Hill Speed

[Catrin]

I hadn't heard the advice before to breath through the nose when climbing, I am not a strong climber myself. Is this more efficient than mouth-breathing? Of course, if we are doing that then we are likely panting (at least for me)...

[Hi Ho Silver]

I hadn't heard the advice before to breath through the nose when climbing, I am not a strong climber myself. Is this more efficient than mouth-breathing? Of course, if we are doing that then we are likely panting (at least for me)...

From what I've read on the web, nose breathing is the preferred method. But I have a book (Bicycling Science, from M.I.T. Press) that says

"Up to a breathing rate of 0.67 ml/sec (40 l/min), people tend to breathe through the nose ... Above this rate, the resistance to flow of even a healthy nose becomes penalizing, and mouth breathing is substituted. For a normally healthy individual riding on the level in still air on a lightweight bicycle, this limiting rate for nasal breathing is reached at about 14 mph."

That implies to me that really hard effort, like climbing a steep hill at a moderate speed, necessitates mouth breathing. I could be wrong though ...it has been known to happen

[Catrin]

From what I've read on the web, nose breathing is the preferred method. But I have a book (Bicycling Science, from M.I.T. Press) that says

"Up to a breathing rate of 0.67 ml/sec (40 l/min), people tend to breathe through the nose ... Above this rate, the resistance to flow of even a healthy nose becomes penalizing, and mouth breathing is substituted. For a normally healthy individual riding on the level in still air on a lightweight bicycle, this limiting rate for nasal breathing is reached at about 14 mph."

That implies to me that really hard effort, like climbing a steep hill at a moderate speed, necessitates mouth breathing. I could be wrong though ...it has been known to happen

Just good to know that it sounds like I at least get part of it right

[Katie0817]

A lot of good info here! Very good article on climbing techniques. I usually try to time out my shifting jsut right, shifting down just when I feel more resistance but not too soon where momentum is lost. More often, as the article says, I am sitting upright, butt back on saddle and hands on hoods using more quads. Sometimes I alternate a little in the drops because my muscles fatique on longer climbs and I can hit different muscle groups that way. I want to build my legs up more by doing some additional exercises like the squats/lounges but I need to find time to fit them in there. I am usually cycling 3 times a week, hiking twice a week, swimming once a week and try to take one day off. I figured the more cycling I do, the will naturally get better at it wihtout having to find time to fit in the exercises but I do wonder if that is the right approach. I have been trying to find time to fit in some core exercises as well. With the breathing, I usually inhale with both mouth and nose cause the hills are kicking my butt and I need the extra oxygen lol.

Tiffany - great job on the hill climbing. I know how it feels trying to stay upright at 3 - 4 mph!

[redrhodie]

I have a breathing tip. Make sure you exhale completely before inhaling. Get that last little bit out by pulling in the diaphragm, like "breath of fire" in yoga, you'll hear that puff at the end. This will let you make more room for air to come in on the next inhale, which you want to take in as slowly and fully as you can. If you're gasping, you're not getting enough in because the old air is still in there.

The other thing is to smile and relax every muscle you can. If it's not helping climb, it shouldn't be tense. If it's tense, it's taking energy away.

[Katie0817]

Hey Red - I'll try this on my next ride tomorrow. I hadn't thought of that before. I figured as long as I am getting air in, i'm cool lol. Thanks for the tip. I try pretty hard to loosen up and not stay tense. Usually if I feel my muscles tense I correct it pretty quick. Can't say that I am smiling though. I'll have to work on that one!

[featuretile]

Hills - that's where I usually get dropped on group rides. We have some really big ones - can go up to 15%. I have noticed that the club riders who pass me are either spinning faster than my bike allows, or they are standing (which I also do not do). So, today I bought a new 10-speed cassette with 11-36 and a mountain bike rear derailleur and it is being installed on my Ruby compact double.

I read in a cycling book that your cadence should not fall below 40 or you are pushing too hard. My bike computer has a cadence monitor and when I was going up the 15% hill (at least I wasn't walking this time), my cadence was about 30-35 (about 3 mph).

I also did a test ride. I rode my Ruby compact up the hill and then I rode my Bike Friday up the same hill. Bike Friday has lower gears. It was easier to get up on the Bike Friday - and I actually made it up faster.

The other thing that has been helping me is doing intervals on my bike trainer. There are two kinds. Easy gear alternating with fast easy gear, and easy gear alternating with hard gear. Now the 6% hills are easy. The new low gear I will be getting is only for the desperately long, unrelenting, steep hills, and there is at least one or two in every ride. I hope this works as my goal for the last 3 years (that's when I started riding) has been to keep up on the 'B' group rides. I am doing better. Most of the time, I can see the people in the distance, and today I actually arrived at the same time.

[Tiffany_S]

Tiffany - great job on the hill climbing. I know how it feels trying to stay upright at 3 - 4 mph!

Thanks Katie!