Hill climbing intervals

Hi,

does anyone know of any good intervals for hill climbing when going up the hill not on a trainer?

Do i sprint to the top (about 1 and a half miles), or do i go up at my own pace and go back down and try to beat the time?

thanks

You should be working on a specific level of exersion which is repeated for the same length of time several times in a session.
If you are trying to improve climbing ability you should first focus on steady level of exersion before looking to work higher intensities. Sprinting up a hill does nothing except improve sprinting.

what are your goals and objectives for the season? are you *just* trying to get better at riding one, 1.5 mile climb or is it something else?

you can't sprint that far. assuming that this hill takes about 4 or so minutes then it's a pretty much aerobic effort. people can sprint for up to 10-secs. after that you're slowing down (and you're loosing power way before the 10-secs).

ric

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i am riding the raid pyrenean in june of this year.

my first race of the season is in a months time (Severn Bridge RR your part of the world ric), so i am trying to get as prepared as possible for both.

Since moving to southampton uk to go to uni , from the cotswolds there seem to be a very severe lack of anything called a hill.

this is the closest i have found to a hill within reasonable cycling distance. i was hoping some intervals on this 'hill' would help both my power and climbing.

thanks

doing hard, but repeatable hill intervals, and sustained hard efforts (hills or flat) or one to four reps of 15 to 30 mins, once to twice a week will help

ric

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When you say hard efforts can you please define, I practice by climbing Mt Seymour in BC and its a average 7% grade for about 14km. I ride a 53/39/30 and weight about 210 pounds it takes me about 1hr 20 min to the top. I ride a gear ratio of 30/25 most of the climb with cadence about 67 unless I get up out of the saddle then I jump up a couple gears. What would you suggest as intervals for this small hill? I think the record is 35 minutes. When I hit long climbs like this I suffer ( i think because of my weight) I just want to get better at climbing. Thanks

If it is taking you 1h20m at the moment, you will only get quicker as long as you continue to use this 'hill' for training. You are looking at a pace that you can sustain for well over an hour, and if currently you can average 67rpm cadence, try to increase your pace by incrementally raising your cadence by 1-2rpm every couple of weeks, staying in the same gear. Eventually, you'll be able to use larger gearing, lower the cadence a bit and continue in this fashion.
I would like a 'hill' like Mt Seymour near me.

> When I hit long climbs like this I suffer ( i think because of my weight) I just want to get better at climbing.

Your weight will make a signifcant difference at 7%. Is losing weight an option? What is your height and build? Keeping working on that hill and you lose weight anyhow!

It is a pretty mean climb, Allison Pass on the Hope-Princeton was easier!

Good luck

> I think the record is 35 minutes.

Starting where? And finishing where?

Here is the info I have on the climb:



Mt Seymour Hill Climb ~ North Vancouver CANADA - The start for Seymour is the works yard entrance which is 50m up the climb. The finish is at the top parking lot where the road flattens out.</B> Time - Men: 35:14 Olav Stana 1994 Women: 43:21 Leah Goldstein 2001
Distance - 12.1k
Peak elevation -
Elevation gain - 890m or 2919ft
Av Speed - 20.6 kph
Av Gradient - 7.4%

I currently weight around 200-210 lbs and yes that is my only option I am taking it off as fast as I can lost around 40 so far the summer but I am targeting a weight of 155 to 160. I am medium frame and for the longest time I weighed about 145- 150s then overnight I started packing on the lbs.

20.6KMH average WOW!!

I averaged about 10KMH on a MTB up that road with road slicks,which would be about 70 minutes. Weight 155 and age 61.

Good luck with further weight reduction. I suspect you will benefit from more practice as well.