Looking to improve climbing skills?

[makbike]

Tanya,

I found this year the more I rode the easier the hills became. I've also found shifting early and often helps me up the hills. Your cadence is going to drop as you climb but try to keep it steady as you make your way up the hill. Relax as you climb and don't think about how far you have to go but remind yourself how far you have climbed at that point.

[Eden]

It's pretty hard on a trainer to really simulate hills. You can prop the front of the bike up and gear up, but its still not like really riding up a hill. I'd say if you are stuck on the trainer all winter work on things that will help you develop more power - so that you are hopefully improving your power to weight ratio, which will in turn improve your hill climbing (and your cycling overall).

As far as the race goes, tri's are usually no drafting events, so losing the pack isn't a concern. I'd say you may want to look at it differently. Rather than trying to "catch up" on the hills, ride more evenly, keep a tempo that is good for you and you may find that overall you are faster. If you are trying too hard to keep up with othe people as you climb, you may be wearing yourself out too quickly. If you "pop" its going to be harder to get your rhythm back when the hill is over.

[flirtees]

Thanks Everyone!

These tips are great and will definitely use them. Just one question what is meant by power to weight ratio?

Does anyone one use a power meter to measure wattage? Ok. 2

Thanks for the help,
Tanya

[indysteel]

Tanya, I've "pulled" a few training articles from PezCyclingNews.com that you might find helpful. As the first article suggests, how to approach your training depends, in part, on what kind of climbing you're struggling with, i.e., short, steep climbs or longer, sustained climbs. There's also a bit of an explanation on what's meant by your power to weight ratio.

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5223
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5208
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=5072

[Veronica]

Power - how many watts can you put out
Weight - how much you weigh

You can have a lot of power, think like a sprinter or a time trialist. But if you have a lot of weight that power doesn't help you when you add in the effects of gravity when you climb.

I like this calculator for figuring out my watts. I use the data from a climb that I do often

http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

V.

[Bklynmom]

I am a newer and less experienced cyclist, and I too have been strugling with hills.

The gearing described here has helped me - but don't drop down so far that you don't generate enough power. I have also gained power from riding up hills standing up, and in a heavier gear.

The one advantage of the weight /mass ratio, is loosing weight will probably make you faster on hills, if you have weigh you can afford to loose. (I have about 20 lbs that could go).

I am also wondering if the right weight workout in the gym will help you gain power in your legs? Would love to hear from anyone with expertise.

Maybe running, even on a tread mill, would help hill climbing -- anyone with experience with that?

I do think that an indoor program that you will actually do, is probably better than planning to bike outdoors, then whimping out (like I do!). This depends entirely on your weather tolerances.

Has anyone tried these indoor biking set ups where you bring your bike and they simulate a ride? There is one near my house I was thinking of trying.

[VeloVT]

I am also wondering if the right weight workout in the gym will help you gain power in your legs?

Deadlifts and squats are great. Lunges prob.not bad either (but I just don't like them for some reason). You want to target BOTH quads and hams/glutes. If you like machines (I don't really), quad extensions would be helpful, as would hamstring curls (the one where you lie on your stomach). I suppose you could do leg presses too but they target the same muscles as squats and squats are more fun/less tedious.

Hill running (and sprinting) are also good for building power in the ham/glute region. Just remember that it's not specific, so running on hills won't translate into direct one-for-one improvement in biking hills. And you don't want to neglect your quads which are still important riding hills. But it will definitely help both with power and with aerobic conditioning, which is also an important component of riding hills (in my opinion at least -- if you don't have to gasp as hard you can probably ride faster !).

[flirtees]

Thanks everyone,

I appreciate the tips greatly!

Sincerely,
Tanya