PauloBarnesi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Oh and the only way to really climb hills is to climb hills; try and find a decent hill and do it as an interval session. Sign up to Strava and have an idea how fast you are going and what your cadence is. You can’t ever get over how hard they are, you just find that you are getting faster and faster. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 And a fantastic stage yesterday of the Giro yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjsg Posted May 28, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 28, 2014 Hills make you faster on flats too, same theory as hill reps in running, they make you stronger. It's worth doing a few reps and alternate between standing and sitting and using the descent for recovery. Yeah was a great stage and he was gonna turn up at some point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 And a fantastic stage yesterday of the Giro yesterday. One of the best stages I have ever seen. Epic stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 What really improved my hill climbing was loosing some weight. I did this by committing 6 miles to work everyday - sadly hip arthritis has limited my cycling now - recently brought a recumbent bike which is serious fun - not confident in traffic yet though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Obviously losing any weight will help a great deal, you are trying to improve watts/kg which is harder than simply watts. You also learn what kind of hills suit you based on your style. I prefer steady long climbs at 6% +, short ones at 15% I can’t bear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 And a fantastic stage yesterday of the Giro yesterday. One of the best stages I have ever seen. Epic stuff. Nearly as good as the one in 88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjsg Posted May 28, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 28, 2014 Weight has made a huge difference to my climbing and probably even more difference to my running. At 180+ pounds (I believe they call it Clydesdale) Im never gonna be a great climber even with a bit more weight loss, but like you mention Im also not too bad when I can sit in the seat and get into a rhythm rather than trying to smash it up a short sharp climb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Every bit counts. Most cyclists spend vast amounts of cash on lighter wheels, etc, when the maximum weight loss is always going to be on the body. I ve lost 5kg or so in the last year and its enormously helpful for Alpine climbs. Of course the alternative is to be a strong but heavier cyclist and take aload of drugs; look at Indurain, Riis and Ullrich... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjsg Posted May 28, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 28, 2014 Idealy I would get down another 3-5Kg which would bring me down to around 12% body fat which I think is more than lean enough. It would probably make me pretty competitive in my age group in Duathlon too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Any of you use pulse meters - or are they rather old-fashioned these days ! As regards training on hills; I used to go out with a bloke who went on to win Olympic gold. he rode to his pulse so if his pulse went up on the hills he would back off to keep it at the same rate as on the flat. Can't remember what his rate was - about 120 I think and mine was at about 150. This was sometime ago when I could finish a 25mile tt with my pulse on 180 - so when I was about 50. Couldn't get anywhere near that now. Didn't know Indurain was 'tainted' Paulo ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 He failed a test in France for a non banned substance that much is true. Just look at those performances, a strong big time trialler didn’t struggle in the mountains anymore... In a time when everyone was doing it, its hard to believe he wasn’t involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 He failed a test in France for a non banned substance that much is true. Just look at those performances, a strong big time trialler didn’t struggle in the mountains anymore... In a time when everyone was doing it, its hard to believe he wasn’t involved. Yep agree he must have been using. Which is sad because he was my idol but when you watch him outclimb blokes like Pantani and Virenque (who were hardly squeaky clean either) on the 94 and 95 Tours he must have been on something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) Cynic !! I think it was 'cos he used a Pinarello with a Campag groupset - gave him the edge ! Edited May 28, 2014 by veloman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Cynic !! I think it was 'cos he used a Pinarello with a Campag groupset - gave him the edge ! Oh yeah....that and the "special" Banesto bananas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjsg Posted May 28, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 28, 2014 Despite having the power meter I do most stuff on pulse rate anyway. My current plan for IM is to try and stay around 140 for the bike bit, but allow myself to burn a bit on the hills although there aren't many (3x cat 5 twice). I would then try and sit sub 160 for the marathon until final 5-10k where I will do what I can if I have any energy left. I tend to max out at low 190s but only ever see near that on parkrun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Any of you use pulse meters - or are they rather old-fashioned these days ! As regards training on hills; I used to go out with a bloke who went on to win Olympic gold. he rode to his pulse so if his pulse went up on the hills he would back off to keep it at the same rate as on the flat. Can't remember what his rate was - about 120 I think and mine was at about 150. This was sometime ago when I could finish a 25mile tt with my pulse on 180 - so when I was about 50. Couldn't get anywhere near that now. Didn't know Indurain was 'tainted' Paulo ! Isn’t a pulse meter merely a Heart rate monitor? You can use a HRM or a watt meter, both with a zonal system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Righto, so when does the Tour de France start? Is this the year it kicks off in Leeds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Yep - pulse meter = heart rate monitor. Mine is fairly old now , a Polar but it does have 'zones'. So I would set zones to race at, say, 150 to 165; before it reached that lower limit it would beep reassuringly, when you hit 150 it would stop beeping but if you went over 165 it would beep like mad and send for an ambulance ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloBarnesi Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I was accused on a ride of sounding like a check out machine as my HRM started beeping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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