Hitting a wall on hills.

[Owlie]

I tried my hill again today. I started up at a more moderate pace and blew up where the incline changes. I ended up walking the last quarter of it. I can assign some of the blame to not eating enough and to really pushing on the flats (new speed records there!). Perhaps tomorrow...

[Crankin]

Not necessary to puke.

[ny biker]

Like the joke about how you get to Carnegie Hall, hills require practice. I am lucky to live in a hilly area, so I can plan routes where I just ride up and down hills for 20 miles if I need the training. In the 'hood where I live I can ride in a circle up and down the same hill over and over. There's a limit to how fast I try to go because I'm not a fan of triggering asthma attacks, but hill repeats do make me a little faster and they make the hills easier.

Is there anyplace you can do something similar?

[drgynfyr]

dont feel bad, i still cant do the hills and i've been riding for about 8 months. just keep trying... and wear gear (it makes you more confident to try). I'm one to talk though i still freak out about half way up and end up walking...

you arent alone !

[Owlie]

What I think is funny is that I have fewer problems on steep ones than I do on not-so-steep ones. Those long, shallow climbs suck it out of me. I had some issues early this summer with it, but I got over it. I haven't done much riding (or anything else) so my fitness is an issue here.

No real hilly rides here, but this one isn't too bad to do intervals on. It's easier than the parallel street, anyway--there's no stop sign in the middle of it! (Much nicer pavement, too!) I'll do that tomorrow, I think, and skip the speeding along on the flats.

[OakLeaf]

I totally hear you. I did a ride from Dallas with my sister a couple of years ago, and those 4-5% grades were just KILLING me! My legs don't have a gear for that stuff!

[LivetoRide]

Since I stopped watching my computer, my riding and climbing got better. Don't worry about your speed and when riding with others, don't make yourself climb at exactly the same speed they do; do what feels right to you.

While climbing I'm always thinking about being relaxed on the tops of my bars and breathing "correctly". I used to put it in the big ring and pedal down hills when doing rollers but my climbing has overall improved since I stopped (knee problems made it not worth it). Down shift when needed and as much as you need.

There's some downright nasty climbs here in Indiana. I can do long, more gradual climbs but those 20-24% monsters just due me in!

[marni]

Today's life lesson about hills.

an old man is out riding slowly and peacefully up a long steep hill. He was not going fast but simply climbing at a regular steady pace. Pretty soon along comes a dude in team bibs and jersey, fancy racing bike, time trial type helmet etc. He blows past the old man yelling out "Hey old man, want to race?"

The old man just ignores him and keeps peddling peacefully up the hill.

Pretty soon along comes another guy, pushing his speed and trying hard. He calls out " come on man, you can go faster than that" as he blows past.

The old man just smiles and waves at him, wishing him a good day.

Pretty soon along comes a third guy, who takes a minute or two to ride next the to old man, asking him if he is feeling ok and does he need help to get up the hill.

The old man waves him on and keeps on peddling peacefully up the hill.

Pretty soon, a last fast rider rides up to the old man, pulls out to pass and says " aren't you eager to get up the hill? Why don't you see if you can go any faster."

The old man just smiles and says " ah the top of the hill will still be there whenever I get there."

[shootingstar]

Well today, we did a gentle long hill which...bewildered us, because we were panting unnecessarily.

Dearie reminded me that Calgary was at a higher elevation than Vancouver...1,000 ft. higher for whole city.

It was just so strange....since I knew the grade was no more than 8% which is normally easy for me.

So the lesson is, a new city /area might be overall at a higher elevation than old place. So first day or so, you might notice certain effort on certain hill climbs.

[bikegrrl]

I've had joggers pass me. Embarrasing until one of them slowed down and told me my saddle was too low. He was right. I worked to get my seat up at the right position and its been much easier to take the hills since then

[Jiffer]

I didn't read all the replies, but I have a few comments.

Are you changing to an easier gear when you climb?

Are you pedaling efficiently, pedaling through the entire rotation? I notice the benefit of proper pedaling on hills more than anywhere else. When I'm struggling with a climb and start to focus on how I'm pedaling, I often start going faster.

Also, as for getting stronger, both for climbing and riding in general, intervals will help a lot. I like to do intervals on a specific route at specific locations. I'll hit my lap button on my Garmin and ride as fast as I can from a specific spot to another (usually between two intersections). I typically do my intervals on hills. I hit my lap button at the end of the interval and try to do it faster than previous times. I keep track of all my intervals. If you're not used to intervals, two minutes can be a LOT if you're really pushing all out (which is the idea). So you might start with 30 seconds or a minute and work your way to two minutes or longer. Then ride super easy for a while in between intervals. When you push yourself at an intense rate for a short period, it makes riding a not so hard intensity easier for longer periods.

I usually prefer doing intervals based on distance, because it's easier than looking down at my Garmin over and over again to see if I'm at 2 minutes yet (or however long I am choosing to go). It is especially hard to do this when standing during an interval, which is another good thing to do (standing intervals).

I noticed a big improvement when I got serious about adding interval rides into my weekly rides. You don't want to do intervals every ride. Your body needs a break between really hard rides, which might be intervals, really long rides, intense climbing rides, lactaid threshold rides (you can look that one up!), etc.

[OakLeaf]

You should be able to set audible alerts on the Garmin. Even my old 301 had that capability.

I might still be looking at mine when I'm three-quarters of the way through a repeat and my legs and lungs are screaming ... but I don't have to.

[indigoiis]

There's also the psychological aspect of hills. This is a big problem with me and I continue to work on it. If you look at a hill and think, "Oh God, a HILL!" then it is going to suck. Better to look at a hill and make a deal with it. "Oh, hello HILL. Not for nothing but you are going to TOPPED today." And then relax, switch to an easier gear, spin up, and start counting. I count revolutions on my right leg. Sometimes, I sing the alphabet. Generally, either one of these things gets me moving. And when I can see the top, I stand up to pedal. Not hard, I just get my rear out of the saddle because psychologically it perks me up.

I may be breathing heavy (I'm a heavy breather - it's kinda funny when you're behind someone) but I am generally pretty happy once I get to the top.

Speed doesn't matter so much as efficiency.

I'm weird - I'd rather take a short (1/2 to 1 mile), really steep hill (Redrhodie can attest to this) than a long false flat. I get really bummed on false flats.

[Crankin]

You are not weird. I am the same way. I can climb just about any short steep hill. But the long 4-10 mile climbs I hear others talking about, no way, even if they are of a lesser grade. And false flats; I really hate those and often find myself going as slowly as I do when climbing some hills.

[smurfalicious]

I just dug this out of my Training Peaks log, it hurts, it sucks, it's miserable, it will make you hate life and doubt your will to live but it works:

Long (6+ minutes), steady climbs. 4-6% grades. Climb mostly in saddle at 60-70 rpm. Heart rate 1-5a zones. Don't go above your 5a zone.

Oooooh does pushing those big gears at low cadence HURT but man it's made my big old sprinter butt better. It HURTS, did I mention that? Like get to the top of the hill and call your momma in a tears HURTS!!!!

Living in Colorado I have a 90 minute ride that gets me 3 of these lovely reps. The last one I really want to die, but man afterwards I feel so awesome about myself. I don't recommend this ride if you're really new, but it's a good one to toss in.

This sucker is a devil too, but also worth doing:

Hill anaerobic endurance + Treshhold. On a 4-6% hill do 4-5 x 3 minutes to the heart rate 5b zone (3-minute recoveries). Stay seated on each. 60-70 rpm. Then ride 20 minutes in the heart rate 4-5a zones on a mostly flat course. Aero position.

That one is geared a little more toward tri work, but if you just do the hill part it's worth it. My coach says the recoveries can be frantic little gear spinning, weaving and all that (with a mind on traffic, natch), just get your HR down.

Hope this helps, promise not to hate me if you do them and they suck.