Saturday was the Otley CC double hill climb on Naught Bank Road (Guise Edge) and Norwood Edge.
For the first time in the hill climb season, the morning was wet and windy. Though the threatened downpour didn’t materialise, it was still damp on the steep gradient of Naught Bank Road.
Naught Bank Road
Naught Bank road is a tough climb from Pateley Bridge towards the top of Greenhow Moor. It is an alternative way up the moor to the B road up Greenhow Hill, but is just as taxing, with 200+ metres of climbing. The hill climb course, misses out a bit of the early part (the road is a bit narrow for racing), and starts half way up the climb.
Right from the start it is quite steep around 15-16% and it is fairly unrelenting until you come to the first hairpin where you turn right. Once over this steep hairpin turn, it levels off a little, before another left turn taking you up to the exposed moors above.
photo by Claire Jessop on Guise Hill (2010)
Naught Bank Road / Guise Edge – hill climb course V8910
I didn’t do much of a warmup. I spent quite a bit of time getting sorted out. By the time I got on the rollers there wasn’t much time until the start. Also, it’s pretty useless warming up on rollers when you’ve taken off your outer chainring. With just a 39 chainring, I could barely get over 130 watts, so much for getting up to race pace.
Nevertheless, I felt pretty good. After feeling a little tired towards the end of last week, the Yorkshire hill scenery seemed to be lifting up spirits.
With a steep first gradient, it requires a fine balance between not going off too hard, but gaining a good momentum up the hardest part of the course. On the middle section, there was a bit of a headwind so I stayed low and got on the drops. Going around the last left hand was good, I still had a bit spare in the tank and was helped up the last steep bit with a bit of a tailwind. It made a fairly fast finish and I was able to go through the finish line in a time of 3.22. I had broken my course record by another 1 second. Amazingly, it’s the fourth consecutive year I’ve broken the course record on Guise Edge – though only 2 seconds quicker than 2011.
Previous times up Guise Edge
2009 – 2.47 – shortened course due to gales (7th) –
2010 – 4.02 (2nd) – windy
2011 – 3.24.8 (1st) CR
2012 – 3.24.5 (1st) CR
2013 – 3.23.1 (1st) CR
2014 – 3.22.2 (1st) CR
Norwood Edge
After a nice three hour break, it was time for the second hill climb of the day. I’ve raced up Norwood edge several times. One thing that has always been prominent about Norwood Edge is the amazing course record of Jeff Wright set in 1992 in a time of 4.42. I got close in 2011, with a 4.46. I tell myself if Norwood Edge had been the 1st climb of the day rather than 2nd, I might have got even clsoer. But, since then, it seems to get harder and harder. Both Jim Henderson and Matt Clinton (former national hill climb champions) have ridden Norwood Edge, but we haven’t got too close to J.Wright’s amazing record from the days of steel frame bikes and fixed gears. C.Boardman also rode this hill in the past.
If anything, I’d gone up Naught Bank road at 99.5% effort – aware there was still another hill climb to come. I gave it a good effort up Norwood Edge, but there wasn’t quite as much power on the last half as I would have liked – just goes to show whether you’re a hill climb newbie or national champion – you would always like a bit more power.
Still, I crept under 5.00 minutes with a 4.57.9. Overall time for two stages 8.20.1
Overall, it gave me 1st place, ahead of Henry King (Ilkley CC) and 3rd Julian Varley (PH MAS cycling) – Julian was also first junior so it was a very good ride.
4th was Ben Jacobs of Albarosa CC – who led Albarosa to the team prize.
5th place was fellow southerner Ben Nichols from Amersham CC. Ben is riding Bath CC hill climb tomorrow – great dedication to the hill climb cause.
1st Lady was Leanne Farrow of Ilkley CC, 2nd lady Mason Hollyman (Kirklees CA). 1st Vet was Andrew Pearson of Huddersfield Star Wheelers, and 1st under 15 Nathan Allatt of Holmfirth CC
As usual a great promotion by the Otley CC, particularly good to see lots of youngsters getting involved in hill climbs. Otley CC seem to have a very good junior section these days. When I was in Otley CC many years ago, I always seemed to ride with 50 year old gentleman! – though that was partly because I never joined the fast section, but choose the more ‘sedate’ club runs, predominately 50+, these days they would be called MAMILs, in those days they were just dedicated club members.
Different attempts to save weight on the hill climb bike – with varying degrees of success and cost.
Originally posted in 2014, updated for 2015 season.
How much difference does weight make?
Firstly, how much difference does reducing weight make? As a rough rule of thumb, for a hill with 100m height gain, losing 1 kg, will save you 2 seconds. Jackson Bridge is 150m height gain over 0.9 miles. If you lost 2 kg, you could save 6 seconds. 6 seconds could be the difference of several places in a National hill climb championship.
Take off bottle cage / water bottle, bell, saddle pack. (I have done 2 hill climbs with water bottle still on bike)
Buy lightweight carbon stem / saddle. Often give biggest weight saving for the money.
Lightweight wheels. Often the easiest way to significantly reduce weight on an ordinary road bike
Remove garmin.
Remove any surplus clothes. choose lightweight clothes.
Make sure your bowels are empty before the race. I find bottle of San Pellegrino mineral water the night before helps to keep you ‘regular’ so to speak.
These are some other ‘marginal gains’ I’ve tried over the years.
1. Cutting off fabric from saddle
This was motivated mainly because my Tune saddle looked a bit frayed. An expensive saddle – but the fabric was coming away. Rather than glue it back down, I thought the excess fabric needed cutting off. The hope was it would look neater and save weight into the bargain.
I was a bit disappointed with the result – Total weight saved – 0 grams. But, psychological advantage – incalculable.
2. Cutting the end off cables
My local bike maintenance shop Reg Taylor are very good, but they aren’t used to catering for the weight weenie hill climbers. The cables always come back with nice long bits of spare cable and neat cable tidies at the end. I kept looking at these for a couple of weeks, but I knew they were doomed – it’s just something asking to be cut. I got great joy getting out the cable cutters and snipping off free weight. Zero cost, no power lost, possibly even a fractional aero gain.
Weight saving 1 gram – Just 1g down, 5,999 grams to go. All that metal for a measly 1 gram! It’s harder than you think.
Cutting skinsuit
In 2014 I got a National Champions skinsuit by Impsport. I made the mistake of getting the cheaper version. When I put it on, it was less skinsuit more inflatable parachute. I had it sent to a tailor (Alex Laycock) to make it more suited to a stick thin hill climber, rather than your average cyclist. But, even then the arms were too long and these end cuffs – although they look quite good – stuck out in the wind quite a bit. It didn’t look very aero or very smart. Eventually I got out the scissors and cut these offending bits off – a shame really. The motivation was to make it look better, but as an added bonus the operation saved a whole 11 grams.
The weight of clothes can easily add up. When I rode 2013 national champs, I just wore two pair of thermal socks, (pic) which I later weighed at over 100grams. I think some kind soul took pity and next year sent me a pair of socks weighing just 20 grams.
Saddle – Tune saddle
The Tune saddle at 83 grams is definitely less than your average saddle. But, perhaps not the best. It has quite a bit of flex (which makes it comfortable, but I’m worried about power loss from a flexy saddle.
AX lightness saddle
Despite having an 83 gram saddle with fabric cut off. I still couldn’t resist an even lighter saddle. This AX Lightness Sprint saddle is a mere 69 grams. On the positive side, I do find it very comfortable for a thin sliver of carbon fibre, and have ridden on it all year, including 5 hour + rides.
Single chainring
Single chain ring. This was 2012 hill climb bike and weighed 5.7 kg
For most hill climbs, you don’t need an outer 53 ring. If I do need a 53 ring for climbs like Long Hill, I’m probably on TT bike anyway.
My Dura Ace 53 tooth weighed more at 135g rams
The big temptation is take take off the front dérailleur too – it doesn’t do anything with only one chainring. But – and this is a big but – Do you want to take the 5-10 % risk of your chain falling off for the sake of another 100 grams? Even the keenest weight weenie knows that saving 100 grams isn’t much use, if you don’t have a chain to pedal. It can happen, and usually when you least want it to.
They do make Narrow / wide single chainring – with deeper teeth to prevent chain jumping off. This is often geared at the Cyclo Cross market. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any ‘narrow/wide’ chanrings compatible with four bolt Shimano Dura Ace 9000. I’ve got a chain catcher, but it’s not very good.
Chopping off the end of handlebars
I took a long time to work up the courage to buy an expensive set of handlebars just to be able to cut off the drops. But, this year, I’ve taken the plunge and bought some Zipp Sl handlebars. Straight away I got out the hacksaw and cut them off. The problem with buying such a lightweight handlebar is that when you cut off the drops, you only save a measly 50 grams. Still it’s 50 grams of weight saving, and perhaps it will be a better position for pulling on the handlebars.
A hard way to save 50 grams
Within two days after doing cutting this (in Oct 2014) my coach Gordon Wright said I looked good climbing on my drops and I should try to do the whole climb on drops. I’ve never used them in a race yet. So it has to go down as the worst marginal gain I’ve tried.
Shortening the chain
12 grams from an Ultegra chain
With taking off the outer chain ring, I realised I could shorten the chain – saving weight and improving chain tension. Unfortunately, in my zeal to save weight, I took out five links and it became too short. I couldn’t use it because the rear dérailleur would have groaned in the biggest sprocket. I had to put some links back in. But, using a multi-tool chain splitter I managed to damage the chain. After using once up Leith Hill, I had to throw away and start again with a new chain. I think it has about 2 links less than usual, weight saving 12 grams.
My knowledge of physics is limited to the fact an apple on a tree will tend to fall downwards because of gravity. For Bec HC, I heard a top rider saved weight by not fully charging his Di2. Is this the ultimate marginal gain? Does electricity have weight?
I had to admit I searched ‘Does electricity have weight?‘
Google.com answered mysteriously:
Yes and no, but mostly no.
So there you go, a marginal gain, even if only theoretically possible.
Removing bar tape
another 39 grams bites the dust
Brake pads cut in half
Hill climbs are run under CTT rules. You do need two working brakes. For 2005, I found some worn down brakes and cut them in half. I don’t bother with this any-more. I just use normal brake blocks.
Vittoria Crono Time Trialtubular
Vittoria Crono – 700*22 – has a claimed weight – 165 gram. I use both on front and rear.
Until 2012, I used Continental Competition in hill climbs, just because they were what I used for time trials. Continental Competition at 240 grams are a good workhorse, but not designed for hill climbs. I was throwing away 180 grams of rotational weight because I was riding nice thick puncture proof tubulars. On the positive side, I never punctured in a race or warming up.
I also bought a Vittoria Pista EV (track tub) which I only dared to use once (in 2014 national HC) It is 140 grams. It was an expensive 3 minutes.
Wheels
Zipp 202 Rear – 604 grams total: (rear Zipp – I got for £750). Expensive, but a good solid wheel, lightweight and strong.
Lightweight front
Lightweight wheel with Tune hub and AX lightness wheels – weight of wheel 345 grams (without tub). This wheel is really light, you can pick up with your little finger. Sometimes you test equipment and you can’t tell the difference, but replace a training wheel with a light wheel and you do notice the difference
Skewers Tune DC14
I bought a pair of lightweight skewers when I started hill climbing back in 2004. 11 years on, and technology has improved. My old pair were 55grams, so I looked around for some others. I nearly bought some U20 skewers for £163 at 21grams. But, right at the last minute – I thought I’m not spending £163 on a pair of wheel skewers – that’s obscene. Instead I bought some Tune DC14 for £93 – 35 grams. This was a rare failure of the marginal gain / spend money world. Buying the second best is always dangerous, because it gnaws away at you that you could have bought something better. Then one day, you may end up buying the most expensive after all – and having the second most expensive as well!
My tested weight was 35 grams
Smaller shoe size – Bont Zero
That flap is pretty tempting to cut off!
This is the ultimate marginal gain, which proves you are utterly bonkers. Buy a pair of shoes which is slightly too small, so you spend the whole season with squashed feet. But, on the positive side, you have saved the extra weight of a shoe which is o.5 sizes smaller than a good fitting size.
It wasn’t entirely intentional. See: review: Bont zero
Things you can pull off bike
I was cleaning bike the other day, and I realised this power tap plastic thing was unnecessary and could be pulled off bike. 4 grams in the bag. I will have to put some sellotape on hole in frame – so water doesn’t get in and negate the weight loss!
Removing stem cap
integrated-stem on 2014 Emonda without stem cap. I’m told you don’t need it – though it does look a bit weird.
Remove power meter
One advantage of a broken power meter is that you might as well get rid of it, and also ride without a garmin. That will save perhaps 200 grams.
The bike
Trek Emonda on Trooper Lane
Amidst all these marginal gains. I suppose the most important is the bike and frame you start off with. The Emonda is a good start
Why Do People Say Weight off Your Wheels Counts Double?
I think the reason is to do with acceleration and the fact the top of your wheel travels twice as fast as your bicycle (Don’t quite understand this, obviously I didn’t pay any attention in GCSE Physics and had to google whether electricity has weight). To accelerate, the energy taken to push the wheel is greater than for the bike. Once you have maintained a constant speed, then the weight of your bike and wheels count for the same. But, if you slow down and then accelerate, the energy to move the mass of your wheels is greater than for the bike.
Failed weight saving
Jim Henderson told me he spent one hill climb season weighing up whether he should risk riding with 4 chainring bolts rather than the more traditional five. He knew he could probably get away with 4, but in the end – he played it safe. I know a top rider who did 2006 Nat HC, and his chain come off mid race.
I once bought an AX lightness stem (26.9) because it was super light weight. But, didn’t realise it was the old size (which is quite rare these days. This meant to use it, I had to get a standard handlebar, but I’d run out of money for AX lightness handlebar, so I got some other model which was 27.0 – the resulting combination tended to slip because of that 0.1mm difference – losing power. I ended up selling both on ebay for a loss.
Drillium – drilling holes
You can’t mention marginal gains on a hill climb bike, without a nod to the art of drillium. Carbon fibre has diminished this avenue of weight saving. But, in the 60s and 70s, everyone was drilling holes in bits of equipment to save weight. The holes probably made you slower in time trials, but helped very marginally in hill climbs.
Weight and speed
A lighter bike is not necessarily faster. Rigidity and power can make more difference. As can aerodynamics. For example, I wish I’d ridden a heavier TT bike in 2011.
Fortunately or unfortunately, there is more to hill climbing that getting a lighter bike. When I won the national championship in 2013 – it was the only year in my whole career where I spent nothing on making a lighter bike. (in fact it was heavier (6.0kg) than the one I rode on Rake in 2012 and that year, I even made a profit from selling an AX lightness stem!)
The Newbury R.C. hill climb on Walbury hill was the first time the club had made the climb an ‘open’ event. But, it still felt like the atmosphere of a local club event. Newbury CC were out in force with 30+ entries from the promoting club. It meant another good start sheet with 70 riders, including quite a few juniors and juveniles. When I got into hill climbing a few years ago, it was quite common to have entries of 10-20 people – entries were so low, you kind of thought hill climbs were a real ‘specialist’ / ‘nutcase’ type of cycling. But, in the past couple of years, entries have really been on the up. Perhaps it’s a combination of British cycling success, and the popularity of GPS tools like strava segments. These days, courtesy of Strava – everyone’s become hill climber; so I guess it’s only natural to make the next step from virtual competition to real competition.
It was a good friendly event, with enthusiastic support. If you like chasing Strava records on your own, you will be surprised at how much more fun it is doing it with other people.
After just one short – but intense – effort yesterday at Leith Hill, I was relatively fresh, and I had the luxury of a short 45 minutes drive. It is one of the closest hill climbs to Oxford, and saves a drive up the M6. Although it’s fairly close, I haven’t been on these roads before, so I took an opportunity to ride Walbury hill, just before the race got underway. I did take some tribars after looking at the profile of climb. But, after a warm up on the climb I thought there was no point in using them.
Walbury hill
There is a 7% gradient to start off with, then a very shallow gradient of just a couple of percent. As you turn left near the top, it starts to get properly steep, giving a hard test for the last minute or so to the top of the hill. The average gradient for the hill is 5.5%
Perhaps because of the shallow gradient, I again didn’t go too hard in the middle section, but as the hill became steeper I tried to give it everything. Unfortunately, my gears have been playing up. I had to put on a new chain last night, but it still gave a horrible change at the start of the steep bit – a bit of a knock to the momentum, but fortunately it stayed in place for the remainder. Just when you crested the hill – there was still a short flat bit before the line. I stopped the clock in 3.55 – beating the course record set by James Wilson VC St Raphael CC (4.09) just a few minutes before.
It was another great day for a hill climb. The weather was perfect and the view from the top of Walbury hill excellent. There was a good crowd of spectators at the top. I even got interviewed by a local radio station – I hope I was able to say something useful.
There was an excellent prize list with sponsorship from a variety of sources, including Newbury News, which gave a good first prize. I also won a copy of Mountain High for breaking the course record. I must admit to being doubly relieved not to end up with the Lantern Rouge prize. As a strict vegetarian I think I would have struggled to spend a £20 voucher for a local butchers.But, I don’t think I was ever favourite for Lantern Rouge. Maryka Sennemya (Kingston Wheelers) was first lady so it was the same result as yesterday.
It was good to chat to the Newbury locals, and great to see so much enthusiasm for a hill climb.
After the race I put on training wheels and went up Walbury hill a steeper way and over the top down into Hampshire. There was the longest gradual descent of 1% I’ve ever come across.
Combe Gibbet #25
A bit of an unexpected bonus was riding Combe Gibbet. I rode it before the race warming up and after the race. I didn’t realise it was one of the 100 climbs, until I got home. 100 Climbs
Photos, results, and possibly even videos to come soon after I’ve watched Men’s world road race
It was another balmy September day. 22+ degrees as I was warming up on the turbo. It was almost too hot and sweaty for the turbo – not usually a major problem of the hill climb season. As I was driving to Forest Green, I saw lots of cyclo sportive riders having a good time cycling up the Surrey hills. There was part of me slightly jealous of the sportive riders – it was definitely a good day for a five hour steady ride, instead I was facing the timekeeper and three and half minutes of hill climb hell.
The day before, I put on a new chain, I tried to take off outer chain ring, but you seem to need two of those hexaganol wrench things so I was unable to do it. The new chain wasn’t so good job either. Firstly, I made it too short, then I had to put some links back on. It was working well on training wheel, but when I put Zipp 202 racing wheel on, shortly before the start, it started to jump a little. I don’t know why because it has a fairly new cassette. Still the bike was quite stripped down and light for the time keeper. I saw my minute man go off with great gusto. He probably set off faster than I planned to start.
This is the third time I’ve done Leith hill climb. Previous times were 2012 (3.33), 2013 (3.33.1)
Distance 0.9mi
Avg Grade 8.0%
Max Gradient – 18%
Height gain 115m
I took the race quite seriously – because it’s a similar distance to the national on Pea Royd Lane, if not quite as steep.
I set off fairly steady, and seemed to hold back for quite a while. Then as you turn left the gradient increases a little and it was time to increase the effort. Round the corner there was a great crowd of people cheering you on. I just saw a sea of white and blue Kingston Wheelers jerseys.
By this point it was getting a bit of a blur, I was able to hold quite a good pace and speed all the way to the line. As I crossed the line I had quite a bit of momentum – it was here after the finish line, I caught my minute and two minute men who were rolling slowly over the line. I thought I hadn’t paced it so well, I wasn’t as dead as last year. I felt I should have tried to go faster earlier. I also thought the course record was 3.23 for some reason.
Anyway back at the HQ I found I had taken six seconds off course record with a 3.27. From being slightly miffed at not getting the pacing right, I was quite pleased. It was definitely a quick day – no tailwind, just warm and muggy which seemed to make it fast. It would have been really interesting to have power meter from last year. I paced it a bit differently, but perhaps this year was better strategy, I don’t know. Still the finish seemed to come along a bit quicker than expected.
Compared to last year, at half way point I was 8 seconds slower. In the last half I must have been 14 seconds quicker. Quite a different race.
Anyway it was a great event, and good to see a strong club like Kingston Wheelers encouraging so many to take part in a relatively minority cycling discipline. Markya Semenya (Kingston Wheelers) was first lady, so there were two national hill climb champions winning in the same race – not so common, I imagine – we both had a national jersey, which was good.
There were some good times from quite a few people, and quite a few novices to hill climbs having a go for first time.
Sunday 21st September was the Tanks Direct Porlock Toll Road Hill climb organised by Minehead CC. After its debut year in 2013, it has grown into quite an impressive event, with both the main hill climb and supporting Go Ride events for youngsters and the Porlock Pedal for families.
Porlock Toll road was closed for the day, thanks to Porlock Estates. It meant a great venue for the race on completely closed roads. The road is a gradual 6% gradient, with a couple of hairpins. Mostly it is in the shadow of trees, though near the top you get some great views of the sea down below the hill.
Porlock Hill climb (toll road)
Distance – 4.1 miles
Avg Grade – 5.5%
Max gradient – 8%
Lowest Elev 160ft
Highest Elev – 1,360ft (414m)
Elevation gain (370 metres)
This year 101 riders entered, making it one of the biggest hill climbs in the country. The organisers have really made an effort to make it in a comprehensive event, which feels much more than just entering another race. There was a very generous £3,000 prize fund courtesy of the main sponsors Tanks Direct. There was also a starting ramp, personalised numbers and plenty of people around the HQ. Teas were provided by the local Women’s institute, and the village of Porlock seemed quite happy to invite lots of cyclists – which is always a bonus. Perhaps the best aspect of the event, is to see junior riders encouraged to come along and participate in the opportunity to ride a closed road event.
After the main hill climb and prize presentations, 40+ youngsters rode up the hill as part of the British Cycling – Merlin Go Ride event. To finish the day, a Porlock Pedal allowed all to cycle up the hill at whatever pace they felt. There was quite a buzz around the HQ with many bikes and people of all age.
Helped to lower the average age from your typical time trial.
Though a few of the usual suspects were out in force too.
Good to see a few of the Bristol South riding fixed.
Britwell hill is a short 0.6 miles hill, averaging 9% and having 85 metre of height gain. It is 15% at the steepest, near the top. It has been used in local club hill climbs for quite a long time. It is a simple hill – going straight up the Chiltern ridge with no attempt at devising any kind of hairpin – it provides an imposing view as you approach from the village of Britwell. It is similar in length to hills like The Rake and Streatley (though not quite as steep as these hills) It is a good test for a short two and half minute kind of climb. It gets steeper as you go up the hill. The 100 Climbs version includes a section of false flat at the top, where the gradient becomes very gentle, you have to aim for just after the house and garden at the top of the hill on the left.
Britwell hill – High Wycombe Club hill Climb
Distance: 0.63 miles
Average gradient: 8%
Maximum gradient: 15.0%
Elevation gain: 83 m
The road surface is good and traffic is light. Though a big drawback is that the road is quite narrow at the bottom, in places it can be hard for a bike and car to squeeze past. I was able to do several intervals without any problems, but you might be unlucky.
A windmill near Britwell hill was apparently featured in the film ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ Maybe the car starts flying when making the descent of the hill. You can certainly get a good speed going down, though watch out for approaching cars on the narrow bit.
I rode out Tuesday to have a go at a few intervals. Irritatingly I got the theme tune to ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ in my head. As much as I admire any film with the lead character of Dick Van Dyke and a person called ‘Truly Scrumptious’, it’s not a theme song you particularly want going around in your head when you’re trying to do all-out 2 minute intervals.
Fortunately, when you do an intense effort, everything gets blocked from the mind – even the most catchy song lyrics. That’s another bonus of hill climbs I’d never thought of before.
Sat 13th September was the Cotswold Veldrijden triple hill climb near the village of Aldbourne. It makes a change to have a local hill climb and not a long trek up the M6. Because it was local and early season I was quite relaxed. In the morning I got absorbed in writing an economics essay (on Scottish independence of all things) and suddenly realised I was well behind schedule. I ended up in a mad – pack everything up in 15 minutes kind of panic – which primarily involves throwing anything you see into a bag and hoping for the best.
Inevitably this speed packing meant forgetting several things. The most irritating thing to forget was my Garmin. After the race, I felt bereft at having no power meter file to look at.
Nevermind, I remembered my bike, shoes and wheels, which is the main thing you need to do a cycle race. It was such a nice late summer day, it was a little hard to imagine the hill climb season has really started. When the wind and rain return, maybe I’ll find it easier to get in the hill climb mindset.
It’s been quite a big week of training since the last hill climb at Buxton last week. Thursday I did several repetitions up Chinnor hill before watching the Tour of Britain go up the next day. I didn’t feel tired, but it’s been a lot of hill climb intervals in the legs this week.
The first climb was something of an unknown. It was the first time it had been used in competition and I don’t think anyone knew what to expect. I didn’t have time for a practise run, I just descended and thought this is quite short and not too steep. Even so, the finish still loomed quicker than expected. I managed an impressive sprint, but with still the feeling there was more in the tank – many other riders said the same thing. Next year, I recommend putting it in the big ring and sprinting from the start. I set a course record (by virtue of being first to win an event) in a time of 1.35 – but it’s definitely a course record for the taking.
An hour later was time for a different climb, a fairly steady (3%) climb from Aldbourne to Ogbourne St George. A little steep at the bottom, there is then a steady gradient before quite a fast downhill section near the finish. If it was the only hill, I might have bought my time trial bike. But, with a tailwind, I didn’t think it worth bringing. I rode the hill quite well and set a new course record of 8.11. I overtook my minute man – Robert Borek of the Bristol South CC who was gamely entering all three climbs on a fixed gear bike. I always admire people who ride fixed, even if I’m not so keen to emulate them. There were many other very good times with quite a few riders getting under 9 minutes and a few sub 8.30. It was a good day for that climb.
After two climbs you begin to feel a little fatigue and it was time for the last short, sharp shock up Snap Hill.
I was quite happy waiting at the top and watching some of the early riders finish the climb. It was nice to be a spectator in hill climbs for a change. The top of the hill offers great views over Malborough Downs.
There was a light headwind on the climb, which made it a little harder. It is also the most testing of the three climbs with a solid 16% gradient for much of the middle climb. Only towards the end does it level off, allowing a short sprint for those with anything left. I did 2.36 – 6 seconds slower than when I rode the hill two years ago – but that day was a tailwind and I used a TT bike.
Chinnor hill is a local hill I use for hill climb training. It’s roughly 1 mile long, averaging 7-8%. In the middle section it is fairly steep at around 15% and a tight mini-hairpin halfway up where you turn left.
Chinnor Hill in winter. This is the mini-hairpin and will make a good point to watch the race.
It is a gradual ascent as you leave the town of Chinnor. I usually start an effort just after the railway bridge and beyond the new mini roundabout. This makes it a classic hill climb length of 0.8 miles and this is the steepest section of the hill. The gradient never gets really steep, and is fairly consistent. But you will be out of the saddle on the steepest part. The climb is covered by trees and so the road is often shady and damp.
It is a reasonable approximation to Pea Royd Lane and many other hill climbs. It reminds me a bit of Nick O Pendle because the gradient is fairly constant.
From the top of Chinnor Hill, you can go left back down Bledlow Ridge towards Princes Risborough. If you go straight on, you head in the direction of West Wycombe. Whichever way you go there’s plenty of more hills to have a go at.
Chinnor intervals – Thursday
Today, I did five hard intervals up Chinnor hill, with fairly short recovery in between. It’s like doing a 25 mile TT you get a lot of acidosis in the system and a feeling of sickness / nausea. The first interval is always the fastest. But, the second fastest was the fourth. Because the third I had so much acidosis I couldn’t get going. I took a little longer recovery and then did better than 2nd or 3rd. There are benefits to both short recovery and long recovery. Long recovery enable you to go faster. This kind of session must be really good for 25 mile TT training.
Chinnor Hill (Tour of Britain)
On Friday, the Tour of Britain will be going up Chinnor Hill as part of the stage 6 – Bath to Hemel Hempstead. It will come through Chinnor at about 14.22 (see map and ETA of Stage Six)
Shortly after Chinnor Hill, the route goes to Princes Risborough and up Kop Hill – to reach the top of Whiteleaf Hill.
Chinnor Hill will be a good place to watch. The road is wider than Kop hill and at the steep part, the peleton should be slowed down quite a bit.
It’s pretty cool the Tour of Britain is coming to Chinnor Hill – especially after ascending the A40 climb (Aston Hill) to Stokenchurch and descending down Kingston Hill. I’ve used that combination of hill so often in training. It’s excellent territory around the Chiltern ridge if you’re looking for 4-5 minute steady climb.
On Strava, Robert Gesink is the quickest with 13.59. An average speed of 8.2mph. 399 watts average. A VAM of 1,694.0
The interesting thing was watching the climb unfold on Eurosport. At the bottom Valverde attacked, gaining a 20 second advantage. Froome was dropped from the main contenders and slipped away. But, as the climb unfolded, Valverde blew and Froome came back in contention. Picking off the favourites who had gone hard from the start; on that climb it was Froome who was the best of the GC contenders.
At 12-13 minutes, it’s quite a long climb. Also, at an average speed of 8.2mph, there is much less aero benefit from sitting in the wheels than usual. Therefore, there is less downside to getting dropped and going at your own pace. Froome likes looking at his stem and power meter, but bbviously sometimes there must be a benefit to looking at your power meter in a climb. Or at least be very confident in your ability to pace a climb.
I would say a power meter can be helpful, but it is important training to learn the art of pacing, without looking at a computer.
Blowing up on a climb
Everyone knows that awful feeling of getting carried away on the bottom of a really steep hill and then having to grovel all the way to the top. It happened to me this summer on Bushcombe Lane – with 25% gradient. It takes a certain patience to ride within yourself and make sure you can go all the way to the top at your best pace
Yesterday, after the race, I did some hill efforts, but purposefully kept to a lower power than usual for doing hill climbs. It was a nice feeling to be able to go all the way up the climb, knowing at any stage you can pick it up if necessary.
It all depends on the climb. Take a traditional British hill climb 3-4 minutes, and it requires a very different pacing to a 13-14 minute climb. But, even on a three minute climb, you can still blow up badly, if you get pacing completely wrong. Chris Boardman in his hill climb tips, always recommended riding a hill climb leaving a little for a sprint in the last half.
But, that doesn’t necessarily work for everyone. I dont really have a sprint to speak of. If I wait for a last minute sprint, I would never do my best hill climbs. I need to ride close to the limit for as long as I can.
The only real way to learn how to pace hill climbs, is to experiment and do real hill climbs in practice. Forget intervals on turbo, go out and find a suitable hill and do a few efforts. If you can measure your time, power and heart rate, it gives even more data to work with. Try your favourite hill in different ways. One day go like a madman from the start, another day pick it up after half way.
Pacing long hill on Saturday. Photo Ken Norbury.
Thanks to Ken Norbury for this photo from yesterday. (album on Google Plus)
Today was the Trevor Yeoman memorial Buxton CC Long Hill.
Long Hill is a steady long climb. Fairly constant, averaging only 3%. The wind direction can make a difference.
Long Hill from Whaley Bridge
Distance – 4.44 miles
Average gradient – 3%
Height gain – 195m – 425m (approx 230m)
I first did Long Hill in 2010, I set a course record of 12.26, there was quite a helpful tailwind that day. Since then I’ve ridden a total of 6 times in competition. Each time, I’ve tried a different equipment combination. My first record was set on a road bike, no tri bars. This year, I went for full time trial bike with discwheel. It was an opportunity to use the Trek Speed Concept before putting it away for the year. It’s probably the heaviest bike I’ve taken to Long Hill.
The only downside to taking TT bike was no power meter, but sometimes it’s good to remember what it is like to ride on feel. If anything I rode rather conservatively, not wanting to really blow up too early like last week at Snake Pass. I took it fairly steady all the way up, just around the threshold level which is close to what is tolerable. It was only on the last horseshoe corner that I increased effort a little. For a short while there was a mild headwind, before the final last minute and half to the top.
