need help designing climbing workouts

[ridiculous]

I have a goal of improving two things in regards to my climbing:

1. increase average cadence of climbs up to 80 rpm range (I am wondering about this...on shorter climbs, I found I was going faster at same PE at around 70-75 rpms than 80-85 rpms at one lower gear...thoughts anyone?)

2. develop better explosive out of the saddle power on climbs and be able to sustain that kind of effort longer

The problem is the climbs I have around my area are not that great...New Jersey is sort of flat, you know? There are a range of 2-4 minute climbs, some steep as in up to 10-15% grade and others less so...there is one climb which is really far away near Trenton that is more like 7 minutes of climbing, but the average grade is only about 4%.

Can anybody give me some good tips on designing climbing workouts to improve these two areas on the sort of short climbs I have around me?

 

[netscriber]

I have a goal of improving two things in regards to my climbing:

1. increase average cadence of climbs up to 80 rpm range (I am wondering about this...on shorter climbs, I found I was going faster at same PE at around 70-75 rpms than 80-85 rpms at one lower gear...thoughts anyone?)

2. develop better explosive out of the saddle power on climbs and be able to sustain that kind of effort longer

The problem is the climbs I have around my area are not that great...New Jersey is sort of flat, you know? There are a range of 2-4 minute climbs, some steep as in up to 10-15% grade and others less so...there is one climb which is really far away near Trenton that is more like 7 minutes of climbing, but the average grade is only about 4%.

Can anybody give me some good tips on designing climbing workouts to improve these two areas on the sort of short climbs I have around me?

I used to live in Chicago in the past. I used to simulate climbs by riding a high gear/low cadence intervals. This does not help you use the exact same muscles and position but is as good as it gets without looking for real hills in some other state.

 

[ridiculous]

Any other thoughts please?

 

[kaikane]

maybe an indoor trainer bike? adding resistance that way.
or repeating the small hills you do have in ever higher gears?
moving to colorado

 

[Eilert Pilarm]

2-4 minute climbs in your area can be profitable---hill repeats.

just like running intervals or hill intervals to train for 10k's or marathons, after a good warmup (i think i could be pretty warmed up after 30 mins when i was younger; but now at age 45 i really am not settled in and warm until a full hour), hit the hills for the repeats.

at absolute max effort or darned near max effort.

you can establish a baseline the first time and after doing this on a regular basis during the season (once a week maybe to start?), see how much time you can reduce and/or how much larger a gear you can do the climb in.

and keep looking for longer steady climbs...with any river valley, as there is a river that separates Trenton from philly yeah?---then there HAS to be some hills coming out of the valley itself yeah?

and once in a while if you have time swing on over into PA and find the mtns.
and---good luck mate

 

[GBLGTS]

North Jersey has some good climbs to NY. Join the Bergen Tour Club and they'll take you climbing. www.btcnj.com. Happy riding!

 

[mnizz]

Central Jersey has some pretty solid hills too. If you can get to Holmdel Park, the area around there is pretty hilly. There are a group of riders i met there last Tuesday while i was on a run. I talked to them for a while and every Tuesday and Thursday they meet at Holmdel Park to ride at 6 pm. Tuesday is their flatter faster ride, and Thursday is their hill ride. Also, i just joined a Jersey Shore Touring Society (JSTS) and they have some strong riders who know the area well and probably could show you some good rides. Their website is jsts.us

If you have any questions about the rides feel free to send me a private message.
-Mike

 

[Ergoman]

I have a goal of improving two things in regards to my climbing:

1. increase average cadence of climbs up to 80 rpm range (I am wondering about this...on shorter climbs, I found I was going faster at same PE at around 70-75 rpms than 80-85 rpms at one lower gear...thoughts anyone?)

2. develop better explosive out of the saddle power on climbs and be able to sustain that kind of effort longer

The problem is the climbs I have around my area are not that great...New Jersey is sort of flat, you know? There are a range of 2-4 minute climbs, some steep as in up to 10-15% grade and others less so...there is one climb which is really far away near Trenton that is more like 7 minutes of climbing, but the average grade is only about 4%.

Can anybody give me some good tips on designing climbing workouts to improve these two areas on the sort of short climbs I have around me?

Climbing well is nothing more than having a good power to weight ratio and riding efficiently while expending energy judiciously (not blowing up on a hill).

You don't need hills to train for more power or to improve your weight. You don't need hills do develop an efficient riding style. You may need hills in order to develop a sense of how hard you can go for how long on what grade. OTOH, a power meter will give you that information without ever getting near a hill. What hills do provide is motivation. It's hard to get motivated to go at hill-climbing power levels when you're just rolling along on the flat.

 

[Spunout]

OP: YOu need easier gears. You will not be able to change speeds grinding away at 80 rpm.

 

[pistole]

Climbing well is nothing more than having a good power to weight ratio and riding efficiently while expending energy judiciously (not blowing up on a hill).

You don't need hills to train for more power or to improve your weight. You don't need hills do develop an efficient riding style. You may need hills in order to develop a sense of how hard you can go for how long on what grade. OTOH, a power meter will give you that information without ever getting near a hill. What hills do provide is motivation. It's hard to get motivated to go at hill-climbing power levels when you're just rolling along on the flat.

- me thinks that there are alot of climbers who will disagree with you there.
.

 

[Ergoman]

- me thinks that there are alot of climbers who will disagree with you there.
.

Then let them say why.