Hills

1. If you really want to increase your endurance what's the problem with using the hills as part of your training regimen?
2. If you're intent on avoiding the hills, get a stationary trainer.

jwroubaix said:

I'm a beginner and an trying to increase my stamina. My problem is the roads all around my house have steep hills. To get anywhere flat I have to climb hills that about take all I have. Any suggestions besides just driving somewhere else that is flat?

Yeah, you're lucky you have hills to ride up. My area is too flat. And I'd much rather ride up a hill than ride an indoor trainer any day!

jwroubaix said:

I'm a beginner and an trying to increase my stamina. My problem is the roads all around my house have steep hills. To get anywhere flat I have to climb hills that about take all I have. Any suggestions besides just driving somewhere else that is flat?

I have the exact same problem...no matter which way I turn out of my driveway there are step inclines to pedal up to get to flat(er) ground...try this...instead of trying to power up them because your fresh and ready to go...sit back and SLOWLY...very slowly spin up the hills...lowest gear and just creep...you will also need to learn to maintain your breathing and control your output so you can tell when your working too hard going up...you should be able to talk with someone comfortably going up the hill...going up those hills in the beginning hurts but your stamina will be through the roof in a couple months :P...

or...drive to somewhere thats flat...there's nothing wrong with that either...but it sounds to me like your going out to quick and trying to push too hard in the beginning...slowing down the pace at first should help...

tiggere said:

it sounds to me like your going out to quick and trying to push too hard in the beginning...

And/or perhaps his bike doesn't have low enough gears?

Good point on the gear ratio. I changed to an 11/27 years ago since I have a lot of grades at 18% and some in the low 20's.
I recommend the 27 as a bail out gear for steep hills and also recommend to climb, climb ,climb etc. Drop some weight and increase you ability to recover
You will get better.

If you aren't already doing this...

Get a road bike, and make sure it has the gears you need. A triple might be useful, just because if you have no choice but to go up hills, you don't want to burn yourself out doing it every time you leave home. You can't go for distance that way.

Make sure that you have a good efficient position on it so yo maximize your power. There's no substitute for the leaning forward position on a road bike. It doesn't have to be extreme, but at least some lean puts the most muscles into pedaling. Even a touring bike should really be set up like this. If you don't ride like this, all of the power has to come from only your leg muscles. This tires your legs out very quickly going uphill.

thanks for the response. I'm not trying to avoid the hills, i'd just like to make it up one and not feel like i'm ready to turn around and go home. I do have a triple so I think I have low enough gears, I probably need to check my positions and and not try to push to hard up them. Where can I find a good source for proper fitment?

longfemur said:

If you aren't already doing this...

Get a road bike, and make sure it has the gears you need. A triple might be useful, just because if you have no choice but to go up hills, you don't want to burn yourself out doing it every time you leave home. You can't go for distance that way.

Make sure that you have a good efficient position on it so yo maximize your power. There's no substitute for the leaning forward position on a road bike. It doesn't have to be extreme, but at least some lean puts the most muscles into pedaling. Even a touring bike should really be set up like this. If you don't ride like this, all of the power has to come from only your leg muscles. This tires your legs out very quickly going uphill.

You are going to think I am goofy in the head for saying this, but I think the challenge of hills can be mental in some situations. Try just pedaling, but space out...think about something aside from the pain and frustration of your ascent. I used to hate hills so much, but one of the times, I was on a long ride with the club, and I just kinda spaced out mostly because I had been in the saddle for a few hours, but the hill just disappeared. Give it a try, everybody is different though.