Tequila Joe

I'm not a great climber nor even a good one IMO (5'-11.5" @ 168 lbs) but I can put up with pain quite well.

SaiKaiTai

I'm just OK but improving.
55, 185-190 lbs, hypertensive and asthmatic.
I go until my HR (doctor-restricted) or lungs tell me to stop.
The pain in my legs, I can handle... I could go much farther without the restrictions noted above.
So, in the end, I just do what I can

emptgrave

Strange on this. I used to run cross country and was not the best, but could blow the field away on hills and mountains.
Same in cycling. I really move well up hills.
I have long legs, so I guess that may be a part of it.

clockwise

i like climbing. i would say i'm better than average at it, but what skill i have at climbing i make up for by sucking wind in the sprints.

it's all about finding that rhythm, listening to your breathing and pounding it out.

recursive

Makes sense. I do a lot of braking when I'm climbing too. And having no choice of ratios really boosts the performance.

And BTW you can actually get the same gear ratio on a geared bike now too actually.

Orlock

I do pretty good at climbing, but definatly want to be faster at it. However, on the other side of it I'm horrible at sprints.

rog

Heh...thanks, mate!

Yoshi

Actually it does make sense. He wasn't suggesting that you brake while climbing, but you'll want a brake on a fixed-gear when your done climbing and want to descend.

On a short enough hill (how short really depends on the person) being forced to a use a higher gear will often get you up the hill faster.

Using the same or similar gear ratio on a geared bike doesn't quite work the same. For one thing, you have to option to downshift and probably will. A fixed-gear drive train is also more efficient (by up to 10%). Finally the the fixed-gear will help you get through the dead spots of your pedal stroke which helps you when your cadence is low going up a hill. You're going to be able to mantain your cadence better on a fixed-gear than on a geared bike with the same gear ratio.

Sixty Fiver

My mates call me a mountain goat and have been told that I am really built for climbing.

I am five foot nine, am a lean and fairly fit 149 pounds, have a 32 inch inseam, and because I am measuring progress know I had a 22 inch upper leg measurement but have gained some muscle since then... the old biking shorts are feeling a little more snug than they did last fall.

I rode 7500 km between May and October last year (mostly fixed) and had gotten pretty lean and tend to build up muscle on the winter as the riding is harder and tends to be more anaerobic... in the winter months I was riding 600-700 km a month (almost daily).

I also work as a machinist apprentice and perform some really strenuous work.

At 42 I still can ride with the kids (many of my riding mates are in their 20's and 30's) and hold my own and have pulled off some decent metric times (3.5 hours) as well as pulling off a sub hour 35 last fall.

I love riding long distances and climbing hills whether that is on the road or trail and tend to do all of this on vintage road bikes and my HT mountain bike.... a rigid ss mountain bike is in the works.

A back injury has sidelined me from doing a lot of things for a few months but I have been able to ride and have been putting in 20 km a day whenever possible and have started a rehab program for my back which includes a good deal of cardio (cycling) and weight training.

I think being a good climber entails many things and I think the most important thing after being in shape is that you have that climber's mentality... you have to learn to love climbing if you are going to get good at it and have to make pain your personal beeyatch.

People are always telling me our city is flat but on a well planned ride one can easily get 2000-3000 feet of climbing in since our river valley drops nearly 1000 feet from the city proper.

knucklesandwich

I am faster than my buddies uphill; they are faster than me on the flipside.

GP

I'm 5 years younger, 15 lbs lighter and got dropped by big john.

CrimsonKarter21

I reckon that I'm decent. I can attack hills very well, but there aren't really any long hills in my area, mostly short, steep ones. In all of my races so far, I've been able to out-sprint 90% of the field up the hills.
I've found that I need to be going ~25mph going into a hill and be in the big ring and the middle-high range of the cassette, and I can monster up a hill very fast, and only lose a few mph.

But I still consider myself teh suxx0rz at climbing.

Dynamic

I sprint at the bottom of the hill till I feel a slight load of acid buildup. Then I slow a little and work my way up on a steady pace.
UNLESS its a long hill. then I go steady all the way. 90 ish rpms probably

I do a one mile extremely steep mountain and thats out of saddle the whole way with no momentum. Just one pedal at a time. i swear, only will power gets me up it.

bikeM3987

I suck so bad at climbing. Which is sad because I am pretty light. I am only good at sprinting I guess.

M_S

Yes, climbing is by far my strongest area. Particularly the mid-length climbs...half a mile to a mile and half or so. Part of it may be body type (5'11" and change, around 140-45 unclothed--I'm a scrawny mutha) and I like to think part of it is a running background. I know how to push myself until I'm about to throw up. I'm not a very dedicated trainer, but I can work when I need to.

On group rides I can almost always drop most people on any decent length climb with the major caveat that I have to be able to stay with the pack on the flats. That's far from a given. I'm also an awful sprinter.

Naturally I decided to take up 'cross, which has no sustained climbs and lots of acceleration/sprinting. Oh well.

Same, sort of. But when I ran cross country I always restrained myself on the hills, unless it wa sone of the few courses with a real, sustained climb (anyone ever been to the Seaside race in Oregon and seen the hard or medium courses?). Part of it was that people would really try to push hard on the hills and then they'd die afterwards. I'd just try to maintain pace as best as I could and then pass the ones who had blown up. Also, there are alot of little guys who run cross country, and skinny as I am I didn't have much of a weight advantage over them. Anyways I was a middle of the road varsity runner at best.

kmac27

I have found that I suck at climbing sitting down. I watched some lance videos that motivated me to get good at standing up. Hills are much easier now. Go at a joggers pace when standing up and you may do better, at least give it a try.

Youngin

I don't know actually! I really like hills though, they're so fun, running or biking, they're my favorite ! I wish I lived near mountains . Anyone know any good MN climbs?

Beaker

I can't understand the concept of cycling without climbing? I'm OK, better than some of my friends, but worse than others. As other local colleagues have said, it's a fact of life in the bay area - but why I love living here. Here's the formula:

You climb, sweat your ***** off, think you might fall over or die, eventually reach the top, think "ahh that wasn't so bad", suck up the unbelievable view that your climb earned you, enjoy the ridiculous downhill that follows

patentcad

Climbing is a real cycling litmus test. To wit:

I came back to cycling after a five year layoff, 25 lbs. heavier than I am now. I only had a few hundred miles under my belt when I did my first group ride in all that time. Now bear in mind that before my forced hiatus from riding (back issues, long story) I came from a racing background, actually took 9th place in the hilly NJ Cat IV RR back in 1996 or so, etc. So I wasn't such a bad climber by bicycle touring club standards.

I go out on the 'B' ride on my first ride back (it's the typical AA, A, B, C and so on touring club rides). We get to a moderate hill that I train on sometimes now, a 3/4 mile climb that probably averages about 5% with a 6-8% 400-500 meters to get things going. The ride starts going up this upgrade and I get dropped by everybody. Old guys, fat guys, middle aged women, everybody. I think there was one fat guy behind me. 'I'm in worse shape than I thought'. No matter. I was happy to be riding anywhere. And I still am.

Oh well. Wound up on that ride about three months ago for the first time in three years. Dumped them all like Dr. W. shelling Chipcom. And I'm in much better shape now. Closest Fred was 200 meters off my wheel. It's all relative. Some of the guys I ride/race with will do that to me. But I love climbing even though I'm not good at it. Rode some big mountains in Greece two years ago, one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Probably heading back this August to do it again. 50-70 miles daily, tons of climbing. You can't get that here in NY/NJ without traveling. Man, it was just the best. Nothing like climbing a serious mountain for 6-7 miles. Particularly in a place like Greece. For me the big climbs are what cycling is all about. That's a good attitude to have if you live in a hilly place, and I do.

Nothing detonates a competitive (and some non-competitive) ride like uphill terrain. There are guys I can ride with all day long, but throw in the wrong terrain (wrong for me, right for them) and I'm toast. And that's pretty much a universal reality in cycling on every level.

terrymorse 

There apparently is a Masters 55 guy who does 2M feet per year, every year. I don't know who he is, but Arnie Baker made a passing reference to him in one of his ebooks.

If it's true, the guy must have no other life. I made a brief comment to my wife about maybe doing 2M, and she almost has a heart attack. Message received.

big john

I said I was usually last. You were strong up at the ski lifts, though.

cyclezealot

No racer going uphill. I say its a success if I can just do it. I climb ok, until about 9 miles at no more than a 8 percent grade. More than that, I think my legs are going to explode. Let alone my lungs.

Hammertoe

Compared to whom...

It is all relative....

emptgrave

Look how deep you are! Its a simple question that you can answer how you please.

big john

BF member vertical bob did about 700,000 feet last year, and he's 60 and works construction. I think he could do 1mil if he had more time off. It's the mental part that seems the hardest, as long as your body held up, it could get like a job, as Terry said.