Tips for improving climbing?

[Jolt]

So, I have realized that I am not so great at climbing, despite having what is generally considered the right body type (small and light). It's not that I can't get up the hills, it's that I am very slow in doing so (everyone passes me going uphill) and I think this is the main reason why my overall average speed is so bad...not looking to race or anything, but it is nice to be able to go on a group ride and not hold up the group. Short steep hills are a particular problem as far as losing a lot of momentum and then struggling to get the rest of the way up; longer gradual inclines aren't as bad (though I am still slow). Is it just a matter of doing lots of hilly rides, or is there some technique I am missing?

[Eden]

You are correct that practice is key - doing hills will make you better at hills, but I can still give you a few tips

1) don't stop pedaling on the downhill side, get as much speed as possible before you attack the next up.
2) shift down before you slow down - don't allow yourself to come to a grinding halt before you shift down, try to maintain a relatively comfortable spin for as long as you can
3) learn to climb standing. If it's a short power hill, stand up and crank it out to maintain as much speed as possible. On a long climb sometimes it helps to take a few pedal strokes standing every once in a while as a break for your legs.

[Veronica]

Do you feel like it's muscle strength or cardio? We do a lot of climbing on the mountain bikes. As long as the grade is 20% or less, I'm good. But there are some short, freakishly steep sections above that, which send my heart rate through the roof. Of course those sections are near the top, when I'm already tired. Maine roads are a lot like that - short, steep rollers. What's been helping me recently, is focusing on keeping my breathing even and chanting to myself that my legs are strong.

Do you go to your easiest gear right away? If you are, you might try staying away from that gear. When I first got my Cervelo, it was an 11 - 25 and I climbed much faster. But with that gearing, I could only do one sustained 5 mile climb. If there was a second one my legs were shot! After a couple of months of me wanting to cry on every second climb, we changed it out to an 11-32 - I think. It's definitely got a 32 at any rate.

Veronica

[Sky King]

Especially #2! practice spinning, high cadence. So many people ride in to low/hard of a gear and attempt to grind up hills.
Do practice standing for the short incline, which you will do in a higher gear than if you are sitting and spinning.

You are correct that practice is key - doing hills will make you better at hills, but I can still give you a few tips

1) don't stop pedaling on the downhill side, get as much speed as possible before you attack the next up.
2) shift down before you slow down - don't allow yourself to come to a grinding halt before you shift down, try to maintain a relatively comfortable spin for as long as you can
3) learn to climb standing. If it's a short power hill, stand up and crank it out to maintain as much speed as possible. On a long climb sometimes it helps to take a few pedal strokes standing every once in a while as a break for your legs.

[Jolt]

Thanks for the tips. I do try to stay away from the easiest gears unless I REALLY need to use them...this means I try not to use the smallest chainring unless absolutely necessary (didn't touch it on yesterday's 50-miler). I also usually do keep pedaling on downhills to try and carry some speed into the uphill that follows (can be a problem in some groups...I notice a lot of people don't do this, I pass them, then they pass me going uphill--ugh). As far as shifting down earlier, that may be one of my issues...I do find that sometimes I wait a little too long and then have to shift down a few gears in quick succession, slowing way down in the process (though if I downshift earlier it sometimes feels like I am spinning and going nowhere). Not sure if my primary difficulty is more legs or cardio, I think it is probably a bit of both and will have to try and pay more attention next ride to figure out which one seems to be the real limiting factor. The standing to climb may be something I need to work on...I generally prefer to climb seated and feel sort of awkward if I try to stand up to climb.

[rebeccaC]

I think about strong climbing as power to weight ratio. Doing lots of interval work if you’re small, combined with diet if you’re not should help. I’ll even throw in some intervals on my commute to/from work to help with my power.

Sitting with a smooth high cadence and knowing the correct gear for you for changing gradients is the best use of stored energy. I usually don’t stand at all for hills with a lower than 10% gradient, I will if it's a really long climb. I’ll stand on a 10%+ gradient or really long climb to change up muscles for a moment, (also with foot position while sitting to bring different muscles into play), stretch a bit or to crest a hill. I'll use the momentum of standing to keep up with a faster rider/group only if I know I can make up for the larger loss of stored energy later on.

I work on psychological issues too. I break a hill into sections for a lot of positive small mental accomplishments and to avoid a mental image of disappointment. Concentrating on form and mechanics can get me into the now, help to divert my attention from negatives and gets me back to being efficient and focused on the positives.

[marni]

as my coach says- the way to learn to climb is to climb and figiure out what works for you. Having said that I will add that shifting down into an easier gear at the bottom and chicken legging (spinning) up the first part of the hill seems to work for me. I tend to leave myself as many easier gears to down shift into as possible and will shift down as soon as it becomes apparent that I will need to. Ialso prefer to climb seated. Just remember to sit up straight, release the death grip on the handlebars, open your shoulders, breath deeply and relax your face- it really makes a difference. In spite of the fact that you are trying to keep up with a group ride, remember the top of the hill will still be there whenever you reach it and that there is rarely a hill that you can't walk up.

[Crankin]

What Marni describes is what works for me.

[colorisnt]

as my coach says- the way to learn to climb is to climb and figiure out what works for you. Having said that I will add that shifting down into an easier gear at the bottom and chicken legging (spinning) up the first part of the hill seems to work for me. I tend to leave myself as many easier gears to down shift into as possible and will shift down as soon as it becomes apparent that I will need to. Ialso prefer to climb seated. Just remember to sit up straight, release the death grip on the handlebars, open your shoulders, breath deeply and relax your face- it really makes a difference. In spite of the fact that you are trying to keep up with a group ride, remember the top of the hill will still be there whenever you reach it and that there is rarely a hill that you can't walk up.

This. SO MUCH this. I also downgrade and try to stay seated on long hills because I worry about losing momentum otherwise. However, on short, steep hills, I will always get up and out. I mix it up to ensure my whole body gets a workout and one section doesn't work too much.

What really, really helped was spinning this winter in the gym. I learned what mentally worked for me to get me through 5+ minutes of pretty brutal climbs. Spinning was helpful most of all for form. Having our instructor yell at us to keep our shoulders back and hands light made me more aware of form than ever before. Another thing that helped when I first got a lot of gears and upgraded from my old 10-speed Columbia was climbing WITH people. Listening to how they timed shifting and watching them was instructive to helping me figure out what worked.

[azfiddle]

You sound a lot like me, except I'm small but not super light. One of the classic rides here is to go up Mt. Lemmon- a sustained climb of about 23 miles mostly 5% but ranging between 4-8%. Everyone passes me. One day I counted 60 people who passed me.

I tend to sit and ride in one of the lowest gears (I have 11-28 on the back), but now that I'm getting some coaching, I am supposed to do standing intervals on certain rides. One of the activities has 15 minutes of standing intervals during the ride. I am not able to do 5 minutes at a time, but I could do 1-3 minutes standing (which surprised me).

My coach also gave me this suggestion for shorter hills. On the hill, downshift once, and then once again, but instead of shifting down a third time, go back into a harder gear and stand to complete the hill (or a portion of it). She said that the reason you see pros doing this on big climbs the Tour de France etc is to use different muscles and allow other muscles to rest, not necessarily to attack. Also she wanted me to concentrate on pulling up as well as pushing down in my pedal strokes.

I totally agree with Marni about smiling and relaxing your face. I read that here when I first started riding, and applied on a hill that I ride frequently that gets up to about 10%. In fact, my husband put that as the motto on my Road Id when he ordered it for me - "smile on the hills"