Uphill skills

[Dogmama]

First-mashing is a waste of muscle (my opinion)
Second-weights, resistance training, squats what ever excercise that works for you- build your legs!!

Agree 100%. Mashing trashes your legs and can hurt your knees. Keep pedaling in a circle. You may have to shift to easier gears than normal but once you get it (teach your legs - it's call muscle memory) you will fly up inclines.

Bulgarian split squats. Try it - you don't need a gym. C'mon. I see you out there. Drop the donut & follow me:

First, put a chair parallel to a wall, table, etc., so you can balance yourself. Stand with your back a couple of feet from the chair. Bend one leg & place the top of your foot on the chair. Get ready to reach for the table/wall, etc. Now, lunge with your opposite leg (that would be the one on the floor.) Don't let your knee travel past the top of your foot & practice pushing back with your glute. Great for quads, your core & your booty.

Seated hamstring curls, if you have access to a gym. Best thing that mimics pulling back on the pedal.

Of course, the best way to get stronger climbing hills is to climb hills.

[Bad JuJu]

Dogmama--thanks for the exercise tip.

Chartman64--that hill looks scarier looking down than looking up--yikes!

I've been following a particular cycling fitness program that suggests "pulling up on the handlebars" when you're pedaling hard, particularly on hills (in the saddle, anyway). When I've tried this, it seems to work OK on the downstroke, but if I try to do it while maintaining a nice, round pedal stroke, my bike wants to wander all over the road on the upstroke--that is, I can't seem to pull on the bars AND pull up and back smoothly on the pedal. So do any of you do this pulling up on the bars when pedaling hard on hills, or does this just sound like some idiosyncracy in the program I'm using?

By the way, the program is outlined in the book 7-Week Cycling for Fitness by Chris Sidwell, and I'm using it to get back into shape after being off my bike for a long time. I like the program generally, but this pulling up thing has me perplexed. Any ideas?

[RoadRaven]

The best way to get better on hills is to climb more hills.

Workouts at the gym will make your muscles strong... for working out at the gym...
Example: Lance Armstrong doesn't climb at a cadance of 85 by working out at the gym, doing squats or whatever... he did/does it by climbing.
Squats etc will augment your muscle power... but hill reps are the best way to improve on hills.

I suggest hill reps once a week for someone my age... you don't over-stress your knees that way, and you give your body the time to recover (someone younger might do hill reps twice a week)

Like Delta suggests, speed at the bottom can make you faster up the initial part of the hill... I always endeavour to use my momentum to carry me up faster than I can climb.

As Delta and Kimmy also point out, get in the right gear... avoid trying major shifts between the front chain rings during a climb as you will be much more likely to drop your chain if you change gears in mid-climb.

Staying seated is actually more efficient for most people, and if you are newish to riding, then stand with caution - and only near the top of the climb, because until you get used to standing it can be more exhausting to sit down again and try and grind the rest of the way up.

However, my partner is like Armanns friend and he will often ride with me standing - because I go so slow. However, in a race he mashes his way up a hill seated in a big gear between 24kph and 36kph - depending on the gradient he will stand as/when it gets very steep - staying in the big gear still.

A golden rule for hills is NEVER walk. Get in a low gear, set your own rythym and forget what others do. Ride to your rythym because if you try to keep up with others your will blow your heart-rate. If you must stop on a hill, fine, stop, rest a minute or two, then hop back on and keep going (you may have to start downhill and then turn to come back up after you have clipped in). Never walking gives you a huge psychological advantage in your own headspace.

Like Mom says... weight makes a huge difference... each kilogram (2 pounds) we carry makes about 6 seconds slower over each kilometre... so if you are commuting and carrying loads of stuff (or like me and need to drop another 20kgs) then you will be slower up a hill.

Good luck and have fun... remember the great thing about going up hills is the coming down the other side! Woohoo!

[Dogmama]

I've been following a particular cycling fitness program that suggests "pulling up on the handlebars" when you're pedaling hard, particularly on hills (in the saddle, anyway).

If you're standing, you'll pull on the handlebars a little. Seated? Not really. In fact, you should try to keep the rest of your body as relaxed as possible & conserve your energy for your legs.

Envision the power coming from your hips when you're pedaling in a circle. Your hips are the beginning of each pedal stroke.

When the going gets tough, you may automatically pull a little on the handlebars. I try to minimize that, but sometimes you need to engage your back a little (which happens when you pull the handlebars) to crest a hill.

[RoadRaven]

I've been following a particular cycling fitness program that suggests "pulling up on the handlebars" when you're pedaling hard, particularly on hills (in the saddle, anyway).

.... but this pulling up thing has me perplexed. Any ideas?

Hmmm... I missed this bit when replying earlier... well done Dogmama on picking it up...

I find I almost wrench the bars when going up a steep hill... I really use them a leverege and throw my weight around on them...

Same in a "sprint" situation (though what I do and the speed I go at hardly constitutes a sprint ) ... I stand and throw the bike from side to side.

So I think thats what you/Sidwell are talking about...
I suggest you watch some top racers coming in for sprints or climbing hills (if you dont have anyone local, then something like the Giro or Le tour highlights are readily available and would show you the technique employed - using handlebars - to optimise power output

[Grog]

I know it feels more natural to pull (and it feels good too) but I was taught we should actually push (when seated). It makes sense to me: you want to have more traction, not less, right? Although it could also help having more traction to have more weight on the rear wheel?? Anyway, at least it opens up your lungs...

[Bad JuJu]

I'm familiar with the concept of moving the bike from side to side when doing a standing climb--I guess that helps to balance the force of hard pedaling. I've seen that and done it, too. But for seated climbing, Grog's idea of pushing seems to make sense.

Hmmm, sounds like I need to ride some hills today.