hey. i'am starting my base training, the only way i can keep a steady pace is using a 10km low gradient hill because terrain here is just up an down, is it ok to do repeats like 30 mins going up at zone 2 and 15 mins going down? like 3 ou 4, how much worse is it than doing 1.5 hour steady? will i be able to build a solid engine doing this? it's really the only way i can to base training..
Just keep things simple - go out and ride and keep your power kinda sorta in the zone that you're aiming for. Don't lose any sleep if you go up shorter hills above it or if you spend some time below it on the way down the other side. Think big picture - literally. If you graph your power (or heart rate if you're using that) on your computer after the ride, as long as most of it is where it should be then you'll do fine.
Ric, ol' chap. How about weights for base training.?[IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif[/IMG]
You build a good engine by training at the appropriate intensities that stimulate adaptations that need to occur, such as building lactate threshold and VO2max.
You don't need to keep a steady pace. In fact discontinuous efforts (aka intervals) are likely to have the greatest effect on your fitness (aka aerobic engine).
I don't know what you think your base training should consist of, but there's no issues with going up hills.