More on standing hill repeats
 

In an effort to improve my standing stamina, I've been doing standing hill repeats. I live in a pretty flat area and the biggest hill in town is only .3 mile long and averages 7.5%. Yeah, I know...it's a speed bump, but it's something.

This was from my last ride.

Run #, Gear, Time to top, Max HR
1, 34/19, 2:18, 157 bpm
2, 34/17, 2:05, 159 bpm
3, 34/16, 1:57, 164 bpm
4, 34/15, 1:55, 164 bpm
5, 34/14, 1:49, 169 bpm

Between runs, I had about a 8 min rest (downhill/flat stuff) since this is a one-way street and I have to go way out of the way to get back to the base. I usually start the climb with my HR in the mid/high 130s.

Aside from finding a longer and steeper hill, what can I do to get more out of this style of training? More repeats? Backpack full of bricks? The taller the gear, the faster I went. That requires more power, but it also decreases the amount of time I'm working. I can easily climb this hill in about 1:15 if I sit and hammer way (and push my HR to 190+ bpm), but I'm trying to focus on being smooth and controlling my pace.

Thanks,
Bob

What part of standing stamina are you trying to improve? The workout above looks like it would be a good way to work on increasing leg strength/force, but I'm not sure that's what you're after. If it's stamina, then it's hard to beat a longer climb. Is it feeling comfortable climbing out of the saddle for long periods? If so, maybe try standing on a false flat for longer distances, if it's discomfort/fatigue in your back etc, consider adding core strengthening exercises.

Just my $0.02

totally doable in your 50.

try that.

+1 wkg: big ring. This will help develop excellent power & the bigger gear will help maintain smoothness.

We have a similar hill on a training ride out here in SoCal: 0.2 miles long, 6-7% avg gradient. The climb begins on a right-hand turn. We approach & roll through the turn at about 20-22mph.

When I first started doing the training ride, I would drop down to my 39t small ring and try to spin up the hill. (I'm a bigger rider & this is conventional wisdom for us: sit & spin.) I summarily would get dropped.

I then noticed that all the other riders were in their big rings (52-53's). Next time up, I left it in mine, too and flew to the top, easily keeping up with the group. Doing it ever since.

i'm not an expert, but i doubt you'll get all that much benefit from doing a 2-minute hill at a controlled pace. like the other guys said, you might want to shift up and just hammer it out, but that'll still train pure power more than any kind of endurance.

ideally, you'd have a longer hill and/or (much) less rest, but you need to work with what you have. you said it's the biggest hill "in town," though - how far would you have to go to find bigger? could you hop in the car and drive every once in a while to find something more substantial?

You don't need a hill. You can stand on the flat in a high gear. Any headwind will help provide resistance.