Training & Nutrition - building hills into routine

Hi,

I just got my new bike yesterday and can't wait to try it out all over the place.

Anyway, I am still wanting to lose more weight and build more muscle. I have been building my level of intensity while cycling and maintaining a minimum of 26 km/hr when cycling except up the hills.

I thought that putting a bunch of hills into my route would increase the intensity even more.
These are not just little molehills. They are at least 60 - 70 % grade roads and most folks have to walk their bikes up them.

Do you think it is better to work the hills in at the beginning ?

If I go up them in a higher gear, it will increase the intensity level and my heart will be pounding but I am worried about injuring my knee again. I guess the higher gear the better though right ?

Justen

If you have dodgy knees, then climb in a lower gear. You will do the same work, but your heart and lungs will work harder than your legs.
With a higher gear, you legs will get stronger, but the extra force involved may not be good for your knees.

Hills that are 60 or 70%! Yikes! Those are not hills, those are paved cliffs. Lizardhead Pass in Colorado is 7% for 7 miles. Teton Pass (one of the steepest paved passes in the USA is 10% for 6 miles). Hogpen Gap in Ga is 16%. I have seen roads that hit just about 20% grades at the steepest. To most cyclists, anything over 10% is STEEP. I think the steepest that SR get in the USA is 7%. The steepest paved roads in the USA hit just a bit over 30% and most states don't have these. I think NC has one and so does PA.

There are a number of ways to ride hills. Here in Central FL, we have a bunch of Triathalons and we have some hills that are 7% for a ways and some that are steeper in spots. It is fun to watch triatheletes (do they know bikes have gears) riding up a 7% grade in their big ring at oh 10 rpm. You can almost here the knees failing. I was in a group and we came up on some triatheletes who were qualifying for an event. Diane Blake was with me and she had her daugher Michelle behind her in a child seat. I told Diane, that it was bad enough for the triatheletes to get passed by a gal with grey in her hair but to get passed by one with a kid on the back on a hill must have been terrible! But Diane knows how to climb hills.

Generally, I do best sitting and spinning up hills at a high cadence. People laugh at the small gears I have, but then again most don't pass me either. You can do ok in a slightly higher gear and out of the saddle. But don't ride up hills in a high gear for no reason. Maintain your cadence. That is why you have a multigear bike. "DOH!!" H. Simpson.

Thank you for the information. I really appreciate it.

The hill I am planning to use today is actually 4 blocks long at a very steep grade so after 4 blocks, my heart should be working quite well ! :-)

Justen

Hi Pat,
Thank you for the advice. Yes..these are very steep hills. I have seen some people try the first block but then walk the rest of the way up. I am sweating like crazy after the 4th block and feel like my heart is going to leap out of my chest but I feel great afterwards...and this is in low gear. I don't have a big ring on my new bike (due to bash guard) so I have more excuses to use low gears now :-)

I DO NOT want to torque my knee again. It takes so long to recover and the pain is awful.

That would be funny to see seasoned athletes get passed by a grey haired gal with a child in the seat !! :-)

Justen

Think I have pretty good muscle development.. We have some pretty good hills/mtns. about here.. Should you have good aerobic development you are probably fine..
If not, I had always thought a cautious apporach was using the flats to build yourself up aerobically and with muscle tone and then hit the more extreme hills..
If your routine hill climbs is putting you heart rate up above 85% of max. then that could be a sign..? Earlier on when hitting such extreme hills my heart rate would hit about 200 and I thought I was going to pass out.. Now, hills that used to overwhealm me, I take with a heart rate in the 150's...
Should you be overweight caution is always wise..

Hi,

I have found that some of the hills that would totally wipe me out before are now pretty easy. Same with longer rides. I used to be so out of shape that even 10 k's would really be rough but now I can do 10 K in my sleep. I want to get up to 50-60 k a day by the summer.

I have been building up my aerobic capacity. I no longer get short of breath going up a few flights of stairs and most interesting is that my asthma has improved 10 fold. I hardly go to the ER anymore and my doctor is amazed at how stable it has been over the last year since I began cycling more seriously.

I am 5'6 and 130 lbs so am a bit overweight but am 23 years old so am not too worried about that as I am confident I can lose it if I keep up with my cycling. I wouuld like to get down to 120 lbs in the next 1-2 months.

Anyway, I look forward to tackling some new hills this year and trying new mountain biking stuff.

Thanks for your reply,

Justen

Justen It looks like you are taking the right approach to this to just gradually build milage and intensity as your fitness improves.Keep at it.