Another hill question

You don't need a fancy bike to climb a hill. Just keep at it. Don't charge the hill at the bottom, get in a nice low gear, turn it easy, and shift down as needed. It helps some people to sit on the back of the saddle, as does shifting up a cog and standing on the pedals to stretch the legs and back for a spell. We all get winded if we haven't been riding for a while.

kimz said:

Right i have no idea on the gradience of this hill but i am struggling to get up i have to stop at least once use to be twice !

now its not my legs that give in but my breathing i cycle 12 mile round trip to check my horses most days and ive been doing this for a year now but this hill still beats me :eek:

so is there anything i can do to help my breathing strengthen my lungs or something 😕

i dont have any fancy bike just a bog standard one a ridgeback mountain bike 601 gs i think its 15 gears and i go right down on my gears to help with the hill

any ideas 🙄

How long is that hill?

Are you riding overland OR on a trail OR roadway?

As oldbobcat suggested, you probably want to shift to an easier gear sooner-rather-than-later.

Its quite simple really, spread your effort out over the entire climb, try not to go into the red zone at the very start 😉 Also keep in mind that the more hills you ride, the better you'll become and riding up them. Good luck!

I always get back to; If you want to ride 1 hill easily, then you have to be able to ride 2 hills with effort.

Climb that hill stopping if you need to and when you get to the top, coast back to the bottom, and do it again. Then continue on with your normal ride.

Providing that you aren't trying to climb up the side of a cliff 🙂 , if you add this double hill climb to your normal ride as often as you can, it shouldn't be too long before you can climb that hill without stopping.

kimz said:

Right i have no idea on the gradience of this hill but i am struggling to get up i have to stop at least once use to be twice !

now its not my legs that give in but my breathing i cycle 12 mile round trip to check my horses most days and ive been doing this for a year now but this hill still beats me :eek:

so is there anything i can do to help my breathing strengthen my lungs or something 😕

i dont have any fancy bike just a bog standard one a ridgeback mountain bike 601 gs i think its 15 gears and i go right down on my gears to help with the hill

any ideas 🙄

had same exspirience with the breathing when i got bsck into cycling bout yr ago ,your breathing capacity will increace with more cycling i find my legs just about give out now before my breathing but ifind i recover quite well once im over the hill and ready for the next one ...

[FONT=Arial]To reach the top of a hill like a young man you have to start the climb like an old one.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Take it easy and try to go slower: you want to conmute, not to race, so use a gearing as short as to be able to maintain a cadence of 80 to 90 rpm without too much effort. Engage the smallest ring and the biggest cog if you need to.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Get your bike fit too: the brakes have to work well, but ONLY if you use them, adjust the derailleurs, have cables and housings sliding smoothly, the chain clean and oiled, the wheels trued, and the tyres with enough pressure. The seatpost height has to allow your legs to stretch on the pedals but not completely. The saddle has to be straight and horizontal.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]PLUS if the road is asphalted and without loose gravel, you can mount semi-slick tyres like this:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]http://two-wheels.michelin.com/2w/front/affich.jsp?codeRubrique=2092004115348&codePage=2092004115348_10092004150436&lang=EN[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]or these:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]http://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/produkte/tour_city/produkt/?ID_Produktgruppe=36&ID_Produkt=234[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Which not only weight less but they roll more easily than a tyre with knobs.[/FONT]

There's something you can do. This sounds like a fitness issue. Everything is fine accept your breathing is a cardio fitness problem. So all you need to do is improve your cardio fitness level this will improve your breathing and give you more reserves of energy to tackle the hill.

Here's my tips to improve your acrdio fitness on the bike. You need to incorporate some speed training intom your cycling. Here's what to do:
Begin your speed training while on one of your normal rides. Incorporate some sprints into the ride. Use natural landmarks to pick a point for your sprint. This can be anything from a tree to a lamppost.

As you draw near to your chosen starting point begin to accelerate. Climb up the gears, Stand up on the bike, out of the saddle and ride as fast as you can, really pump those peddles and push your body to work hard.
When you reach the sign you have chosen start to drop the gears and get back into your normal cycling rhythm. If you are having trouble recovering in the early part of your speed training, then drop some more gears.
Allow your body to recover back to its normal rhythm, however long it takes. In the beginning recovery will take a while depending on how fit you are; as your fitness improves your body will recover quicker.
Once you have recovered repeat the exercise. Do this three or four time during your ride or more if you feel up to it. Continue with this training and you will soon build up your cardio vascular tolerance and your recovery times will decrease.
Speed training will not only give you a new dimension to add to your cycling skills, it will greatly improve your fitness levels. It’s also very enjoyable.
You could also do some off bike training like running.
I hope this helps

Cheers

Paul