A club mate of mine finally drags himself to the top of the hill where i was waiting "it's not fair
- you always choose a route that takes in hills" he whines, "you know i can't do hills like you
can". "ah", I answer " that's because i always choose the hilly routes"
he just didn't get it, and continued to be **** at hills....
"Russell" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
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>
> Per Elmsäter <
[email protected]> wrote in message
>
news:[email protected]...
> > Turbo.Fahel wrote:
> > > I am 44 yrs old and today joined a club.
> > >
> > > I need to improve my climbing ability as it very average as I struggle on the hills.
> > >
> > > What can I do to improve, riding more, gym work etc ???
> >
> > I was in your situation about six months ago and today the hills are
where
> I
> > can relax because everybody else is slowing down more than I need to. So
> on
> > group rides my pulse usually goes down on a hill. I'm 52 and riding with recreational riders.
> >
> > So what did I do? I attack every hill I can find. I ride detours when commuting to work to find
> > hills to attack. I go up as hard as I ever can
> on
> > as high a gear as possible spinning as fast as possible. I seldom make
it
> > all the way to the top. If I do I haven't attacked hard enough. However
my
> > cadence on hills is lower than on the flat. The people I ride with often have a higher cadence
> > on hills than on the flat and therefore slow down
to
> > much.
> >
> > I've been a regular at the Gym over the winter doing bicycle related exercises.Both for the legs
> > and the upper body. For this part I have
used
> > Chris Carmichaels recommendations in his book the Lance Armstrong Performance Program. I showed
> > my Gym instructor the workouts section and
> he
> > set up my program according to this. I am not saying you have to use the Carmichael program but
> > it is good to have a program that is bicycle
> related.
> > Many good coaches and athletes can help you with that.
> >
> > But mainly. I just love attacking a hill. I don't know why but it feels
so
> > damn good everytime.
> > --
> > Perre
> >
> > Remove and/or replace the DOTs as needed to reply
> >
> >
>
> I completely agree with this now I'm pretty fit, but when I'd just started
I
> used to collapse half way up most hills through trying too hard. The key for me was NOT attacking
> too hard at the bottom but finding a pace that I could maintain all the way up. Also... Resist the
> temptation to drop through to the lowest gear possible. Alternate sitting & standing. Concentrate
> on not loosing momentum when changing position. When sitting, sit well back & stretch legs out
> fully on the downstroke. Concentrate on controlled deep breathing, right from the bottom. Try
> using a heart rate monitor. You will find there is a point of no
return,
> if you stick just below this you will complete the hill. Go over it and collapse is immenent.
> Remember if you've just joined a club, you can't expect to keep up with
the
> other riders who've maybe raced & trained regularly, nobody would. Just
keep
> riding and enjoy it! Hills show up differences in fitness far more than
the
> flat so its not that your not good at hills, it just shows more. Finally,
I
> heard somewhere it takes about 3 years of training to reach your optimum fitness, whatever your
> age so you've a lot to look forward to!
>
> Russell