if riding hills regularly isn’t an option?
i train with a regular group of people, most of which i can ride quite a bit faster than when we are on the flats. when we did immoo, they all smoked me on the hills. i’m a clyde, and i know the weight kills me going up… short of losing weight or ride hills more often, isn’t there anything i can do?
You have mentioned the 2 most important factors: Ride hills and loose weight.
Other:
i’ve heard people talk about having a friend grab a fistful of your jersey (and not pedal) while you ride on the flats as a way to simulate hill climbing.
i haven’t tried that, but mostly because i have plenty of hills to climb. (no mountains, but plenty of hills).
Compact crank 50/36 with a 12/25 casette.
A large part might be your weight, but part of it might be that you are not regularly riding them. By that I mean, climbing is not simply the same as riding on a flat surface. You have to know your rhythm, you have to have confidence, you have to know your gearing, and when to shift, you have to know when to get out of the saddle, and when to stay seated. These are all things that make climbing much easier, but they take practice. If I were you, I would find some hills, even if you might have to drive to them, and then simply find one hill that looks challenging, and do hill repeats. Do them over and over and over and over again. I promise you, that IF you do this, even despite your weight, your times will come down, and possibly most importantly, you will get CONFIDENCE with climbing.
training: ride into wind with baggy shorts/ shirt over cycling gear (do this in another town where people dont know you)…go to spin class with the jazzercise crowd (they shut the lights out, so you can sneak in just b4/out while still dark…hope you like abba and airsupply tunes), stop eating and limit beer intake…or you could put a compact on the front and a 12/27 on the back and just go on vacation for the climbs and take it back on the descents…big guy is a fast guy on the downs,…provided you have the
tech skills…
What the others have said about doing more hll work and losing weight. Also, if you can’t ride hills regularly, ride in the wind. A headwind is a good substitute for hills. The stronger the wind the better.
Ric
Your trainer can give you an endless hill. Set your front wheel on a block or a few phone books. Crank up the resistance and get to climbing. Repeat until your spirit is crushed. Maybe a good thing to work on in the winter.
To improve your hill climbing ability you don’t need long, sustained climbing up canyons or mountains - it is helpful to have that from time to time but not required. I improved my climbing strength by doing 1 mile repeats up about a 4-6% grade, keeping my cadence around 60-65 and watts around 230 (or HR just under Threshold or Zone 4). I would usually do 6-8 climbs in a bike session twice a month. A pretty high quality workout for me.
Variation: on every other climb about 200-300 meters from the top of the mile repeat click into 1 or 2 harder gears and finish the mile repeat out of the saddle.
One more thing…ditch your group and ride alone when doing hill training. Pretty challenging to find someone who will train at exactly the same speed, cadence and power as you.
I’m pretty much anti-group riding though because it is nearly impossible for me to train with any specificity within a group. I only do it when I really don’t need a ride or my workout calls for “ride as you feel”. I do plenty of racing each season to “ride in a group” and chase down my competition…I don’t need any friends.
I do something very similar on the CT. I do repeats of 2-3 miles up a 6% grade, take a few minutes rest, then do 3x 1/4 mile hills at 10%.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
wouldn’t pushing a high gear for set intervals give you something similar to hills?
Bad advice. Ride with people who push you. This is particularly true for hills.
I ride hills all the time, and do it by myself. I do not need to be pushed in training.
But, I try to race a couple times a month, which is my training where yep, I get pushed.
Dave
you mentioned the two obvious ones.
You can also do big gear work on the trainer…put it in your 11 or 12 cog and grind away.
Doesn’t sound like he has any buddies he trains with who push him.
I agree with physasst, it’s more than just putting it in a hard gear or riding into the wind. That’s more basic strength. To get good you need to learn when you have to shift, when to get out of the saddle, etc. as the incline increases and decreases.
There are a few things you can do to improve your hill climbing:
Arnie Baker has devised some indoor training worksouts that are well thought out to simulate hill riding. They involve raising the front end of your bike while on an indoor trainer to simulate the angle of attack when going uphill. Then he recommends various intervals at different intensities and RPM’s. He also recommends alternating between sitting on tha saddle and standing on the pedals. Get a copy of his book, Smart Cycling, it has a lot of practical training suggestions.
You might also try Powercranks, but ask Frank Day about that.
Weight training may also be helpful as long as you don’t bulk up.
Repeat until your spirit is crushed
awesome!
Find a road or track where you can push hard and never ever let up. Riding flats is the same as riding hills if you ride them fast enough. You just have to force yourself not to stop and coast all the time.
Since you are a clyde though, the biggest factor will be to put the fork down. Nobody is inherently big, you can be as skinny as you want to be.