I need to climb hills better

[jheeno]

any advice on what to do to improve my hill climbing ability aside from riding more ?

jogging ? i get bored of jogging quickly and I dont think I can keep it up for a long time

[Ross]

Unless you are planning to do triathlons I don't think jogging would have any benefit for you. Practice makes perfect, ride more hills.

[Fresh]

Lose weight and ride more hills.

[sogood]

Lose weight and just ride lots more at higher intensity.

[Baldy]

Ride with someone who is faster up hill than you.

You will go faster, eventually

[trailgumby]

Hill repeats.

Find a hill that will take you 5 minutes to climb. Climb it. Repeatedly.

Ride at low intensity for 5 minutes between starting each climb, to recover. Do it 3 times at first, then add one more per week. Make sure you're warmed up thoroughly before starting, say 25 minutes moderate effort.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

Ride with someone who is faster up hill than you.

You will go faster, eventually

1. Enter race in C grade
2. Fall off the back of the bunch on the hills
3. Ride like an idiot until you catch the back of the bunch
4. Swear because there's another hill coming up
5. Eventually get dropped, but take consolation in the fact that someone else also got dropped.
6. Take a nice ride to the finish line with new friend.
7. Do not repeat steps 2 - 6.

So that was my Saturday, how was yours?

[Baldy]

Sounds uncanningly like my one and only road race, only mine was vets D-grade

The other option for you jheeno is Strava, its a great little motivation tool.

[toolonglegs]

Eat tainted steak .

[fatherofmany]

Eat tainted steak .

Break the hill down into sections. Say 50m ahead, ride to that point then pick another point 50m ahead and ride to that. keep 'rinsing and repeating' till the hill is over.

FoM

[jheeno]

i guess the only option is to ride more hills ...
as far as lose weight ... with the bike im working on it
with the body yeah losing half a kilo here and there every fortnight

[foo on patrol]

Ride the hills as you have been and attack the last 50mtrs of it and keep going for 50mtrs over the top hard. Do this for a couple of weeks and then lift the speed on the way up while still giving it your all for the 50mtrs before and after. Just keep increasing the intensity as you find things getting easier!

[scotto]

Ride with someone who is faster up hill than you.

You will go faster, eventually

1. Enter race in C grade
2. Fall off the back of the bunch on the hills
3. Ride like an idiot until you catch the back of the bunch
4. Swear because there's another hill coming up
5. Eventually get dropped, but take consolation in the fact that someone else also got dropped.
6. Take a nice ride to the finish line with new friend.
7. Do not repeat steps 2 - 6.

So that was my Saturday, how was yours?

i noticed you did not say "do not repeat step 1" good boy !
i assume that was horsely park ? i missed that due to work but am keen to visit. it cant be worse than road racing at Oakville..

[BarryTas]

do you have a cadence monitor???????

if it's a hill ie 4 about 1-4kms long (AT) about 8% then drop it to the small chain ring and spin it at 80-90 rpm

[DaveOZ]

Just keep increasing the intensity as you find things getting easier!

Greg LeMond once said climbing "never gets easier - you just go faster". I tend to agree with him.

[fatherofmany]

Greg LeMond once said climbing "never gets easier - you just go faster". I tend to agree with him.

Is that who it was, I concur, hills are just like that.

[goneriding]

Ride with someone who is faster up hill than you.

You will go faster, eventually

1. Enter race in C grade
2. Fall off the back of the bunch on the hills
3. Ride like an idiot until you catch the back of the bunch
4. Swear because there's another hill coming up
5. Eventually get dropped, but take consolation in the fact that someone else also got dropped.
6. Take a nice ride to the finish line with new friend.
7. Do not repeat steps 2 - 6.

So that was my Saturday, how was yours?

i noticed you did not say "do not repeat step 1" good boy !
i assume that was horsely park ? i missed that due to work but am keen to visit. it cant be worse than road racing at Oakville..

Rumour has it there were a couple of LACC and Penrith guys imitating TdF broken bones in C grade.

Re the hills. IMO there are a couple of different considerations with climbing. The first is short hills that are taken at high intensity and the second is longer climbs where establishing a consistent rhythm is needed.

Hill intervals (previously mentioned) are always good for the former and latter. Getting your body used to long continuous climbs is valuable for getting your body used to climbing with respect to heart rate and position on the bike.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

1. Enter race in C grade
2. Fall off the back of the bunch on the hills
3. Ride like an idiot until you catch the back of the bunch
4. Swear because there's another hill coming up
5. Eventually get dropped, but take consolation in the fact that someone else also got dropped.
6. Take a nice ride to the finish line with new friend.
7. Do not repeat steps 2 - 6.

So that was my Saturday, how was yours?

i noticed you did not say "do not repeat step 1" good boy !
i assume that was horsely park ? i missed that due to work but am keen to visit. it cant be worse than road racing at Oakville..

Rumour has it there were a couple of LACC and Penrith guys imitating TdF broken bones in C grade.

Read the race report thread for an update on the crash.

@scotto: I'm not going to improve unless I extend myself. Horsley park was very different to what I've done before. While I regularly do roads like that at commute speed, doing it at racing speed was a shock. I haven't done Oakville yet, but Horsley and Oakville are probably the closest we'll get to open racing without leaving Sydney.

David

[ldrcycles]

Just keep increasing the intensity as you find things getting easier!

Greg LeMond once said climbing "never gets easier - you just go faster". I tend to agree with him.

GREAT quote, i'll remember that one.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to the OP, thanks to this thread i'm finally getting off my backside and doing at least an hour of hill repeats at Tinbeerwah tomorrow after work .

[MDL]

Ride the hills as you have been and attack the last 50mtrs of it and keep going for 50mtrs over the top hard. Do this for a couple of weeks and then lift the speed on the way up while still giving it your all for the 50mtrs before and after. Just keep increasing the intensity as you find things getting easier!

This tip is right, attack over the crest and keep going. This will improve your climbing ten fold. This is mentioned on a number of sites.


MDL

[jheeno]

anyone ever start at the bottom of ourimbah and bike up the main fire trail to the top where theres a telecommunications tower at the start of the DH track ?

thats the hill I want to master ..
not crawl up using the lowest gear

[Semar]

Try this. Weight training can add to on bike time.

http://www.livestrong.com/video/5189-lance-armstrongs-strength-training-workout/

[trailgumby]

anyone ever start at the bottom of ourimbah and bike up the main fire trail to the top where theres a telecommunications tower at the start of the DH track ?

thats the hill I want to master ..
not crawl up using the lowest gear

No, but I know the hill. Haven't been there for awhile. You might like to try Quarry Track at Cascades. That would be good for a few hill repeats.

Although it has gotten a little easier of late, there's a defined line formed so you don't have to battle loose stuff on top of the 20% plus average gradient

[toolonglegs]

I NEED to climb hills better to...and I have 24hours...in the next 8 days I will climb at least 8 HC climbs ....107kgs of climbing power and 24 hours notice to get ready...and I am getting paid for it .

[goneriding]

I NEED to climb hills better to...and I have 24hours...in the next 8 days I will climb at least 8 HC climbs ....107kgs of climbing power and 24 hours notice to get ready...and I am getting paid for it .

Having fun yet? Ouch