Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

auswi2
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Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby auswi2 » Sat Mar 30, 2013 10:41 am

Hello,

I am looking to improve my endurance and speed so tomorrow morning I will do the MT Gravatt Hill climb.

Hills are not my strong point so this is what I need to work on.

How many repeats should I be trying to do to help improve my cycling??

Should I be using my granny gear on my Merida Road Bike to get up the hill or trying to use a harder gear.

I generally use water only when riding. Would that be ok for the ride tomorrow.

Any advise would be great

Thanks

Auswi2

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brett.hooker
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby brett.hooker » Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:23 pm

Love it!!!! I am sure the pros will have some proper input for you, but as a weekend warrior, here goes...

Feel free to do as many repeats as your body will let you. Don't bust a muscle though; you want to be able to go back tomorrow. :-)

Definitely use the granny gear... Better to err on the side if higher cadence than higher power. Grinding a low gear will just wear you out and not allow you to increase your hill climbing fitness.


Ps yay for the Merida!!! I changed the 11-25 that came on my Merida for a 12-27 to help with keeping my cadence up on climbing... Mt coottha and mt nebo are my local climbs, and that one little change helped a lot for me... Now I am starting to get some sort of fitness on the climbs I can choose to use the 27 or the 24 depending on the gradient and my heart rate...

thearthurdog
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby thearthurdog » Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:28 pm

A lot of that question depends upon your level of experience, what your goals are etc.

mjd
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby mjd » Sat Mar 30, 2013 12:31 pm

Not familiar with the climb but generally gear selection should be whatever your comfortable with & a gear that you can maintain steady rhythm. Try & stay seated & keep the power delivery smooth, focus on a good cadence & power that allows you to go top to bottom in a smooth manner, not surge grovel surge :lol: & as I said staying seated is a good idea for strength work. Without knowing your background of riding its hard to give to much advice other then general stuff. Not sure of repeats as your own knowledge of your fitness etc can tell you that. After working on it for a while you will be able to workout what is best for you.

Crawf
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby Crawf » Sat Mar 30, 2013 1:10 pm

MtG is a nice easy one for beginners I think. The first few hundred metres are actually the worst, then it evens out, there are 2 flat bits where you can rest/roll for a few seconds then kick on, so just keep that in your mind at the beginning.
Dont be pressured to go fast by cars or to catch anyone, just sit and spin, when you come around the bend at the end and see the restaurant 'give it' some to finish off strong. Roll down for recovery. Then rinse and repeat.
You could then hit Coottha 'front' and the harder 'back'.

marinmomma
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby marinmomma » Sat Mar 30, 2013 2:23 pm

Mt Gravatt was the first climb that I did, nearly killed me at the time but I made it!
The first half is def the steeper bit then it flattens out a bit so you can recover before you get to the last 300-400 meters then it kicks up again as you go around the last corner and past the cafe.

Work towards being able to do a few repeats then Coottha will start calling! Front way is easier then go the back...then there's Nebo, mt Mee, Springbrook...and before you know it the 3 peaks challenge will start calling your name :wink:

Edited to say that hills are not my strong point either and probably never will be however working on them certainly helps to improve your riding, well, that my experience anyways...I manage to get up them so I can enjoy riding back down.

auswi2
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby auswi2 » Sat Mar 30, 2013 3:01 pm

Thanks for your advise.

I have been riding off and on for a bout 2 years but only recently got into cycling a lot more.

I am trying to lose weight as I weigh 102kg at 5ft 11.

I doing martial arts during the week and cycling on weekends and during the week where i can fit it in.

To give you an idea of where i am at with my current fitness and training I done a 50km ride yesterday morning and it took me 2 hours and 2 mins and my average was 24.4kph

I do want to learn more about eating while out on a ride but I am not a fan of the energy gels or bars so may go with banana's etc

thanks

auswi2

mjd
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby mjd » Sat Mar 30, 2013 4:37 pm

Want some great recipes for on & off the bike then this is a great book http://www.skratchlabs.com/products/the ... e-cookbook" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. They have a new book coming soon called feedzone portables, I bought this book online through Australian online store. Highly recommend it got a few staples out of this book for bike food & dinners.
As for improving your riding just ride as often as you can for as long as you can. Build some endurance & then focus on other stuff.

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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby jacob_T » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:05 am

auswi2 wrote:Thanks for your advise.

I have been riding off and on for a bout 2 years but only recently got into cycling a lot more.

I am trying to lose weight as I weigh 102kg at 5ft 11.

I doing martial arts during the week and cycling on weekends and during the week where i can fit it in.

To give you an idea of where i am at with my current fitness and training I done a 50km ride yesterday morning and it took me 2 hours and 2 mins and my average was 24.4kph

I do want to learn more about eating while out on a ride but I am not a fan of the energy gels or bars so may go with banana's etc

thanks

auswi2
Don't stress too much about it. Just get out and try it.

I wouldn't worry about gels or powerade etc. Take a banana or two and make sure you drink lots of water.

Also, make sure you take some time out at the top to have a look around, soak up the view, and remind yourself you got there with your own legs - it's a really great feeling.

Let us know how you go.

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foo on patrol
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:51 am

Stay on your seat and build up the effort as you get to the top and keep it going for another 100mts. If you train yourself to climb like this you will do plenty of damage to others around you if you start to race. :twisted:

You don't want to be running out of puff half way up the climb, so go steady for your first couple of runs until, you have figured out how you can attack it and go from there. Don't do consecutive days of hurt, you need to allow time for your muscles to repair themselves after the day of hurt. :wink:

Once you have figured out the your ability you will be able to start to lift the intensity of the climb from different points up the hill. :idea:

Foo

auswi2
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby auswi2 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:01 am

Hi fellow riders.

Am back from my 1st time going up Mt Gravatt hill. It will not be my last time great ride.

I only ended up doing it 2.5 times did not have the legs to do 3. (I know slack effort, At least it is a start. I put the bike in the easiest gear 28 and tried to stay relax all the way up whilst sitting down except for a small portion I got out of the seat.

I got up there the 1st time in 12 minutes and 13 minutes for the 2nd time. I had a good feeling when I saw the 200 metre mark before the top of the hill

The view is fantastic from the top. going down hill can be super quick if I was not braking most of the way down. I must admit that I did not push myself to my limit s for the 1st time

Thanks for all the advise. My next goal is to go up and down the hill 4 times

Cheers

auswi2

fluro2au
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby fluro2au » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:52 am

Well done on having a crack up Mt Gravatt.

For now just stick with 3 repeats MAX, until you start seeing some quicker times.

I usually on stick with 3 repeats and my current PB is 5:31

A way of improving your time up there will be to do things like this

Session 1
40sec seated, 20sec HARD (in the same gear, but really get the cadence UP), repeat this cycle

Session 2
3 x (500m hard, 1km tempo, 500m hard)

Session 3
3 x 30sec hard, 30sec tempo,repeat this cycle)

Session 4
1 x Just do 1 repeat (AT) MAX effort (test)

Session 5
1km hard, 1km tempo
1km tempo, 1km hard
500m tempo, 1km hard, 500m tempo

Session 6
1x (50sec tempo, 10 second BG out of the saddle sprint sprint)

There you go, that is 6 weeks of sessions, which is basically what I do.

Hope it helps

Paul

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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby macca33 » Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:10 am

Good effort auswi2!!! Hills are not my specialty either - gravity seems to fight against my sizeable frame whilst going up inclines...lol. If you keep at it, improvement is there to be had.

Interestingly, I did 50Km yesterday, which had 1100m of climbing and was tough (for me!), but, this morning - in abhorrent conditions - I went out and took 21 seconds off my PB on the 2Km Bona Vista climb down here - and had a smidgen more left in the tank, so will crack 5:00min the next time!

cheers.

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Derny Driver
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby Derny Driver » Mon Apr 01, 2013 5:02 pm

I dont know the hill but the best ones for hill repeats are around 4 percent and take about 10 mins to climb. Stay seated and count your cadence occasionally to make sure it is 60. At the top do not come straight down but ride around for 10 mins before descending. Very important cos if you start the next one too soon you will still be lactic. That makes 20 mins per climb and 3 in the hour. Do 3 and go home. Do 2 to 3 days a week of this or you are wasting your time as an occasional one off. Week 1 would be 3 days x 3 repeats in the 39 - 27. Week 2 use 39- 25 (9 sets all up). Week 3 use 39-23. Week 4 use 39- 21. All at cadence 60. After 4 weeks get off the hill and ride normally again. You will be notably stronger. But you have to dedicate a month to the hill strengthies. Probably more than what you are thinking but its a tried and tested method elite riders use and you will see huge performance improvements in the months that follow the hill repeat block.

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Nikolai
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby Nikolai » Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:17 pm

Derny Driver wrote:Stay seated and count your cadence occasionally to make sure it is 60.
What's so special about this cadence? Or the gear ratios you recommend?

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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby thearthurdog » Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:37 pm

^^ what Nikolai said. 60rpm is getting well and truly into strength endurance territory and I'm not convinced that someone who is a 'newbie' needs to be training like that.

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Derny Driver
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby Derny Driver » Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:58 pm

No one has to take my advice. The op said he wants to improve endurance, asked how many reps and what gears to use. So ive given an answer. Ive described how to do strength endurance training block. A newby may not wish to do it. Maybe ive over-answered the question. But thats how to do.
The gearing needs to get harder each week in order to overload and improve strength. 60 is the optimal cadence for strength building but not neecessarily the fsstest way up the hill. But this is a training thread. And the question was about building endurance using a hill.

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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby clydesmcdale » Tue Apr 02, 2013 11:14 am

Good effor ton the repeating for your first time, first time I went up, I swore not to do it again :lol:

Mt Gravatt is my local. I ride past it every day on my commute. Live about 500m from the entry to the base and can see it from the back deck at home.
At first it was a challenge for a fat bloke like me, but as I got stronger and lighter it's become easier with repitition.

Personally, I break it down into segments of 500m or so.
First 500m I like to get out of the saddle and grind up to get the heart pumping. It's the most difficult part anyway and nice to get it over with.
Second 500m I just set myself into a rythm and spin away nicely
Third 500m is a bit of a break and if in the mood i'll pick up the speed or have a rest (can even freewheel a bit near the tanks)
Last 500m lay some more power down in a tougher gear staying in the saddle to get myelf up to the summit knowing I can soon have a break.

I always also do a few laps of the roundabout at the top just to rest the heartrate and take in the view. The descent is much more enjoyable when you're not sucking in deep breaths and suffering.

fluro2au wrote: Session 1
40sec seated, 20sec HARD (in the same gear, but really get the cadence UP), repeat this cycle
Session 2
3 x (500m hard, 1km tempo, 500m hard)
Session 3
3 x 30sec hard, 30sec tempo,repeat this cycle)
Session 4
1 x Just do 1 repeat (AT) MAX effort (test)
Session 5
1km hard, 1km tempo
1km tempo, 1km hard
500m tempo, 1km hard, 500m tempo
Session 6
1x (50sec tempo, 10 second BG out of the saddle sprint sprint)
There you go, that is 6 weeks of sessions, which is basically what I do.
Definitley giving this a go too. All makes sense to me and I think the hill suits it.

marinmomma
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby marinmomma » Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:05 pm

auswi2 wrote:Hi fellow riders.

Am back from my 1st time going up Mt Gravatt hill. It will not be my last time great ride.

Cheers

auswi2
Congratulations, well done! Repeats on your first run! Awesome.

master6
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby master6 » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:29 pm

Auswi2, who are the people giving advice here? Have they been 102kg at 5'11"? Some probably know what they are talking about. Some possibly dont.

What kind of expertise do I have? Stuff all. I have been racing for 56 years, and finished the Grafton to Inverell 7 times. Nothing special. I am an average mug.

Now you can decide whether my advice is worth considering.

My advice is:-

You are overweight, and need to remedy this before worrying about hill climbing. Climb a hill if it appears in front of you, but dont go out seeking hills.
Just ride, increasing your distances and weekly totals slowly. When you get down to 80kg, and 300km per week, get your slim self into deliberate hill climbing, seeking them out as you are now.
Get the crawling perfected before you launch into walking.
No rush.

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brett.hooker
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby brett.hooker » Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:41 pm

118kg 5'8" 18 months ago... Still 5'8" but 94 kg now... Still a long way to go... Love hills on a bike as my preferred version of weight training. I am not fast, but I love the feeling of conquering a hill... I have always found my riding to be both therapeutic and healthy...

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Derny Driver
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby Derny Driver » Fri Apr 05, 2013 11:00 am

master6 wrote:Auswi2, who are the people giving advice here? Have they been 102kg at 5'11"? Some probably know what they are talking about. Some possibly dont.

What kind of expertise do I have? Stuff all. I have been racing for 56 years, and finished the Grafton to Inverell 7 times. Nothing special. I am an average mug.

Now you can decide whether my advice is worth considering.

My advice is:-

You are overweight, and need to remedy this before worrying about hill climbing. Climb a hill if it appears in front of you, but dont go out seeking hills.
Just ride, increasing your distances and weekly totals slowly. When you get down to 80kg, and 300km per week, get your slim self into deliberate hill climbing, seeking them out as you are now.
Get the crawling perfected before you launch into walking.
No rush.
Good advice master 6 but people like you are in a minority on this forum. It seems to me that most people on here are just recreational bike riders who love riding their bikes. Your plan will turn them into a competent cyclist, possibly a racing cyclist, Im not sure the OP wants that. His personal challenge is to climb a hill. I doubt he will take your advice or mine for that matter. But its good to put it out there.
I can vouch for fluro, I know him personally and he is an excellent coach. He is great with the powermeter stuff which I know little about. I come from a fairly famous cycling family, my dad and his brothers rode dozens of Graftons. Whe I was a kid I remember hanging out with my dads mate Jack Griffin. http://nsw.cycling.org.au/?Page=49832" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; My uncle, like Jack also received an OAm for services to Australian cycling.
My achievements do not equal those of my dad and his brothers but I am respected by the guys I train and thats all I care about. Im happy to share anything I have learned and I dont care if people agree with me or not.
My son is following the family tradition and looking to ride all the big Australian races. Last year he was granted special permission to ride the Goulburn to Sydney and was one of the youngest riders ever to compete in the great race. He has his eyes set on the Warrnambool and the Grafton which he plans to do next year. If you ride an 8th one maybe we will see you there.

Walsh95
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby Walsh95 » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:21 pm

Woah, how long is gravatt, I did it when I was in Bne over the hols, but it didn't seem that long

Venus62
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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby Venus62 » Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:50 pm

Walsh95 wrote:Woah, how long is gravatt, I did it when I was in Bne over the hols, but it didn't seem that long
2 km almost exactly.

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Re: Advise on 1st time going up MT Gravatt Hill

Postby BrisVegas » Sat Apr 13, 2013 10:06 am

master6 wrote:Auswi2, who are the people giving advice here? Have they been 102kg at 5'11"? Some probably know what they are talking about. Some possibly dont.

What kind of expertise do I have? Stuff all. I have been racing for 56 years, and finished the Grafton to Inverell 7 times. Nothing special. I am an average mug.

Now you can decide whether my advice is worth considering.

My advice is:-

You are overweight, and need to remedy this before worrying about hill climbing. Climb a hill if it appears in front of you, but dont go out seeking hills.
Just ride, increasing your distances and weekly totals slowly. When you get down to 80kg, and 300km per week, get your slim self into deliberate hill climbing, seeking them out as you are now.
Get the crawling perfected before you launch into walking.
No rush.
Not my thread, but I am taking note of your advice. Cheers!

I'm 98kgs and 6'2" (down about 20kgs from my max). My goal is to get into the 80's, not just to look better, but being overweight is not something I want to be as I approach 40yo.. Whilst I have climbed Cootha and Nebo a few times, I think I get more benefit out of "normal" riding to get general fitness and miles in my legs. I'm focussing on my diet to get the weight off, as I'm starting to see how much easier cycling is when you're lighter.
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