Improving Hill Climbing on Bike (Page 2)

At >5% grades, I'm standing, and I don't think that's "wrong". That's just how I roll (pun semi-intended). How long you can keep that up is training, but I have to agree with anyone who says repeats are the answer. Last I checked, the point is to get from point a to point b as quickly and efficiently as possible. Granted, I'm a bigger (190lbs) rider, so my weight is an advantage standing on the bike that smaller riders simply don't have, but there are smaller dudes that ride with me that do the same thing. We spend a lot of time waiting for riders that stay in the saddles the whole time on steep inclines.

The first several times you start attacking hills, you're gonna be on fire. Sorry. But it gets better, you get stronger, your muscles learn and adapt, and you will be able to crush it after a while. Go ahead, stand up. I think too many cyclists spend too much time perfecting a smooth spin at high cadences and ignore the fact that raw, sustained power produces a lot more momentum.

A lot of pro's do clsoe to 80% of their training indoors on a trainer, or so I have read. They prefer this because they are working 100% of the time, no downhills, no coasting and you can workout for 1-1.5hours indoors where it will take 2-3 hours outdoors to get similar workout in. Try putting your front wheel on a BOSU ball. This can simulate going uphill. Helps you concentrate on smooth pedal strokes but also can help you work standing up while going uphill. If you get out of rhythm you will start to bounce.

1)  A lot of these Pro's are riding CT's so their trainers are simulating courses - not that you need to do that, but just saying.

2)  The Bosu ball sounds like a very wierd idea, and I'd never try that - possibly dangerous.  I'm not looking for smooth going up the hill, I'm looking for power.  And that sometimes means rocking my bike back and forth, pedaling at a low, hard cadence, etc.  No idea what a ball is going to do...

Just my personal opinion based on nothing more than my own experience, agree that it's not necessary to train in hills to become good at them, but to get better at climbing by using a trainer only requires a very high level of dedication and adherence to a good plan.  And an unwavering ability to hurt.  A lot.  A whole lot.   For some reason, mentally it's easier to climb outdoors.   And there is simply nothing like a sustained 9 mile real world climb to get the juices going.

And when you come up on Mt Moterhf**er at OCeanside, which looks like a wall from quite a distance, having acutally climbed similar climbs IRL is I think a benefit to merely having done it on the trainer (I did the Oceanside CT course 4 weeks before Oceanside, the RL climb was harder)

All else being equal, if I had to bet on someone that trains outdoors mostly in hills vs. someone that trains outdoors on flatland to , I am picking the guy/girl that trains hills.

I disagree with this sentiment.  Standing and mashing might be a good idea to maintain pace and gearing on a short incline or for short bursts to make a move or stay with a group but on a long steep climb standing out of the saddle over and over again will eventually sap all your energy and you'll end up in a bad position within a few miles.

And done repeatedly in training will make you a stronger rider.  Don't fear the hurt.

Just a training tip I collected from a local pro's blog. Maybe I can ask her more about it in person. That being said, the world is full of weird ideas... some great, some not so great. Computers were once thought to be weird along with cellular phones worked out great... then you have the Flowbee...  not sure you can discredit something because it sounds weird. If you are not looking for something a drill gives you then you just don't do it.

Possibly, but 99% of my racing is done spinning and sitting.  Wouldn't it be a better idea to focus getting stronger at that?

Better to push harder.  However you do it.

Personally hills (and headwinds) aren't much different than flat sections in terms of cadence and effort IF you have the right gear. You just have to get used to going slower but it really should be similar effort. Sure, you may change positions (if the incline is pretty drastic, you won't be in aero).  The only time I stand going up hills is if I'm planning to surge (in training) or the hill has gotten so steep that I don't have the right gear and I have to exert a lot of force (and also lower my cadence).

In training, you can definitely treat the hill as an interval and surge but I do also work on going up them at a steady pace (which is what I plan to do on race days).  By the way, the converse also holds about downhills - unless it's really steep, I also pedal downhill at the same effort that I came up.  If you kept the same effort going up as the flats, then no reason to coast going down....

My experience, based on doing 99% of my riding on a trainer, is that this is all correct. BUT, I find it a whole lot easier to follow a consistent plan of high intensity training by using the trainer. If I need to do intervals of 25 minutes hard with no coasting: no problem, and no need to seek out a super-long hill. If I need to train in bad weather or at weird times (like my midnight workout a couple of days ago): no problem. And if I need to push myself that little bit harder, by going all out, with the help of some good music: no problem, and I don't need to worry about traffic or safety while burying myself. 

My experience is that hills is the aspect of riding that it is *easiest* to transfer from trainer riding. The only thing that I find that I lack from trainer riding is the strain of climbing on my back muscles. It's on the flats and downhills, where position and aerodynamics plays a much bigger role, that I find that there's a greater difference between indoor and outdoor riding.

I thought that's what it was supposed to feel like.

It doesn't get easier you just get faster.

And this....  (view from top of said 9 mile climb)

If I lived in a place like that, I'd throw my trainer in the dumpster. #GreenWithEnvy.

Actually you can - and I just did. 

And FWIW, there are plenty of Pro's that do dumb things.  Just cause they are fast doesn't make them the best resource for advice.