Hill training

Ride as hard as you can into head winds.

cdy291 said:

Ride as hard as you can into head winds.

that'll be easy to arrange, but im just wondering if there is anything that can effectively immitate riding up a hill?

davidhowland14 said:

that'll be easy to arrange, but im just wondering if there is anything that can effectively immitate riding up a hill?

Riding on an inclined treadmill can imitate hill climbing. Just lifting your front wheel on a trainer does not.

If you've got an extra wheel and can spare an extra set of brake pads, set up your rear brakes to contact the rim and crank it up on the trainer. Probably safer than taking a 25# plate for a drag.

-fb

davidhowland14 said:

I live in a fairly flat area and im looking to train for the Mount Washington bike race. I know I can handle the distance and at a fairly fast speed, and I know about the weather, yada yada yada, but im just looking for some tips from people on how to train for serious hills in a flat area.

(The steepest grade for 50 miles around is 9% gradient, and it's only 1/4 mile long)

Go to the hill that's 9% for 1/4 of a mile. Ride it over and over and over. I haven't come across anything that simulates hill climbing as well as just hill climbing.

davidhowland14 said:

I live in a fairly flat area and im looking to train for the Mount Washington bike race. I know I can handle the distance and at a fairly fast speed, and I know about the weather, yada yada yada, but im just looking for some tips from people on how to train for serious hills in a flat area.

(The steepest grade for 50 miles around is 9% gradient, and it's only 1/4 mile long)

How about more than 50 miles away? It's definitely worth a long drive every couple weeks to try some longer hills, if only for the mental benefit. Besides that, I might suggest a few lower cadence intervals to get used to that too.

Can you ride up the 9% grade into a 15-20mph headwind? that should improve your hill climbing abilities 🙂 but i agree, the only way to learn to climb is to go out and climb.

This might sound strange:

Here's what one famous American pro (if you know racing, you'll know his name) did when he was living in a flat area. He would tie a tire (I'm not sure if it was a truck tire or a car tire though) to a rope and tie that to the bike. He said it really helped him get some resistance.
I also know a guy who was training for track racing where I'm living now (Korea) with the national team. He said they would do that sometimes, too. But they would do 500 meters sprints like that. He told me that it sounds weird, but it really works.

I've never tried it myself. And use it at your own risk of course.

How about moving to Western Montana?😄

I wonder what this would feel like?

http://www.cyclonetraining.com/Cyclone_Theory/cyclone_theory_index.htm

fleshbroiler said:

I wonder what this would feel like?

cyclonetraining.comcyclone theory index.htmOpen ↗

A drag shoot would be very similar to riding into a head wind, only you would feel a little silly. 😄 Well, until you see the results. Ever done hill repeats and found yourself faster the next day? it would be great for flat landers.