

Oh... and mountains never get easy You just learn to deal with the pain better. You may start going quicker up the mountain, but its going to hurt just as much!

[pm0203]

No easy solution, just do it

But remember to also mix it up so you are good at both hills and sprinting. So interval work is also a must.

[giantrock]

Do you sit in the saddle when clinbing hills or do you stand??? I keep getting told to sit in the saddle and I have gotten use to this idea and feel quiet lazy whilst doing this........

[Aushiker]

Do you sit in the saddle when clinbing hills or do you stand???

I do both. It really depends on how I feel, how I am spinning, the hill, the wind, etc.

Andrew

[toolonglegs]

Do both...but if you feel lazy when sitting then push harder...simple.Get out of the granny gear or up to cadence 10 rpm.Standing uses up your calf muscles which are relatively small compared to your thighs...so mix it up.I stand to give my body a break even thou it raises my heart rate,it gives my groin a breather!.
It takes years to get proper cycling legs...but you will see improvements often if you push yourself.You have to stress your body so it compensates by coming back stronger...as long as you get adequate rest.

[Bnej]

It took me about 2 years to really start looking forward to the hills. I always had a desire to be good at climbing, to be able to give people a scare...

Now riding up hills is my favourite part. I can go decently fast.

But going really quick still hurts, you just recover from it quicker, and you get used to the sensations.

Still not fast enough.

[giantrock]

What would be a good training program for a beginner??? How many times a week should I ride and how many km's??? How much recovery time do I need also?? Should you eat certain foods or just what you already eat??????

[Aushiker]

What would be a good training program for a beginner??? How many times a week should I ride and how many km's??? How much recovery time do I need also?? Should you eat certain foods or just what you already eat??????

G'day

I used this training routine in the beginning which was recommended here. Also I have a link to an article here on post ride recovery amongst others.

There is also an article in the November/December 08 edition of the Australian Cyclist titled A bridge too far on training or over training.

Andrew

[sogood]

Oh... and mountains never get easy You just learn to deal with the pain better.

How true and very well said!

[sogood]

It takes years to get proper cycling legs...but you will see improvements often if you push yourself.You have to stress your body so it compensates by coming back stronger...as long as you get adequate rest.

Very good reason why one should start when young.

For the late starters, once over the rapid improvement phase of the first two year, then one has to take the longer view and see improvements in periods of one season at a time.

[two40]

What would be a good training program for a beginner??? How many times a week should I ride and how many km's??? How much recovery time do I need also?? Should you eat certain foods or just what you already eat??????

When I bought my bike I laid out a plan of going for 10km rides for the first month and increasing the amount by 10km each month. That lasted till my second ride when I went 20km's on mostly flat road. Fourth time out I did 30km's. I've only been out 5 times but tomorrow I plan on going 50km's and by the end of the year I can see myself doing a century. Plan might change but plans aren't concrete.

If you feel up to it go for longer. Why should you limit yourself to a plan if you feel good one day and think you can go twice as far? Ride as much as you can and as often as you can but rest the following day. The more you ride the more you should eat as with all exercise. Your body will tell you this anyway.

[Aushiker]

G'day

This article, called Homebrew Fitness Testing has just popped up on BikeRadar.com. Might be of interest to you.

Andrew

[chris641]

It takes years to get proper cycling legs...but you will see improvements often if you push yourself.You have to stress your body so it compensates by coming back stronger...as long as you get adequate rest.

Very good reason why one should start when young.

I love being 18

[Alex Simmons/RST]

G'day

This article, called Homebrew Fitness Testing has just popped up on BikeRadar.com. Might be of interest to you.

Andrew

Whose the dill that wrote that I wonder?

[two40]

That was a nice read dill. Thanks

[ni78ck]

That was a nice read dill. Thanks

+1

[toolonglegs]

Good read Alex...I used to do just that on a few climbs in Sydney...although not quite as long or as step as you mentioned.But I have literally dozens of 10k plus climbs with 5% plus gradients around now ...might be a good time to find one and do a prelim test...and do some suffering Luckily I have no way of working out the exact gradients with out going to some of the better known climbs...so wont embarrass myself with my power to weight ratio!.

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Thanks guys

I expect to keep writing items for them. Always interested in items you'd like to see covered.

[bentspoke]

Great article Alex. Which hills would you recommend in the Sydney region? I have a bunch of times up Waterfall Hill, but its not ideal since there is a relatively long flat bit in the middle. Thanks.

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Great article Alex. Which hills would you recommend in the Sydney region? I have a bunch of times up Waterfall Hill, but its not ideal since there is a relatively long flat bit in the middle. Thanks.

Waterfall is pretty good as it is fairly well sheltered. So the small false flat section wouldn't be that big a deal.

There's also the climb from bottom of Waterfall to Garie's beach turnoff.

[Ant.]

your speed got faster and the hills became a bit easier?

The hills either get easier or faster, not both

Maybe I just need to htfu and push myself some more, because this morning they were both.
Over the past 3 weeks i've shed 4kg and the hills I normally used to struggle over on a daily basis, well, I was kicking their ass! Felt so great in fact, I done the 43km route twice

I do believe this is a valid excuse to buy a full carbon bike

[philip]

your speed got faster and the hills became a bit easier?

The hills either get easier or faster, not both

Maybe I just need to htfu and push myself some more, because this morning they were both.
Over the past 3 weeks i've shed 4kg and the hills I normally used to struggle over on a daily basis, well, I was kicking their ass! Felt so great in fact, I done the 43km route twice

nice effort. Actually yeah, the more I think about it the more I think being able to manage struggling/effort/pain is just as important as becoming fit. I have sometimes ridden with unfit friends, who I reckon must've never got their heart rate above 100 in their entire lives or something, because as soon as they start sweating a little bit or breathing harder than they do when they sleep, they say they have to stop and have a rest and say they can't go on etc. When I look at them they really don't look buggered - so yeah, it's all about HTFU'ing.

[giantrock]

I know that I am not a very fit person but I push myself as much as I can and 9 times out of 10 I never get of the bike I keep on going but am feeling like I am not achieving anything yet....... Maybe as they say patience is a virtue hahahaha. At the moment I have not been able to do a lot on the bike as hubby is away and won't be back until Friday so I have to use the MTB which is still a good workout with 17 kilos on the back hahaha. Tomorrow I may be getting my back wisdom tooth pulled out so I will wait and see how that all goes before I rush back onto the bike..........