Looking to improve climbing skills?

[flirtees]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to improve my climbing skills this coming season. I live in Ontario so I am on the trainer right now. Does anyone have any tips so I can climb those hills easier next year?

Thanks,
Tanya

[wannaduacentury]

I would have to say be ready for the hills. Drop down to a gear that lets you continue a steady cadence w/o losing momentum, but not have too hard a gear which will cause you to have to shift down again going up, losing more momentum. I usually stay seated on the hills and stand up on the small section before you crest the top and then go on over. Then switch to a harder gear as you roll downhill to keep going. I try to do this as well, but sometimes I have my gear not low enough to not switch either, but I keep trying. Hope this helps. I'm sure the others will give plenty of advice as well. Jenn

[velogirl]

Okay, here's a shameless plug for Tanya! She's the genius behind Flirtees (which was discovered on another TE thread recently). Super-cute cycling-related t's for women.

http://www.flirtees.ca/

[flirtees]

Hi there,

I do have some specific goals for June 2008. I will be participating at the World Triathlon Championships in Vancouver.

My only advantage in these races is my cycling. I am a poor swimmer and average runner. I've been able to make up most of my time during the bike portion. My goal is to average 34-35 km/hr (not sure what that is in miles/hr.) and I know I lose most of my time on the the hills.

I get so frustrated when I get dropped on the hills, work so hard to catch up only to get dropped again. This makes it hard for me to save any energy for the run.

So my goal is to "Eat the Hills"!!!!

Any trainer workouts that will help. Right now we have a couple inches of snow on the ground and it doesn't look like it's going to melt anytime soon.

Thanks Jenn and Velo Girl!

Looking forward to hearing some other suggestions.

Tanya

[silver]

I went to a triathlon symposium a couple weeks ago. One of the guys suggested for trainer hill workouts that you raise the front wheel of the bike while it's on the trainer by stacking phonebooks or dictionaries.

[VeloVT]

I live in Vermont, we had snow on Thanksgiving (last week), and my parents, who live several hours south of me, have had light snow cover for several weeks, so I think the climate is not TOO different. I hope no one will get mad at me, but my suggestion, if you REALLY want to get better at hills, is to get a bike that can handle winter (I commute all winter on a CX bike) and actually ride hills all winter. The extra weight of wide tires, fenders, heavy clothes, commute gear, etc all just make you stronger. Last year I took about a week off from riding during the winter when we had a record snowfall and the city just couldn't get rid of the snow (I had to do all of my running in the road for two weeks because the sidewallks were unpassable, causing a few entirely unwanted games of chicken with unfriendly cars). Other than that, you just have to leave yourself extra braking room if there's a chance it could be icy.