Is a 14% hill good for training
 

The problem is the hill is only half a mile long. Any suggestions on intervals or should I try to do as many as possible. I do a lot of MTB but would like to get into road riding as my converted hardtail is not much of a speedster. I would also like to attempt a century this year but think it would be a lot easier on a road bike.

Drop it into 53-11 and burn it up so that you're delivering heavy blows for twelve rotations. That's dropping a hammer 24 times. This is a useful muscle building exercise. Repeat a few times but there's no need to devastate yourself. A few times up and you've got most of the benefit.

The trick is not stopping at the top. Just keep going up!!!

you really want two approaches here: intervals at high loads, and some consistent miles on that sucker.

vary your training on the hill, doing sprint repeats if possible one day and then some other day (perhaps not the next day) sitting in a low gear 39/20 or so and spin up slowly as many times as you can do it. you need both to be a good climber.

if you can hit that sucker in one go in 53/11 you're stronger than you think! (if it really is 14% all the way and not just in one spot, of course)

My highest gear is only 44x11 but there is no way I could climb it in that gear. I normally go up in 32x17 seated all the way then come straight down and up again.

push yourself then. you know your limits: see if you can get faster in your max gear, or see how far you get in your max gear. keep a record, see if you can break that record next time. as someone else around herre is fond of saying,
"Pain is only weakness leaving the body!!"

sorry, we appear to have forgotten that you're a MTBer carrying around about 5 useless kg of steel and whatever! try standing and pushing for a while: a change in posture, especially when you're tired, can do wonders as you use your muscles differently. of course, we all know that standing to cycle is not efficient, but it is possible for short distances and it makes you strong.

Personally, I like climbing, but after a half-mile of 14% grade -- I'm not in the mood to turn around at the top and do it again. If you can do repeats on something like that at all, then I think that you're doing really well.

Very steep hills do nothing for you. Forget it. I ride up one with 15-18% grades daily. I LIVE on top of it. Other than that I do try to avoid steep grades over 10-12%. That's hard to do where I live.

Go for it. Hill intervals are great, plus you get to practice steep drops in between.

How long is it? Duh?

53-11 up a 14% grade??? Hell, just spinning up that kind of misery in a really easy gear leaves me feeling like I want to throw up.

Do explain, please.

Perhaps not aerobically but it's good for strength/fast twitch training at the lactic threshhold.

GOOD FOR NOTHING. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Ixnay. Waste of time.

But 15% grades ARE good for loading your muscles up with that lactic acid we all love. Go for it. Fast twitch? WRONG. Steep hills will WHACK YOUR LEG SPEED. Forget about it.

Look you rocket scientists, if you want to do HILL INTERVALS, find a hill with a nice, rational 3-8% grade, 10% tops, maybe with a couple of SHORT steeper sections. The ideal hill interval terrain has a 5-9% grade and is 1-3 miles long. Then you can nail your HR in the LT zone for 5-15 mins or so and work on increasing your power/tempo on a long upgrade, in the saddle, out of the saddle, mix it up.

Surely it'll do some good? 1/2 mile hills of up to 12% are all we get around here. Don't pee on my Wheaties that hard you ole' coot.

Relax. Only on the internet are people stomping up 14% grades in their 53x11. I also agree that 5-10% is ideal for hill intervals.

Speculative. You don't have to cross over the lactic threshold - it's called a HR monitor.

Which is what I need the most of.

Right as long as you can keep the effort at or near explosive power, otherwise if it's a long hill why not spin it up and get an aerobic workout? Because 14% is a bit brutal, I'd favor the explosive muscle hypertropy workout. The warning is that the big guys will be beating the heck out of their bikes.

Hills worthless? That's almost worth a chuckle.

Gawd I hate it when I have to agree with P-caddy. Anything over 12% is made more for suffering than training - unless your goal is to have thunder thighs that move at the speed of....me. :eek:

I think that's the intent... massive gwads!

I'm sure 53-11 was a joke, but at 9% on 50-16 ss, I have to stand to get the pedals turning at all. and even then staying upright at 6kmh is a challenge. (its possible i'm underestimating the 9% part)

That's the kind of hills I use for repeats here in Austin. 14% for 1/2 mile or so. I do 6 repeats, and do them with negative splits (each climb is faster than the previous). Once you get good at pacing yourself, you can get a really tight group so there's only a 10-second spread on the 6 repeats. Great workout, and a great way to learn how to pace yourself.

^ That sounds like a great idea for a workout. I usually just kill myself each time and so the time splits vary wildly.

I do a similar repeat on my fluid trainer. I start with 52x12 and sprint from 70% to 90% Max HR, once there, I wind down the HR slowly and then repeat in the next lowest gear. Keeps me in the aerobic zone and below the LT but with good results for strength.

Good for 45 minutes of high intensity.