kentla929

It seems silly, but a quote I heard attributed to Armstrong has gotten me up a lot of hills:

"Pain is temporary, quitting is forever."

And don't look up.

'nother

But according to this thread, there's no difference between climbing and flat riding , so you're wasting all of that effort

cedo

I guess everybody climbs the way that works for their body (witness Ullrich vs Armstrong). Nonetheless, from what I have been told, these two things DECREASE climbing performance -- moving forward on the seat and leaning forward at the waist. As other people in this thread mention, sitting back increases power, and keeping the upper body (relatively) straight provides a direct push down on the pedals. When I tried both of these points, they initially semed less comfortable, but as I worked on it, my climbing improved.

MWW

I would recommend getting a compact crank. Practice staying seated as long as possible on each climb. Only stand up if the grade it too steep to stay seat on, or if you are attempting to sprint. Once you learn how to sit back on the saddle to climb, you'll be using less energy than all the "peddle-dancers" that stand up every climb. Seat placement is key for efficient climbing.

I consider myself a good climber and I always notice that I can stay with and pass people that stand-climb because of the power I've developed from seat-climbing as much as possible.

In what part of Ohio are you located? We have some good hills in Kirtland and Chardon, east of Cleveland.

alison_in_oh

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I'm doing fine with my 53/39 (I think I misspoke at the beginning of this thread somewhere?) and 13/25 cassette.

My DH is a sprinter, and finds he can power up sprinter's hills of a mile or more by big-ringing and standing in the drops. Personally, I am learning that spinning a reasonable cadence against a larger gear while seated, shifting my seating position and regulating my breathing, and standing when necessary to power over a short increase in grade without shifting, are all helpful.

I'm in the Cleveland area and I ride in the Chagrin River valley on a near-daily basis. Most of those hills are under 2 miles, and many are best approached as sprinter's hills. However, the hill on Kirtland-Chardon road leading up to Penitentiary Glen is the only thing around here that seems comparable to what I saw in Vermont! Long and grinding, I need all my climbing tips to keep my pace up on that one! And there's that nasty little climb on the back way to Holden, I swear that thing averages over 12% grade! I take it standing, in my 39/23 or 25, with my HR surging to the mid-high 180s, and I still can barely turn the pedals over!

MWW

I ride Kirtland-Chardon road from Chillicothe to route 6. That is an awesome training set. Another good one out that way is Mentor Rd southbound starting from Little Mountain road. I love riding through Holden, and yes that Sperry Hill is a good stand-climbing hill.

I have not yet gone the way of the compact crank, but I plan to shortly. I did the Ira Rd Hill Climber's race sponsored by SummitFreewheelrs out in CVNP and did a respectable 4th, but think the extra spinning would keep my legs fresher during a circuit hill race.

Good to know another local on the forum. Good luck Alison, hope to see you on the road sometime.

Matt

alison_in_oh

Cool. I was out that way just this weekend, though I wussed out and turned back early right at Holden.

Congrats! Hope the compact works for you. Will you be at Zoar or Orville? If so, see ya there!

MWW

Congrats! Hope the compact works for you. Will you be at Zoar or Orville? If so, see ya there![/QUOTE]

I didn't know about those races until you posted the names. Thanks, I might see you there. Goodluck!

apmech

Some of the thing I do to make climbing easier is to keep telling myself to not tense up and really try to stay relaxed. Find a good pedelling cadence that I can maintain relatively well throughout the entire climb. Stay focused... On longer climbs.. it really helps to get off the saddle to let your body use different muscles. coming off the saddle does not necessarily mean to increase your speed, just maintain the current speed but shift 1 or 2 gears..

veneer

Ben.. that works for me too. i just keep looking downward hoping for more bigger cogs in the rear and just pedal. i would start ankling first.. then for some reason.. it turns into mashing.. sigh~ gotta practice more i guess.

dfw

I used to cringe just at the thought of climbing. I incorporated a routine I do once or twice per week which has really helped me.

First I do a normal ride of about 30 miles. I don't try to kill myself, just a good pace that keeps my HR around 80%. Not far from my house there is a short hill that's extremely steep. It looks almost straight up. I select a gear that's 3 up from my lowest and I climb that bad boy hard, usually standing up the whole way. It takes about 4-5 minutes or so to climb it. At the top, my HR will be at least 95%. I coast down the other side, and work my way around to the start. By the time I get there, I'm recovered. Then I do it again, this time in the next lower gear. I keep going till I'm in my lowest gear and then I keep doing it until I can't make it to the top. These days, I usually give out on the 5th run.

When I first started, I could barely make it to the top at all in my lowest gear. Now I'm progressively climbing it in higher gears. Needless to say, my hill climbing has increased exponentially. I still get dropped by the big boys when I ride with them, but usually not on hills anymore.

trickdog

Ain't this the truth....

reef58

This thread has help me a bunch. I am a flatlander that recently left town to work for a few weeks. Paris Mountain State Park looked like a good place. The first attempt at the hill killed me. I was deflated when I came across the painting on the road that marked a George Hincapie timed 1km climb. Big George did the 1km climb in 3 minutes and 3 seconds, so it must be pretty steep.

The next day I made it to the top, and felt like doing it again, but got caught in a hail storm, oh well. I will be back.

The tips that helped me the most, and this comes from a rider with less than 100 miles of road riding with hills are; relax upper body, and don't look up. Someone also mentioned starting too fast, which I think I did the day before. The second and sucessful attempt was a nice steady pace for the entire climb. The last mile was tough.

Thanks again guys,
Richard

UmneyDurak

Yeah but then how do you know where you are going?
Anyway usually I slack of almost at the top.
As for tips I try to spin and maintain the same cadence. Which means shifting up and down when approriate. Not sure about the whole ankling thing, heard you can mess up your foot quite easily with it.

TheKillerPenguin

now that I have better mental discipline, I can usually look up without those crazy side affects so its all good!

pinky

Few more ideas:
Breathing, focus on it, if you can in through the mouth, out through the nose, make sure you breathe out all the way. Its a great way to keep relaxed which is always a bonus.
Break the hill into intervals, X seconds/strokes/feet at Y cadence, then switch and repeat. I prefer lower cadence spinning then moving to a heavier gear, standing for 5-10 strokes, going back to a slightly lower gear, yadda yadda. I find I can actually pick up speed if I do that properly which a great way to break legs.
Accept pain, and try not talk to yourself too much, I apparently scared the crap out of a buddy last weekend as I was climbing when I started repeating outloud "I like the pink elephants"...oops

biodiesel

For the Colorado hills that can last anywhere from 10-50 miles of constant climbing i use a varied cadence. Keep a fast cadence in the 90's to keep the legs fresh. Once in awhile stand and push one or two gears higher, before you get out of breath sit back down and shift back. Ideally you can keep your speed high enough to keep your cadence high.
When i'm climbing everything is about cadence and heart rate. When my cadence falls i stand, when my HR is too high i sit.
When the hill gets really steep i push those extremes.

Course I just converted to a double this year. The bonus there is though i have to work really hard on some hills i spend half the time climbing them. (I once spent 3 hours climing in a granny gear a hill that i should have climbed in 1, talk about wasted energy...)

I use the same strategy into long headwinds too...


Also, hand position. Make a Spock hand, put the curl of the drop bar just below the hoods in the gap between your 2nd and 3rd fingers and grip the bar and hoods. When you climb hard (or sprint) pull up on the opposite arm of the downstrokeing leg.
So left leg pushes right arm pulls. This keeps the force in line and keeps you from rocking the bike too much or weaving inefficiently. (Of course i'm weaving offiwer, the bars are all Cwosed!)

That and of course breathing. Breathe. I had to think about breathing for the first few seasons, now i catch myself always breathing with my left pedal stroke. If your HR gets too high or your legs hurt breathe a little deeper and a little faster.

gotcoffee

i'm terrible at climbing, but i get by doing this:

1) watch heart rate to keep under threshold
2) drop to as low a gear as comfortable (easier on muscles to push several lighter loads than fewer heavy loads)
3) change position on saddle at regular intervals (sliding from front to back, vice versa)
4) shift up a couple cogs and stand at regular intervals w/out increasing heart rate.
5) repeat until over the top

- steps 3 & 4, change positions before muscles tire.
- on a long climb, eat/drink at regular intervals.
- form while seated is mentioned earlier.
- breathe from belly.
- remember that i'm not getting paid to suffer so it's okay to ease off a bit and relax.

bmike

That is some nice riding in there... hilly too - for Cleveland!
I rode over there years ago a few times... but my main rides were in the Cuyahoga Valley and surrounding environs. (Peninsula, Hinckley, Brecksville, Strongsville...)

I'm in Vermont now. Funny how the Chagrin and Cuyahoga Valleys seemed so "tall" in my youth!

alison_in_oh

You dissin'?

bmike

Not at all... !

The Chagrin River area is great for riding. Good climbs too... and a stop for ice cream in Chagrin Falls, just behind the waterfall!