"Invisible" Hill technique?

[indigoiis]

My weakness: hills where it looks like there's not a hill, but you can feel it in your legs. A slight upgrade. Or long, gently rising/sloping roads. I hate them. I feel like I lose all of my power (the computer confirms...) and it totally psychs me out. I get this dull achy period-like pain in my upper thigh / hip area. My heart rate skyrockets. My DH says it is all in my head.

Give me a hill I can LOOK at. Give me a hill I can truly climb. But these gentle grades? I want to cry.

I am doing a century on Sunday that includes several of these kinds of roads.

If anyone has a tip or a trick to psych me up these gentle grades, I'd sure appreciate any advice.

[indysteel]

Ah, the dreaded "false flat." My technique, if you can call it that, is to shift into a slightly easier gear, slow down my breathing, concentrate on a nice round pedal stroke and avoid looking to the top/end of the "hill."

[SadieKate]

Headology. It's all in the acceptance of your fate and controlling your thoughts. Find the zen of the moment.

[redrhodie]

It's so refreshing to hear you gripe!

If you want, I'll ride along side and tell you happy things to make you forget what you're doing.

[SadieKate]

Sing to her! That'll move the pain from her legs to . . . er, um, . . .

[equus123]

Two options for false flats:

1) keep your gear and slow your cadence to a comfortable pace

or

2) shift easier and spin faster


Either way....keep your effort/intensity/perceived exertion exactly the same as it was before the false flat or slightly higher...barely enough to really notice too much.

[lph]

Last time I had one of these, with a headwind to match, I tried to focus on the feeling of the air rushing past me, instead of the road going ever more slowly underneath my wheels. Tried telling myself that my relative speed (to the air) was the same and to GET MOVING! It helped a little. Or you can practice riding one-legged, pulling up, without hands, anything to get your mind busy.

[makbike]

Take it to an easier gear and try to maintain your cadence. Just let yourself "float" up the hill.

[OakLeaf]

Set your computer to only display cadence, not speed. You'll still sense that you're going more slowly than your eyes think you ought to, but it won't be so obvious so it might not psych you out as badly.

Around here, the false flats usually happen in the middle of climbs, and I actually love 'em - it's a chance to get my cadence back up and rest some before the next steep grade.

[KatiePickle]

I have this problem too! There is one road on my commute to my soon-to-be-former job that I HATE for just this reason. It takes me twice as long to get up this "flat" road than it does to get up the huge hill at the end of it. The thing that works best for me is to think about anything but cycling. If I start thinking about dinner, or if I have time to take the dog to the park or how should I get my hair cut next time.... anything. The moment I look at the computer or think about how much of the road I have left... it's all over. I get tired and I slow down. I think I might just find it boring... but I do know that it is all in my head!

[latelatebloomer]

We have a lot of them here and I struggle on all inclines, visible or not. The guy teaching me to ride has me wear my HR monitor, shift into light gearing and spin 'em out, working on keeping my HR down - this will help on the bigger hills, too - you learn how to spend your energy, and that it's even possible to recover for a bit - while going up hill. The concept still boggles, but I've actually been doing it sometimes!

I like to pretend there's a tow rope attached to my bike pulling me along, my only duty is to keep my legs spinning and my bike moving forward.

I avoided wearing my HR monitor on road rides for a long time - now I'm learning how to use the info.

[suzel59]

My advice is to keep your eyes on the road with your helmet visor tilted down enough that you can trick yourself into thinking you're on the flats. It really does work for me...even when I'm on a monster hill.

[Pedal Wench]

Use it as an opportunity to get out of your saddle and stretch out your back and legs. Shift up to a bigger gear, stand, pedal 5 strokes then coast and stretch out one leg, then 5 more and the other leg. Do that a few times, and the false flat might be over.

[Smilie]

I usually count my pedal strokes or just say GO GO GO GO! Till I make it. Fake it till you make it I say.

[SadieKate]

Not that everyone's tips aren't wonderful, but indigoiis' post was in May with the ride the following Saturday . . .


Of course, a report from indigoiis would be nice.