Training for hill climbs (not climbing hills)

[Hillbilly]

My club is holding its annual hill climb at the end of October and I would quite like to compete as best I can, rather than just "take part".

 Trouble is, whilst I do a lot of rides amongst hills, it is typically at a pace that is well below being in the red (as they are on  long rides, so sprinting up a hill would be counterproductive in the scheme of things).

Can anyone suggest a good regime/approach to convert from an endurance style to one that will add a bit of speed over an 8 week period to the contest?

[Ningishzidda]

Strap a 10kg disk in the triangle and take the bike to the venue of the event.

Ride up and down in low gear first until fully warmed. Then ride AFAP.

Take three days off and repeat.

A week before the event, unstrap the weights disk and do a session to sort out the launch gear.

[L CC]

A Hill Climb is basically a sprint, with an added dimension. They only last a couple of minutes.
So whatever people do for sprints. (Weighted squats, leg presses, hamstring curls, leg extensions: all that gym business, I think, plus full out interval bursts).

[Palinurus]

If the hill is within warm up riding distance I suggest riding up it a few times as quick as you think you can over a few sessions.

Three or four times with a rest between say. Monitor your times and try different pacing  and riding strategies for that particular hill, see which appears to work best.

[L CC]

Surely if you've never done gym work, that's when it's most effective? The first 6 weeks of weights make the most difference, no?

[Nelson Longflap]

If it's a nice steady climb you might consider using a super lightweight, fixed wheel ...

[DrMekon]

Thinking of everything my first hill climb in October. Have been trying to get the hills in on fixed with a fairly loaded nelson as training. Light bike arrives soon, and hoping to be bmi 19 again in time for the climb. Expecting nothing, but would be sad to be slowest.

It's on 5 October 2013 - Course V891/V897. Anyone with inside knowledge of the event?

[Pedal Castro]

Gearing is vital, for the two hill climbs I won (20+ years ago) I decided on a single gear change from big ring to small as the first part of the course was not so steep, however I wouldn't want to have tried to use the rear mech. Other than that it's all about power the weight ratio, so improve power and reduce weight