Hill climb training - help needed.



Originally Posted by alienator .


You did no such thing, troll.
I am sorry if I did not do so to your satisfaction. Let me try again.

Find a hill you need to use your 39/21 all the way up to climb it and climb it. You have demonstrated that you had to power to do the climb. Now try and climb it in your 53/11. You have demonstrated your lack of force to do the climb.

Beyond that I am at a lack of what to say to you.
 
AOG, your level of shear stupidity and lack of knowledge never ceases to amaze me. Also you are the single best BSer on this forum, it is quite commical to read one thread in which you hope to get to a 300 watt FTP and then go to another where you claim to climb 3000' hills like Contador.
 
Originally Posted by bgoetz .

AOG, your level of shear stupidity and lack of knowledge never ceases to amaze me. Also you are the single best BSer on this forum, it is quite commical to read one thread in which you hope to get to a 300 watt FTP and then go to another where you claim to climb 3000' hills like Contador.
A class in reading comprehension would do you a world of good. A graded class not a pass fail class.

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I think that agoggan was much better at BS, but that is only my opinion.

I have no ambition to get to 300w FTP (5w/kg). But I have been there in the past and if the need arose, I know what I need to do to get there.

I am comfortable using a 34/30 to climb 3000'. I am sure Contador would be comfortable riding at my pace. In that sense you are correct. But I don't associate with professional bicyclists - never know who is going to fail a drug test.

I think that covers all of the issues you brought up.
 
I wonder if the OP is getting any useful information now, but since we are off topic.

I did a quick calculation based on a 53/11 ratio and 175mm cranks. At an angle of 6.2 degrees or about 11% grade, one would need to exert a force equal to their bodyweight to the pedals throughout the pedal stroke to not be decelerated by gravity. While I suppose that you can briefly exceed a bodyweight worth of force, doing so would be inefficient and very tiring since you need to use the upper body and or an extreme upstroke to assist gravity to keep you on the bike.

To keep my speed up a "modest" climb, I downshift a gear or two and boost both the cadence and force which boosts power output. Muscling climb after climb can fry the legs for the remainder of the ride and even days after.
 
Sorry for thread jacking op, kind of on the same lines

But is there a way to train for hills when I have no hills where I live?

My college town is flat as a pan cake but when I stay back home with my parents, say for summer or winter break, it is very hilly. The area is beautiful to ride around and pretty much perfect, but the hills just about kill me and severely reduces ride time/length and of course some of the enjoyability :p
 
This thread had been jacked long before you came around. Sustainable power is the key on both flat sections and hills, you can work on that anywhere. Of course for climbing, weight is also important, dropping a few lbs goes a long way.

The trick for me was to solo challenge myself on the hills and ride them until I kind of liked them. I also learned how to use a hear rate monitor to pace me up longer climbs - this or other tools like GPSs, stopwatches or even power meters can be helpful measures of your improvement in performance.

Having good riding buddies is also a real plus.
 
Originally Posted by TeamSarcasm .

Sorry for thread jacking op, kind of on the same lines But is there a way to train for hills when I have no hills where I live?
My college town is flat as a pan cake but when I stay back home with my parents, say for summer or winter break, it is very hilly. The area is beautiful to ride around and pretty much perfect, but the hills just about kill me and severely reduces ride time/length and of course some of the enjoyability :p
The main difference between training on the flat and on an upgrade is the constant resistance provided by the upgrade. On the flat, you can back off or even stop pedaling briefly and not lose much speed. On an upgrade, if you back off your bike slows immediately (depending on the grade). The best way to simulate this on the flat is to train into a strong headwind. Wind resistance is different, but is your best bet to simulate the resistance of a climb.
 
Thanks guys. With regards to weight, I am pretty lean and have been trying to tighten/tone up so I do think I havr much to loose. Do people add weight to them selves or the bike to in order to simulate resistance? A weight vest comes to mind or if they make things to strap to the bike. Also ill try biking into the wind as well, thanks for that suggestion.
 
Originally Posted by TeamSarcasm .

Thanks guys.
With regards to weight, I am pretty lean and have been trying to tighten/tone up so I do think I havr much to loose. Do people add weight to them selves or the bike to in order to simulate resistance?
A weight vest comes to mind or if they make things to strap to the bike.
Also ill try biking into the wind as well, thanks for that suggestion.
On the flat, extra weight won't do much because the main resistance is air resistance. Maybe get a Michelin Man puffy suit -- that would work.
 
Ride more hills. Oh, and my short season mountain biking really made a difference. I climb like a champ now.
 
knuckles84 said:
If I can give an example using Strava - I can usually get positions in the top 10 of flat sprint segments in my area but average between 900th and 1700th for hill climbs. (Most segments in my area generally have about 2000 positions). It is very frustrating to hit a climb and have beginners and much bigger less fit looking people smash past me. ( especially when I just have to overtake them again after the hill is over). Thanks
well 900th within 2000nd is not that bad, i experienced this problem on the inversed sense, i could climb pretty well and now i hardly get over the hills, what im trying to say is that one same person with proper training, reasonable body weight and good health can improve his climbing by 100% ! patience, perseverance and hard work will pay off sooner or later,