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| *Vultures Knob>>>Cycling |
Best advice for getting better at climbing hills? |
Outside of losing weight and buying a lighter bike, what advice do you have to help in regard to climbing hills better? I try to stay relaxed in the upper body and keep a lower gear, but the hills just take it all out of me. I see that there are a lot of convoluted answers before me. Not really much help at all. The only good advice so far is to practice. For a beginner, that's really the only way to improve. There are training methods that experienced cyclists can use to improve their climbing, but until you have a good base, the only way to improve your climbing, is to climb. There is one glaring mistake in the answers before me though. You should slide BACK ON THE SADDLE, not forward. By sliding back on the saddle you slightly increase the extension of your legs. Which gives you a bit more power. It also puts you in a better position to pull up with your quad, calf, and hamstring muscles. Applying power throughout the pedal stroke is absolutely essential to being a decent climber. Relax, put your hands on the top of the bars, slide back on the saddle, and try to pull up as well as push down. This takes some work. But it will pay off in better climbing. Oh, and practice. I thought that I'd add a couple of links to some pics that illustrate the proper climbing position. This first pic is of Floyd Landis in his time trial position, notice how far forward he is on the saddle. http://www.flickr.com/photos/whileseated... This next pic is of Floyd in his climbing position. http://www.procyclingphotos.com/tour_de_... Check out the other pics on this page. The classic climbing style is arms straight, sitting up, and back on the saddle. When you see a rider climbing with his arms bent, and forward on the saddle, as in the pic of Vino, it indicates that he is in attack mode. This is not his climbing position, this is an attack position. It is only for short powerful efforts on a climb or flats. Some riders like Ullrich have a less classic climbing style. They are low rpm, power climbers. Their position will be closer to their normal flatland position. Few riders can climb effectively in this position. It's sheer power. So if you're not Jan Ullrich, copy the classic climbing position. EDIT: Just an interesting side note. Floyd's time trial position was later deemed to be illegal by the UCI. His handlebars are higher than his saddle, and that's not allowed. Levi uses a very similar position now also. Go in to the hills with speed I would make sure that you have tires that provide the least amount of friction with the road, make sure they're pumped up, get clipless pedals, drop your heels as you pedal, and just keep practicing! At least, those are what works for me. I hate hills still, but I can do them. Oh, and a mental game I play with myself when climbing a tough hill is to set goals...like getting to a certain road sign, or passing a certain mailbox, etc. I tell myself I can at least make it to that point, and then when I do, I set a further goal. Before long, I'm cresting the hill. The simple answer is to climb more hills. That's the only way you will ever get better. Getting clipless pedals, if you don't already have them, will how you power up climbs. Standing while you're climbing helps. Making sure you select the right gears as you make the climb helps too-experiment with that to see what works best for you. When you are seated you also want to shift yourself forward a bit on your saddle and "pull" on your bars as you pedal. Don't worry about speed so much as just making it up the hill. You can concentrate on speed later. Just keep climbing and it will get easier. I used to hate hills and now I think a ride is boring unless I get to challenge myself a little on some climbs. Practice, practice, practice ! go into a hard gear in the front spokets so the back end doesn't lift when you climb and a easier gear in the rear sprockets to make it easier to pedal. also hit the hill with speed...this makes it alot easier. climbing is the ultimate test of fitness. the better your recovery and fitness, the better you can climb at any given weight. naturally weight is part of it, but you can improve by working your recovery. try intervals or hill repeats. this is where you put yourself into oxygen bankrupcy, recover and then repeat over and over several times. it helps your body become better and working when in O2 debt and at recovering once you are in it. it will also help you get smoother and more efficient at actually climbing. |
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