How to cycle uphill techniques

by

Some of the useful techniques for cycling uphill from 3% long drags to 30% wicked hairpins.

come-on-mister-hill

Simple top 7 tips

The quickest 7 tips to cycling uphill I would give are:

  1. Avoid going into the ‘red’ too early on the climb. Don’t get carried away on the lower slopes, if you still have a long slog to the top.
  2. Maintain a reasonable cadence of 65-80 rpm. It will be a lower cadence than normal, but avoid pushing a big gear at a very low cadence.
  3. Anticipate steep sections in advance by getting into lower gear before.
  4. Traffic permitting, avoid the steepest apex and go wide around corners to maintain the best rhythm and constant speed.
  5. Where possible remain seated. Save standing on the pedals for the really steep hills and steep sections.
  6. Stick to your own pace. It is counter-productive to try and stay with much quicker riders. You will lose more time in the long run.
  7. Know what you are climbing – length, gradient, max gradient, and likely time needed.

Preparation

cyclist-swerving

The effort required to cycle uphill increases exponentially as the gradient increases. If you’re unfit/new to cycling don’t start off in the Lake District, it may put you off for life. You need a reasonable fitness before you tackle steep hills. Also, when you start to climb, you use your upper body and back more. Core strength exercises to strengthen upper back muscles will help a lot.

Climbing in saddle or out of saddle?

A big issue is whether to climb seated in the saddle or climb out of the saddle. In short, I find it best to be seated for long gradual climbs.  Getting out of the saddle is useful for when the gradient really gets steep. Climbing out of the saddle is less aerodynamic and is harder work. It is good for short bursts of power, but you will tire more quickly.

Climbing in the saddle

snake-pass-2013-tejvan-adrian-shingler-gkv
Snake Pass, gradient 7%. Time 11. mins. All climb is done in the saddle.

Where possible, I try to remain seated when climbing. It is more efficient and you can maintain a high power for longer. It is also more aerodynamic. For novices, it is good training to try and climb whilst seated and get out of the habit of standing on the pedals as soon as the road goes uphill.

Climbing whilst out of the saddle

matt-clinton-rake-bob-muir
Matt Clinton on rake at 23%. Powering out of the saddle (notice handrail by side of road, it is steeper than it looks.) Photo Bob Tobin

Sometimes referred to as ‘standing on the pedals’. Here you employ a lot more muscles and upper body strength to help you pull up against the handlebars. If you stand up, you will get a short term increase in power. If you’re using a power meter, you will probably see your power increase significantly. This is great for acceleration or getting through a particularly steep section. But, when the fast twitch muscle fibres are exhausted, the burst of power will evaporate, and you will find your power dissipates.

Bear in mind, there is no hard and fast rule about climbing in the saddle. If you watch the Tour de France, you will see different riders have different styles. A light rider like Alberto Contador always seems to be out of the saddle rocking around all over the place. A heavier more powerful rider like Cancellara will be much more likely to be going up the Alpine climbs whilst seated. Shorter, lighter riders generally do better out of the saddle than heavier riders. Sometimes it’s good to get out of the saddle just to give your back muscles a stretch and break the monotony of climbing in the seated position.

Don’t forget the wind

Some of my hardest hill climbing experiences have actually been due to a super strong headwind, as much as the gradient. The closest I came to walking up a hill was Wrynose pass (25%) but, that day there was a super strong headwind. Obviously, if you can keep lower on the bike, it helps avoid the headwind. This is why it can be good to practise climbing seated. On the other hand, in 2013 the national hill climb had a 35mph tailwind, making it an advantage to do most of the climb standing up!

Rock solid core and minimising other movements

Talking of pro techniques – watching last year’s Vuelta Espagne I was struck by the stage where Vasil Kiryienka (Team Sky) won. On the last climb, he was absolutely solid on the bike. His lower and upper back wasn’t moving – only his legs were moving. He must have worked a lot on core strength, this increases power climbing because more effort is going to his legs and less into his upper body.

Best line to take climbing

This is a hairpin on Box Hill. The rider is taking a wide route.
This is a hairpin on Box Hill. The rider is taking a wide route.

Where possible you want to try and reduce the gradient of the hill by going wide on the corners and avoiding the apex. The shortest route is not the quickest. If you go through the apex you will break your rhythm and be forced to try harder. It is better to try and maintain the same gradient by going wide. You can keep in the same gear and maintain your speed; this is a secret of climbing, maintain your momentum where possible.

Read more

Clearing out bike parts – and spare parts for sale

by

I am currently going through a five year plan of clearing out my stuff. I have sold a lot of books on Ziffit. I have put five skinsuits in the loft and managed to throw away one. It’s amazing how you can accumulate skinsuits. They cost a lot of money but have no re-sell value (especially when the lyrca gets stretched). I don’t want to discard them because I hope to use them again, but who knows when?

The problem with taking a zen approach to your stuff is that with cycling stuff, it is easy to accumulate and difficult to throw away. I’m sure all cyclists can relate to keeping various odd bits in different parts of the house and not knowing when they will come in. You keep just in case and then forget their purpose.

In my loft, I couldn’t believe how many varieties of aero bottles I have lying around. That’s the problem with time trialling, there’s always watts to be saved by splashing some cash. I’m kind of relieved to be off the aero gains money-train. I also always seem to excel in collecting one single glove. I had about 4 right handed gloves with no pair.

gloves-overshoes

Read more

Pros and cons of Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTN)

by


To my surprise my local area (Cowley, Oxford) where I live has implemented a low traffic neighbourhood. It involves putting

  • Bollards on some roads to block traffic
  • Implementing bus/taxi gates where the road is still open, but taxi’s, buses and emergency vehicles can pass through. (Also quite a lot of cars ignore the signs.)

A few months ago, the council sent a consultation pack through the post, and then this spring, it was implemented in a wide area of Cowley.

ltn-4

It has made quite a big difference to the volume of traffic on the road where I live. It has fallen quite a lot. There is more traffic on the roads around the LTN because it has cut off many ‘rat runs’ (short cuts).

Read more

Review of End to End by Paul Jones

by

end-endEnd to End by Paul Jones is a book about the people who have attempted the Lands End to John O Groats cycling record. It is also an exploration of the author’s own inner journey framed around his personal efforts to cycle the distance.

I haven’t read too many cycling books recently. Quite a few generic cycling books end up saying similar things. There are only so many books you want to read on the Tour de France, to say nothing of the interminably awful doping confession books I read several years ago.

With Paul Jones’ cycling books, at the very least, you know you are getting to get a new insight on a cycling subject, which has rarely been covered before. I looked forward to getting a copy, which I did from Blackwells.

In the first few chapters, I took some time to get into the book. There were a lot of personal opinions and insights into the author’s views and inner state of mind. (I was really surprised to learn Paul was a headmaster of a school!) There is admirable honesty and frankness, but it isn’t necessarily what I am looking for in a book.

If it is in places a little heavy going with personal stuff and a legitimate sense of injustice, I started to see it as a metaphor for a long distance endurance ride. Sometimes, it rains, but then you turn a corner and you remember why you made the effort.

The strength of Paul Jones as a writer is to take a relatively obscure rider and make their achievements feel impressive and worth knowing about. There are some end to enders I know something about – Eileen Sheridan (Wonder Wheels), John Woodburn (used to often talk about his End to End attempts at local time trials), but there were many new characters who I enjoyed reading about and finding what made them tick and why there were able to achieve something so unique. Like Jones’ other books, you feel a sincere celebration of the unsung amateur club rider. Men and women who achieved remarkable things and in a way that is much more inspiring than many of the so-called modern celebrities.

About halfway through the book I was thinking, it is a good book, but I probably won’t write a review. I’m not suitably enthusiastic about it. But, an interesting thing is that towards the end of the book, I started to feel genuinely inspired. Something clicked and you felt the real value of this great collective effort to transcend the limits through one of the hardest cycling challenges. Paul’s writing brings to life this difficult event and it shines a good light on the diverse characters who have made the end to end.

When I was a teacher I used to fine students 10p for swearing and with some students I made a lot of money! If there was 10p fine for swearing in this book, I think I would have got a 70% reduction on the price of the book. But, the corollary is that sometimes, Paul really hits the sweet spot for certain droll humour, where the words fly effortlessly in a seaming stream of consciousness that sweeps you along. Which living author could write so well about an inconspicuous lay-by, situated in the post-industrial waste that is Wolverhampton, on a gloomy, wet winter evening?

For me, the book was like an end to end, there were bits where you were struggling a little uphill, then flying downhill. But, by the end, you knew you were glad you had done it and really understood something of a very uplifting part of cycling.

Overall, I would recommend the book and it makes a good addition to any cycling library.

***

Appendix 1

Buying books online. During lockdown I have settled into buying everything online and to my great shame usually end up at the greedy monopolist Amazon. But, for books, I make a stand and always buy them elsewhere. Blackwells is a very good alternative to Amazon.

End to End – Blackwells

Appendix 2

I would often talk to the late John Woodburn after local time trials. Actually, it was more him talking to me. He would often bring up the End to End. What I remember is he complained bitterly that his sponsors made him do the record when he was ill (his attempt that failed). He was also incredibly annoyed that when someone broke his record, they did it by the smallest of margins. As usual with John Woodburn, I would listen to his stories with rapt attention and then break out into nervous laughter not knowing whether he was being serious, angry or really happy. The book was worth buying just for the realisation that it wasn’t just me, but everyone found John Woodburn a wonderful enigma.

Appendix 3

I remember when Mike Broadwith broke the End to End, it was a great event.

Appendix 4

Google have closed down their Feedburner email service (you can always rely on Google to close down useful services, if they don’t make $x billion profit per week ) so I switched to another called follow.it – I hope it works and you receive in your inbox.

Personal experience of FAI – what worked

by

Shortly after finishing my first 12 hour TT in 2016, I started getting pains in my right hip and lower right back, and also delayed muscle fatigue in the right glute.

I assumed it was related to cycling a lot that summer, but cutting back on training and racing didn’t diminish the problem, in fact, it got worse. I went to osteopaths and physiotherapists, they were all confident a bit of massage and physio would make leg stronger and get better. When it didn’t, after a few months my osteopath said he would ask for a second opinion as he felt he couldn’t do any more. (I appreciated his honesty). Another osteopath at the same clinic said it was probably all in your mind. So I tried to think away the pain and carry on, but it didn’t work out.

Then I tried the Egoscue method. Egoscue concentrates on improving your body posture, the logic is that if you out of position, you place strain on joints e.t.c. I was out of position with my head forward, one shoulder higher than the other and a bent back. I religiously did the egoscue exercises for a few months. My posture improved, but the hip issue was unsolved.

Then I heard it might be FAI, so I did an internet search and became convinced that was the end of cycling. However, not all the internet is useless. When I announced my retirement on my blog, a few readers said there were solutions to FAI. I was deeply grateful for those comments as it encouraged me to keep trying.

Read more

The end of the long hibernation

by

After the national hill climb in late October. My cycling went into mini-hibernation. Every ride seemed to get shorter and slower. My mid December I was reduced to a few miles around Oxford here and there. It was a long wet, cold winter, which seemed to fit the mood of third lockdown or whatever number it was. In the past year I have barely noticed when we go in and out of lockdown – it all merges into one long thing.

Since the New Year things have been picking up. I have been going a little quicker, a little further and have been enjoying the lengthening days.

A few weeks ago we had bad flooding around the Thames basin. It was hard to find roads which were not flooded.

I did a u-turn. One cyclist said they managed to cycle along the wood boards, but my drop handlebars didn’t fit and I wasn’t in the mood for slipping off.

Last Sunday was the warmest day of the year. A balmy 11 degrees and it felt warmer in the sun. I did a rare thing – I had a leisurely ride and even stopped off at Brill to eat a banana. There were plenty of cyclists on the roads.

Yesterday, 1 March seemed like a good day to get the time trial bike down from the loft. The roads have dried up and I quickly charged up the electric gears. There are few better things in cycling than to go from your heavy winter training bike with mudguards to a super-fast tt bike. Suddenly you are 3mph faster and it feels really good!

The problem with getting the TT bike is that I don’t want to go back to the slow road bike!

Winnats Pass

by
WinnatsPass

Winnats Pass is a tough climb in the Peak District from the village of Castleton heading West through a steep limestone cleft.  It averages over 10%, with a considerable section of 20% + near the top.

Winnats pass has featured in the now-defunct Tour of Peak road race and also featured as a venue for the National hill climb Championship on a record ten occasions (most recent 1977). It will also be the venue for 2021. There is now a popular Tour of the Peak sportive, run in May. The sportive offers closed roads for Winnats Pass.

The climb travels through a natural amphitheatre with steep slopes and rock faces on either side of the road. It provides an excellent location and challenge. The main drawback of Winnats pass is that it can be quite busy with motor traffic.  (unfortunately, the old A road through Mam Tor was closed due to subsidence.) Combined with the narrowness of the road, it can become a little crowded. As a result, you are likely to be greeted with the reassuring smell of burning clutch as cars struggle up the 20% inclines.

Read more

Wheel spin in hill climbs

by

Wheelspin is not a pleasant experience, it can throw you off rhythm and make you feel like you are going nowhere. A reader asked for any advice after experieing several wheel slips on Streatley.

Rake photo Paul Jones (from 2012)

Factors which make wheelspin more like include

  • The steeper the hill it is
  • Riding style. Big jerky effort, low cadence, out of the saddle efforts may make wheelslip more likely
  • Rear tyre pumped up high

Personal experience of wheel spin

The first time I had bad wheel spin was 2005 National hill climb on the Rake. The ground was damp and it was the first time I had raced on a climb as steep as the Rake (22%) It really knocked my rhythm. It felt like you were grounding to a halt. Since then I might have had some at the Cat and Bec hill climbs, which are also similarly steep but I can’t remember now.

When I went back to the Rake in 2012, I didn’t have any wheelspin, I think I reduced tyre pressure to 65psi because it was damp.

How to avoid wheelspin

  • I find the best way to avoid wheel spin is to avoid entering climbs like the Rake or Cat and Bec!
  • On a serious note, I’m not an expert on avoiding wheelspin, because I preferred longer climbs rather than the very short and steep. A few riders say they experienced wheel spin on Streatley Hill (max gradient 18%) but I never have. Possibly because I spin slightly higher cadence than average or my tubs are good. In 2020 on Streatley, I reduced tyre pressure to 80psi – but only because others were talking about wheelspin.
  • Of course, if you can remain seated whilst climbing, wheelspin will not occur. But, this is not really useful advice as no-one wants to climb the Rake or Streatley seated. (For what it is worth I did the first 150m of Streatley seated and then the rest of the climb out of the saddle)
  • Lower psi to 60psi. If you think wheelspin is a big issue, the best is to ride 25″ tyres and reduce tyre pressure to as low as 60psi. Choosing wider tyres gives more traction

Best tyres to avoid wheelspin?

After the 2005 experience, I spent a long time researching the best tyres to avoid wheelspin. I eventually asked Jim Henderson and he advised some particiular tubulars as being fantastic for avoiding wheelspin, I regret to say I can’t remember what he said!

Since 2011 I have used

  • Vittoria Chrono Evo tubulars (165g) 22″ which are super light and have been very good for avoiding wheelspin. For me these have been good, but there might be better. I’m not sure whether the Chrono Evo are still available.

My Vittoria may need replacing, and if it is Winnat’s Pass next year, it will be another steep one. If any reader has any tyre recommendations please share!

2020 National Hill Climb Championship

by

The 2020 National Hill Climb was held on Streatley Hill and was promoted by Reading CC. In many ways, it was quite an innovative event. Chip timing, live stream, live commentary (good quality) And perhaps most impressively 479 riders signed up, with a special effort to encourage more women to enter. I believe over 109 women and 104 juniors were on the startsheet, which is impressive growth from a few years ago. For quite a few years, the Hill climb championships has seen increased interest and growth, but this year’s event has set a new standard. The organising team did an excellent job in difficult circumstance. It will be interesting to see how it progresses in the future.

streatley hill
Bithja Jones (Women’s champion from Sept club event)

The depth of the field is also reflected in the standard of this year’s hill climbing. I’ve come back after four years out of the sport, and on coming back, it seems the bar has been raised quite a bit. Of course, like everything else, the event has been overshadowed by the current Covid-19 situation and I think we have to be thankful the event was able to go ahead. Fortunately, time trials are more suited to socially distancing than the majority of amateur sports, but it must have required quite a few last-minute organisational changes to keep the event on track. The event was not without some Covid casualties. I know of two Welsh riders (Ed Laverack men’s defending champion) and Rebecca Richardson (3rd women 2019) who were unable to attend due to Welsh lockdown. But still, around 400 riders were able to start in an event which did as much as possible to minimise any risk.

Read more

Burrington Combe 2020

by

Today was my 10th entry for the Bristol South CC promotion on Burrington Combe.

burrington-combe

It’s always a hill climb I enjoy riding. A good long climb, nice scenery and, over the years, I have got to know quite a few riders and organisers from the Bristol scene. It also helps that the climb historically suited my riding style. The last eight times I have entered – going all the way back to 2005 – I came first. It was an unbeaten run that was more than overdue to be broken. Since I was last here in 2016, a lot has happened. And it’s not just me getting older.

I thought the conditions were quite good. 12 degrees, hardly any wind, maybe 1 mph headwind at the top, but not noticeable. My race went fairly well. I warmed up on the road, switched to the lighter racing wheels and went off to the start. I got into a good rhythm and I paced it reasonably well. I made quite a good effort, riding as hard as I could for 7+ minutes and making an extra effort at the steep bits. The only downside to the race was that my time was about 30 seconds slower than I would have liked. As a great French philosopher once said “That’s life, mate!”

Read more