jhglaw

I ride a 350 foot 9% hill near my home several times a week. The slope is pretty consistent. I maintain a consistent speed on each ride but vary the speed from ride to ride. As my conditioning has improved, I have been able to ride at a given speed w lower pulse rates and ride at higher pulse rates with less discomfort. My max pulse bpm on an doctor supervised EKG teadmill test is 176 bpm. I am age 55. I can now ride the hill comfortably but working hard at 172 bpm the whole way (about 6 minutes). If I ride a little harder, I run out of breath and have to stop before I reach the top but my legs are still fine. When am I supposed to run into lactic acid buildup?

JavaMan

Details. We need details!

Let's see...a 9% grade rises 350 ft. in about 3/4 mile. If it takes 6 minutes, that's about 7.5 mph. What is your cadence? If you have a triple and are pedaling like mad in a very low gear, you may indeed run out of breath before you feel it in your legs. Your maximum heartrate may also be higher than your doctor measured.

ZappCatt

As a test, ride it in the highest gear you can turn without damaging your knees. That will tax your legs(causing lactic buildup) more than your heart(pulse rate)

jhglaw

Javaman:

I do not know what my cadence is. I have a double and am using the 53/27 gear combo. I am also seated holding onto the tops.

jhglaw

Zappcatt:

If I understand you correctly you are saying that I can try progressively higher gears and take advantage of excess leg muscle capacity to achieve higher speeds. There should be an ideal gear for that hill and my current conditioning that balances my lungs versus my legs.

Crayon

Yes you and Zappcatt are correct.

I've got a hill like that stymies me as well. Other hills are ok, but for this one, I just can't figure out what the best gear is.

WaitUpForMe

53x27 sounds like a bad cross-chaining situation. 39x19 or 39x21 are about equivalent to 53x27 and much better for your drivetrain.

CycleDeac

Ok, so I kind of have a question that goes along with this... Whenever I'm on hills, I always have to stop pedaling due to the feeling of lactic acid in my legs. I always try to spin on a high gear unless I get out of the saddle for a little bit. I usually try to keep my cadence in the 70s-90s. (I'd say high 80s or 90s but I wanted to leave it broad.) Do you guys think I could improve by lowering my cadence by using a higher gear? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks...

CD

terrymorse 

Stop worrying about "lactic acid". It's not important. What's really important is how hard you can go for sustained periods. This is your "functional threshold", and it sets an upper limit on how much effort you can sustain.

The "2 by 20" test is as good as any other for finding you functional threshold. There's a sticky thread on it in the Training and Nutrition forum.

CycleDeac

Thanks Terry, I'll check it out.

jhglaw

WaitUpForMe:

I made a mistake in my prior message. I have a 53/39 double and a 12-27 10 sp casette. I ride the hill in the 39/27 gear combo.