Hill training for flatlanders

[Chris S]

I'm aiming to do some hilly rides this year. On a fixed gear.

Now, living as I do in mid Norfolk, there will be some travelling involved. There are no Real Hills hereabouts, and the best possible training for riding up hills is to ride up hills. A lot. This much I understand.

However. I haven't got the time to travel to hilly places several times a week; a couple of weekends a month is all I'm going to manage. But there might be ways to make the most, optimise if you like, the practice I can get nearer to home. True, there aren't Real Hills, but there are some minor slopes - 4-6% gradient for up to a km, that are eminently suitable for repeats. Dull, maybe, but a good enough substitute?

Will sticking weights in a pannier help?
Will riding a bigger gear help?
Will riding faster help?

or am I asking too much?

Edit: Worth adding, I am also working on losing excess weight, core strength work, and leg strength exercises such as squats, lunges and steps.

[Alouicious]

Anything that will increase the drag on the bike.

A parachute. Towing a large rubber sled. A roller on the tyre connected to an electrical generator running a bar fire under the saddle. etc etc.

What you have to do is simulate a gravitational pull from the rear. Increase the forces acting against forward motion.

[Chris N]

I was in a similar position to you in 2009 when I decided to try for a fixed SR Cymru.  I actually live in a fairly flat place - my commute, for example, has less than 200m climbing over 25km.  I didn't specifically train for riding up hills on fixed, but did make sure that all the long rides I did were tough enough to challenge me (Hopey New Year, Rutland and Beyond, DIY 200s through the Peak, Cambrian 200, Elenith, etc, etc.).  I soon got used to pulled triceps, cramping calves and a bad back without gearing up or hypergravity training.

Oh, and learn to ride DOWN hills too.  There's as much descending as climbing, remember.

Just keep riding your bike.

[mike]

ride gears for a bit and do two sessions a week of 2 x 20 mins at 'nearly max'.  

and come down here for a sunday morning - how about the 6th Feb?

[mattc]

Simple option would seem to be:
ride gears, and stick it in a big'un for tackling all those 'gentle' slopes. Spin in a littl'un to improve spin-fu

Normal sports science probably applies - overload for a short time, then allow for rest/recovery.

[border-rider]

Oh, and learn to ride DOWN hills too.  There's as much descending as climbing, remember.

This

You could build thews of steel^TM by slogging a 128" gear round the fens, but you're going to squeal like a piggy descending Llanberis on fixed if you can't spin like a loon.

Just come and do some rides with a non-prime number of dimensions.

[Chris S]

I don't think I have too many issues descending - other than the fact that I have fairly chunky legs, so 130rpm is about my limit. I'm hoping they will become less chunky as I lose weight, and so I might be able to stretch that to 150rpm come the summer.

It's a good point though - I've always been more preoccupied with going up than coming down.

Mike - that sounds an excellent proposal - I'll let you know whether I can make the 6th in the next day or so.

One of my accidental "training aids" is using Marathon + tyres on the Pompino. I did a test ride on the summer bike yesterday - boy oh boy was that easier to climb on than the Pomp!.

[Seineseeker]

Buy a bike trainer, and set the resistance to something suitably difficult and ride it for as long as you can take it.

I personally don't think riding up anything for just 1km will do it for you. A truly big tough gear on the flat into the wind (its windy where you are is it not) could be a good try.

[Chris N]

Just come and do some rides with a non-prime number of dimensions.

1, 4 or something else?

[scottlington]

Not sure if it helps but you are more than welcome to use my place as a base for a weekend's training in the Surrey Hills. Just let me know and we can arrange something. There's lots of types too - long and draggy, short and steep (erm...are there any more?)

[border-rider]

1, 4 or something else?

I'm a physicist, and full-time member of the space-time continuum

[clarion]

Weight in the panniers won't make the right sort of difference, because it only affects acceleration, whether overcoming inertia or gravity.  Once you've reached speed, it has a marginal effect.

[simonp]

My strategy:  Lose weight.  Do lots of miles.  Ride events in hilly areas.  Commute & train on fixed.

[geraldc]

Let your tires down and bit, and make sure your brakes rub.

I've misdiagnosed small hills as both these things in the past.

[Alouicious]

At motor vehicle testing establishments where there are no long continuous inclines in the road, the usual method of simulating a hill climb is the vehicle tows a heavy trailer with some kind of adjustable magnetic brake connected to the wheels. With this, a motor vehicle can be brought to a tyre screeching stop if the engineer applies full load.

On a bicycle, the equivalent would be many dynamos being driven by the drive tyre. or one big one with a variable load adjustment.
Failing this, a slat of wood attached to the rear of the saddle, pressing onto the tyre and held on by bungey cord which can be tightened.

An old MTB is great for this.

[amaferanga]

At motor vehicle testing establishments where there are no long continuous inclines in the road, the usual method of simulating a hill climb is the vehicle tows a heavy trailer with some kind of adjustable magnetic brake connected to the wheels. With this, a motor vehicle can be brought to a tyre screeching stop if the engineer applies full load.

On a bicycle, the equivalent would be many dynamos being driven by the drive tyre. or one big one with a variable load adjustment.
Failing this, a slat of wood attached to the rear of the saddle, pressing onto the tyre and held on by bungey cord which can be tightened.

An old MTB is great for this.

Chiggy?

[bazzerp]

Bike into Narrich & then up Gas Hill 20-30 times non-stop. Might help ....

Go & have a coffee & do it again a few times

Dash back to Necton

Simples !

[Bigsybaby]

What you have to do is simulate a gravitational pull from the rear.
[/quote]

Would you need to consult a doctor before you do this?

[Jakob]

Oh, and learn to ride DOWN hills too.  There's as much descending as climbing, remember.

This

You could build thews of steel^TM by slogging a 128" gear round the fens, but you're going to squeal like a piggy descending Llanberis on fixed if you can't spin like a loon.

Just come and do some rides with a non-prime number of dimensions.

Yah!. With Crossfit and weightlifting, I'm now relatively easily beating my geared friends up the hill on our regular ride. (Short, steep 1 mile climb, which pretty much matches our HIIT workouts), but are suffering badly on the downhill side due to lack of milage, which means very low spin-fu.

[gibbo]

Chris - I don't think you're that far from me, I'm in Hadleigh, Suffolk? There are plenty of hills between my place and Halstead (and around that area) if you know which routes to take.

These aren't hills like say Derbyshire or the Downs but again if you pick your route it can be very undulating. I can point them out to you if you venture down this way.

Gibbo.

[Chris S]

Coincidentally, we rode a DIY 200 yesterday that passed through your neck of the woods - from Lt Waldingfield, through Kersey and Aldham to Sproughton. The kick up after crossing the main road just north of Hadleigh is a tester; I've succeeded and failed to climb it previously on fixed, and we had to engage granny on the tandem yesterday.

There are some good climbs in the Somersham area too.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I find weight in the panniers helps.  As I'm an intermittent commuter - constantly travelling to different clients so only commuting on office days - my panniers have a heavy laptop, notebooks, cables, clothes, shoes etc in them.  My normal route to Reading is fairly flat, with only one significant hill taken on the way back.  However, the weight in the panniers certainly has an impact on the slight gradients.

[Gus]

Ride 50km out in tailwind and ride back in headwind, use a bigger gear than you normal will, build strength and stamina.

[The French Tandem]

Ride 50km out in tailwind and ride back in headwind, use a bigger gear than you normal will, build strength and stamina.

I would be very cautious about the bigger gear: It can be very bad for your knees. Indeed, it is very bad for mines.
Learning to spin your legs very fast on a lower gear is a better option for people suffering from fragile joints.

[TimC]

Chris - I don't think you're that far from me, I'm in Hadleigh, Suffolk? There are plenty of hills between my place and Halstead (and around that area) if you know which routes to take.

These aren't hills like say Derbyshire or the Downs but again if you pick your route it can be very undulating. I can point them out to you if you venture down this way.

Gibbo.

Tell me about it. For a supposedly flat area, how come I end up with around 500ft of climbing for every 10 miles of riding round here? And there isn't a route away from my house that doesn't have a 10% climb on it with a couple of miles - unless I wish to ride around the middle of sudbury all day. Which I don't.

As you say, Chris, there are some goodly little slopes around Kersey. If you can be arsed to live with the traffic on the A131, Ballingdon Hill going out of Sudbury towards Halstead is quite testing.