How do you tackle a hill?

[spomanski]

Bit of generalisation here as the gradient and length etc make each climb unique however for the majority of hill climbs what is your technique?

I'll start the first 30 seconds or so out of the saddle then I'll drop back into the saddle and drop down one gear. After about three or four minutes I'll get back out of the saddle shifting up one gear and stay there for about a half minute.I"ll repeat that for just about the whole climb. If the climb gets really hard and I'm trying to keep up with stronger riders I'll most likely stay seated longer.

 

[gills]

same

if its a rolling hill preceeded by a downhill I'll spin down and at the start and then stomp for a bit to keep the momentum then change down 2 gears and try and keep the spinning going as quickly nad long as i can

I do it that way too except I approach a hill like a truck with a load. I start out about as fast as I can trying to get a run for it and then try to keep up the cadence. As I lose momentum and RPM's I down shift by two gears and then try to keep the Momentum & R's again. Seems to work as I'm rarely passed...

 

[Insight Driver]

I know my limitations as a recreational rider over 50. I also know my own, "engine." What works for me is to continue my speed (not cadence) as I start up the hill, downshifting and increasing cadence as I go. I will then slow my cadence down to my normal cruising cadence, knowing I did not blow out the immediate energy I had in my leg muscles and with my heart rate now up near my 80% point. I will spin until my muscles want a break, during this time my heart rate is dropping back to around 50% where I try to keep it. I'll upshift about 3 cogs and stand in the gear where my body weight lets the pedals fall at a comfortable cadence. My heart rate will start to rise again up to my 80% point (I stop there no matter what). I'll then drop gears and sit back down in spin. If it's a long hill I'll drop to a lower gear and spin with less effort to get myself up the hill with energy left in my legs.

I know that I need to keep enough left in me to be able to accelerate as I crest the hill. When I am at a good wind chill speed I'll spin with very light effort, letting my muscles recharge. By time I get back to the normal cruise on the flats, if I dialed in everything right, I'm back to my target 50% heart rate and normal cadence spin.

 

[bikeshop]

Greg Lemond once said the shorter the hill, the more I stand. Ive found this to be true as well. www.the-bike-shop.com/training

 

[Cyclist14]

Medium cadence at the start, then I go to my 23 or 25 (on rear cog) and have a high cadence out of the saddle.

 

[MLMercer]

OK so I'm a noob at standing to attack hills... I tried it recently (have been too scared due to knee injury) - way quicker ... but I found it very uncomfortable due to having full suspension (front and back)

Anyone else have this problem? Is my bike just not built to cope with this or should it just take some geting used to the feel of it? (I have a Norco Roma hybred - haven't seen anything written about it on these forums - maybe its a freak? )

 

[fixed]

i put it in the biggest gear i've got, go down on the drops and sprint it