Building up my miles

I can only ride about 10 miles at a time right now, and I really want to build it up. I have been going about 10 miles all summer. I struggle to build them up because all of the trails around here have giant hills. I have tried pushing and pulling on my clips, and standing on the pedals, and the hills still just kill me. I really want to be able to go farther (my goal is 30) but it seems no matter what I do, I am exhausted and sore after 10. Does anyone have any advice on technique, diet, tips, anything! I am just not losing weight at 10! Thanks for any help.

You need to eat when you get home to allow your muscles to rebuild, have a balanced meal of some protein, some carbs. Stretch. Have a bath. Be patient.

Use low gears to spin. Instead of push-pulling the pedals, aim for a round, spinning motion, i.e. push forward at the 12o'clock and and pull back (as if scraping mud off your sole) at the 6 position. and look out for easy loops that you can ride, 2-3x if it must be to build. Be patient at those hills and hope that the cooler weather will help.

Did you say trails? as in riding an MTB? How about sticking to roads for a while?

Don't go into a ride unfuelled.

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Originally Posted by alpinerabbit

Did you say trails? as in riding an MTB? How about sticking to roads for a while?

Don't go into a ride unfuelled.

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Paved trails in the area, actually. I ride my road bike. It is not very safe to ride on the roads here.

I would also suggest riding on the roads. You say it's not safe - is that because of heavy traffic? I ride super early in the morning (before work) to avoid traffic on our local roads. It works out really great. Good luck!

I'm all about the granny gears. Spin out those hills!
Don't worry about the quantity (miles.) Think about the quality. Why are you riding? What do you get from it? What are your goals (small and big?)

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Originally Posted by indigoiis

I'm all about the granny gears. Spin out those hills!
Don't worry about the quantity (miles.) Think about the quality. Why are you riding? What do you get from it? What are your goals (small and big?)

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Use lower gearing and if your gearing doesn't go low enough, go to the LBS and look at getting a triple, etc. to get lower gearing.

You can make it up those hills if you can spin out those pedals vs. mashing them up a hill.

Once you get lower gearing and spinning going, you can go more than 10 miles- easy.

How about doing your 10 miles and then take a rest and then go out and do it again?

I ride trails and have a few rides mapped out. One in particular I sometimes do multiple times; actually, it's two connecting trails, one 4 miles (so 8 out and back) and the other just over one mile (so 2 out and back). In the evening, I rarely have time to do this ten-mile run twice -- I'm slow -- but sometimes, I do have time to do the one-mile trail twice, so will add that for a total of 12 miles for that ride. Other times, I'll nearly finish the ten-mile run, but turn around at mile 9, go back to 8, and then turn around again just to add two miles to that day's ride.

I'll sometimes do this ten-mile run 3 or 4 times on a Saturday or Sunday, and even then, will sometimes double back (on the part of the trail I like the best!) to get in another couple miles.

So... you might want to pick a favorite ride, and see where you can double up or double back to add, say, 1 mile to the 10 mile run (doubling back a half-mile). Do that a couple of times, and then double back for a mile to make it to 12 miles, and so on.

If I'm going for miles (and I have been lately, to prepare for a ride I'm doing next month), I find it helps to ride a trail that is really really familiar to me, one I really like. The miles seem to go much faster when I know the trail very well.

And yes, using a lower gear should help on the hills. My tendency is to push harder rather than pushing more (fewer revolutions rather than more), but I'm old and my knees are *not* happy with that! I am now trying to ease up and spin more to save my poor old joints! :)

Good luck!

Thanks for all the tips ladies. I have actually never tried doing a lower gear...I just try to get up the hill as hard and fast as possible to get it over with...

See, that's how you wear yourself out. Looks like you never stop learning...

Use a high cadence.

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Originally Posted by Little Lyon

Thanks for all the tips ladies. I have actually never tried doing a lower gear...I just try to get up the hill as hard and fast as possible to get it over with...

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Yeah, that was my mistake when I started riding. After I learned how to fully use all 20 gears(I have double), riding became a lot more easier. On hills I can spin at 75 to 80 or little more cadence, but my legs don't hurt. I go about 7 to 9 mph going uphill. It gets better.

Like the above poster - if you use a hard gear and "mash" it up, you WILL be sore and exhausted. Go to your LBS to show you how to use the gears...then you'll be doing more miles. :-)

If you're looking for safer bike roads, some towns have a bike map that has bike paths on paved road (Las Vegas has it), or you can look for one on mapmyride.com and see if they have beginner's ride or loops. For example, Las Vegas has several loop areas that's roughly 2 to 6 miles, yet, it's very safe for cyclists and you can loop around as many as you want.

Lastly, enjoy the ride!

Standing on hills takes more effort than staying seated. If it's a very long climb, it can help to stand for a while, and if it's a very short steep-ish climb sometimes I will stand to power up it. Otherwise, I stay in the saddle, shift into the smallest cog (and sometimes the granny gear), and just take a slow steady pace up the hill. Keep doing it and you'll get stronger, so you can ride faster, ride longer or both.

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Standing on hills takes more effort than staying seated.

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Standing takes more cardiopulmonary effort. Sitting and spinning takes more leg muscle.

Most people (but definitely not all) run out of muscle before they run out of lungs. So yeah - spin as a "general" rule, and if your cardiovascular fitness is up to it, stand to crest the short steep ones, stand occasionally to change things up on the long steady ones.

But definitely, if you're struggling with a hill, downshift!! Even if you're not struggling with the effort, most people agree that a cadence below about 50 can be pretty hard on your knees - not to mention making it harder to keep your balance and hold a line.

Shifting during a climb takes some technique, because a chain/derailleur won't shift well under load, but you have to keep pedaling or it won't shift at all. You need to pedal hard for one stroke to give yourself room to "coast," then momentarily back off the pressure and soft-pedal to shift. The steeper the hill and the closer your legs are to their limit, the harder that is to do.

So first of all, practice shifting on the flats and downhills. Practice maintaining a steady cadence and shifting to keep it going, just as you would to keep a car or motorcycle engine's RPMs in its power band. Use a lower gear into the wind, a higher one with the wind at your back. Learn to anticipate your shift points on a climb - shifting too early will mean spinning like crazy before you have to, but shifting too late will mean overtaxing your strength and potentially getting to a point where you can't shift at all.

You'll get there! :)

Dogmama posted this before and I think it's a good read: 5 Ways to Become a Better Climber

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Learn to anticipate your shift points on a climb - shifting too early will mean spinning like crazy before you have to, but shifting too late will mean overtaxing your strength and potentially getting to a point where you can't shift at all.

You'll get there! :)

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Yeah, that part is hard for me. I start going up the hill and then when I shift, I can feel the chain kind of "jerking". I feel kinda bad for my bike :( Figuring out how to shift for hills is going to be hard, I think.

Little, I try to maintain the same cadence throughout the climb so I'm shifting often. Remember to let the hill come to you instead of speeding up to attack the hill. Look 10 feet in front of you and just focus on your rhythm. It will come together for you. :)