FedericoMena

My "go downtown" commute is about 9 Km one-way, with a 200m ascent. It takes me half an hour. I'm not unhappy, but I'd like to do better.

Do you train yourself for commutes with long, steady climbs? Or do you just build up strength from doing the commute so often?

I've never done any training of any kind, so all advice is appreciated

fietsbob

daily riding Is that training.. leave more time in the beginning months..

CommuteCommando

"Hills don't get easier, you just get faster". Forget who said that, I think it was Lemond. My work commute is pretty flat, so a couple of times a week I ride fast. Riding from home is pretty hilly (a commuter train separates home side from work side rides). My week end rides give me a lot of terrain options, depending on the route I take, except that totally flat is not an option.

I ride. If I want to train, I kick up the HR, and try not to over think it.

tsl

Repetition. Ride to work every day.

For me, my hilly route is optional. But if I don't do it regularly, hit gets harder and I get slower. I try to do it at least twice a week--once with full panniers--except when I'm training for hilly rides, then I ride it every day. That's when I get good at hills, and faster on them.

Huffandstuff

I take the hilliest way into/back from work but since I ride a fixed gear, I've more or less plateaued since I don't want to spin at 120~ the whole way. I also don't ever take the commute time serious since I'm just going to work and usually tired and when coming home I'm usually just exhausted.

essiemyra

No, I just ride my ride and it is hilly but it is what it is and I do the best I can. Though before I started commuting by bike to work, I would shy away from hills. Now I just ride where ever the ride goes without concern for hills.

ThermionicScott 

"Train" for commuting? Don't be silly -- just add hills or distance or intensity if you find it lacking.

gregjones

Strava shows the "real" hill that I have to climb rising 156 ft in .5 mile. I don't know how this translates to the rest of the world, but the damn thing is steep to me. It's only about a mile longer to go up it on my return from one of the grocery stores that I shop at. On most trips I am not at all pressed for time so I go to the hill. One local Strava user labels the segment "The Beast" (the term I use for it also starts with a "B"), his best time is just under three minutes. It takes me quite a bit longer with the basket panniers filled with groceries. I'm getting better on it, real slowly better.

wphamilton

I don't train for the commutes with climbs, but when on weekends I do go for the more challenging long rides and fartlek on the hills, then the hilly commute is a lot easier. Even after only a couple of those weekends.

FedericoMena

Thanks, all - sounds like I should just stick at it.

The thing is that I work from home (ha!), so I have no "mandatory" commute. I'm trying to go downtown a couple of times each week, to run errands and to exercise the bike. It feels like I am steadily getting better - not faster yet, but much less tired than before. The guy from my LBS adviced me to work at increasing my cadence, and that has helped a lot. Uphill, I can now ride lower gears at a regular cadence (whereas before I'd feel that I was pedaling too fast and going too slow), and downhill, higher gears at a faster cadence than before (whereas I used to feel that the gears "topped out" and I needed more).

Now I'm actually noticing when bikers are going uphill, struggling with too high a gear and a really slow/painful cadence, and it seems that they could just switch to a lower gear...

Walter S

156 / (0.5 * 5280) = 6% grade. Definitely something you slow down and work at.

NOS88

No, I don't train for any part of the commute. I confess, however, that when I first started the 17% grade hill that gets me into my development was one I walked part of the way for a good six week until I could ride it the whole distance.

ratell

I did some hills training for some charity rides I was doing. It made a big difference with my commute. Intervals are often recommended. Sprint for a set distance ride normal for that distance then sprint again. It's supposed to build speed.

JanMM

Some would argue that commuting is strictly riding to and from work. Based on strict interpretations of dictionary definitions. (Don't know how that would work in Spanish or other languages/cultures). At any rate, it's all bicycling and all good.

My commute is quite flat and twenty miles round trip. I consider commuting to be my training for commuting. The more often I bike to work, the better I get at it. It doesn't hurt my longer distance ride performance, but can't say that it makes me much faster at fifty mile rides, for instance. Doesn't help my hill climbing any.

gregjones

Less tired is much better, faster really doesn't matter as much as fun.

Thanks, that explains it. I know from truckin' that 6% is cause for lower gears. or more horsepower

Rest_assured

Not actively- but if I'm not climbing regularly I notice the difference on my commute. Especially pushing into the wind

noglider 

FedericoMena, how long have you been riding this route? I had a hilly commute years ago and rode it every day. I used to huff and puff, the effort was on my mind. After four weeks, I noticed I was getting to the top without thinking about it and without struggling.

Darth Lefty 

I'm downhill to work and uphill back... seems like it would be nicer the other way but that's geography for you.

RubeRad

Sounds like my commute is an easier version of yours. I also go about 5.6mi ~ 9km each way, but my total ascent on the way to work is only about 300ft ~ 90m. My recommendation to you (which I cannot get myself to follow) is intervals. Try sprinting uphill (whatever sprinting means for you and your condition; get close to max heart rate) for 10 seconds, then ride as slow as possible for 20-30s, then sprint 10s, etc. Everything I've read and everybody I know that has tried interval training says you experience a dramatic improvement within a month or two.

Rick@OCRR

I do hilly centuries on the weekends; last Saturday's was over 6,000 feet of climbing: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/435627661

I get up to 10,000 feet on some weekend day training rides. So no, my commutes I always think of as "recovery" rides. A typical day's round trip commute will only have between 400 and 600 ft. of climbing, so no big deal really.

Rick / OCRR

spare_wheel

my morning ascent involves ~1000 feet over 5 miles with much of the gain over the last third mile. the climb took some effort at first. now it's effortless.

OneGoodLeg

I think the more you ride, the quicker you get at defeating the hills too. I changed my commute a couple weeks ago, it's a little longer, couple of miles, and all rolling hills. But, it's not full of crazy drivers. It kicked my butt a little at first, but already the hills have started to flatten out, and I'm only a dozen or so commutes in. So overall leg stregnth and conditioning effect the curve as much as terrain does.

Love those rolling hills, they are good for sprints.

nkfrench 

Yes, I had to train before I could attempt commuting to work. On my first dry run I u-turned at the halfway mark already very fatigued. By the time I got home I had ridden about 20 miles and it took me 3 hours. I was exhausted.

After that I found a better route that was flatter, shorter, and less traffic. Still, I drove my car the first 8 miles, then rode the bike the last 9 miles. Even that was exhausting. I had to stop and rest every 3 miles. I also wasn't tolerating the hot temperatures.

Gradually I increased the commute distance. There was still a steep hill I had to walk for several months; and several others that I would have to stop and rest at the top.

Round-trip distance was ~35 miles for the full commute.

I haven't done a commute recently -- it takes more time out of my workday than I can handle with my current responsibilities. I am not confident that I would manage a fully-laden commute and still have enough mental focus to get my work done. I'd like to resume commuting but will want to do so when weather is reasonable so I can pack light and not overheat.

spivonious

I ride for enjoyment, not for "training". If I take a lot of time off of riding due to weather or other circumstances, I definitely feel it on the hills. I just take it a bit easier on those days and accept that it will take a bit longer to get to work. As said above, it never gets easier, but you do get a lot faster. My average speed is up to 16-17mph now. It started at 12 when I first started commuting a year and a half ago. That's on a 50 pound commuter bike.

Leebo

Training for commuting? Here in New England we call that a headwind. My commute is 18 miles 1 way, not every day but usually 2-4 trips per week. I also mountain bike and tour, just keep pedaling it will get easier. Try some intervals too.