Cycling uphill

A summer of cycling

August 7, 2014August 7, 2014 by tejvan

It has been a treat for cycling fans this summer. The Tour de France – the Commonwealth Games, not to mention the Tour of Poland.

As gripping at the Tour of Poland is on Eurosport, nothing will beat the experience of watching the Tour de France in the flesh through Yorkshire. It was a great shame Froome and Contador crashed out, because it would have made a fascinating battle for the overall between them and Nibali. But, the individual stages had enough interest to make it an absorbing contest all the way to Paris.

The Commonwealth Games may not rank too highly on the European Procycling calendar, but it still gave some memorable action. The individual time trial was pretty exciting as time trials go. It was great to see English time triallist, Alex Dowsett come back from 5 seconds deficit to gain a narrow victory in the last few km. Good to see plenty of time checks – something you don’t always see in pro continental time trials. I particularly enjoyed watching this time trial as Dowsett quite often turns up to blast the local domestic time trial scene.

Both the mens and womens road race was epic, and I think everyone was glad to see Lizzie Armitstead and perennial team worker – Geraint Thomas take the plaudits and finish first. I would like to see Thomas as the designated team leader for Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders next year.

The Vuelta Espane is on the horizon and it will be a fascinating duel between a fresh Froome and an inform Quintana. Froome starts as favourite, but Quintana is a superb climber. There are other candidates as well, though the ageing Chris Horner will struggle to replicate his position of last year. Nevertheless, he’s done a lot for all those balding vet cyclists, who aren’t quite ready to hang up the wheels.

My Training

With time trials on the back burner until next year, it’s all about hill climbs for the next couple of months. I’m taking a few weeks of unstructured hill climb training before starting more regimented intervals. It involves basically going up fast hills, in particular steep 20% hills, like Pea Royd Lane.

On Monday I got a sore back after a previous four hour training ride in the Chilterns. It’s a reminder that climbing steep hills uses quite different muscles to a time trial tuck. Once the season gets underway, core strength training usually goes out of the window. But, I might have to do a bit of upper body work to get more power and stability when doing short power efforts.

At this time of the year, I make the first comparison of power and time of going up various hills – times I’ve been recording for the past few years. It’s always hard to make comparisons year to year, but you do start looking for any early sign of improvement / decline / stagnation. My power meter seems to be giving readings 20-30 watts lower than last year – at least I hope it’s the power meter and not me. The Garmin always fails when I try to recalibrate. Anyway, at the end of the day, it’s the time going up hills that matter not the power figure on the computer.

Unsurprisingly, I feel pretty strong on the fifth or sixth interval of the day, but the all important first interval could be a little faster. I guess if you train for 100 mile time trials, that’s the kind of effect you will get. Now, it’s time to refocus on explosive power rather than maintaining efforts for several hours. I do kind of enjoy hill climb intervals. At least it’s nice to be doing them in summer with warm weather for a change.

Next week, I may go up to Yorkshire, have a look at Pea Royd Lane, and maybe ride up a few more Yorkshire hills, before heading off to New York where the interval training will begin in earnest.

In Oxfordshire, I’ve found a hill which is a reasonable comparison to Pea Royd Lane – Chinnor Hill from Chinnor to Bledlow Ridge.

Starting just after mini roundabout over the railway bridge, the hill is

0.8 miles
Gradient 9%
max: 16%
Height gain: 393ft / 120m

Not as steep as Pea Royd Lane, but a reasonable approximation

Best recovery drinks

August 4, 2014 by tejvan

Recovery drinks are useful for after a long ride or race. If it is a fairly easy training ride, I probably won’t bother – just rely on water and normal food. But, when you’ve really exerted yourself, a recovery drink can be helpful for rehydrating and taking on energy and protein. Many studies have suggested that just after exercise is the best time to take on nutrition. It is at this time, when the body is empty, that the body is most receptive to nutrition. Recovery drinks can play a role in maximising recovery. It might sound obvious to take on water and nutrition after big effort, but if you’re a bit disorganised you can struggle to find the right food and drink. Recovery drinks can make it easier.

There are quite a few different recovery drinks to choose from. They will all have some combination of carbohydrate / protein. The most common recovery drinks are based on carb (maltodextrin/ fructose) and whey protein. There are also soy recovery drinks. The most important thing is not so much choosing the ‘right’ brand, but just making sure you take something in the right quantity.

recovery-drinks-mix — Some of the recovery drinks in the house.

High 5 Recovery

The High 5 Recovery sachets are pretty handy. Often I take a recovery drink after a race. Having a few sachets in your bag, makes it easy to make a drink without carrying a large carton or recovery powder.

It is very easy to mix. Just put some powder in, give a little stir, and it’s ready to go. It tastes very pleasant and is easy on the palate. Often I find recovery drinks hard work, but this is very easy to drink. The taste is fairly neutral and not-sweet, just easy to take down. The nutrition is the most common combination of carb (maltodextrin and fructose) and whey isolate protein. They say whey protein is better protein than beef, so it makes a good recovery drink. Some sports drinks can be acidic. But, High 5 recovery mixed with milk is neutral, which makes it welcoming post hard ride. It is similar to High 5 4:1, but has a higher protein content. It has roughly a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein. It is probably my preferred recovery drink.

High 5 recovery sachets 9*60g £12.75 at Wiggle

The High 5 4:1, you could use as a recovery drink. I sometimes use as last bottle on a long ride, to help start the recovery.

Milk

Skimmed milk is an excellent recovery drink – and also cheap!

Milk contains a blend of casein and whey, which have amino acids in a pattern similar to muscle protein. Milk is quite a dilute recovery drink, in that 100ml provides just 1.7g of protein and 4.5 of carbohydrate. But, the advantage is that (skimmed milk) makes it easy on the stomach making it less likely to cause stomach bloating or stress. (benefits of milk at Bike Radar) Milk also has many micro-nutrients that are helpful.

Devil’s Chimney and Bushcombe lane

August 1, 2014 by tejvan

Despite the excitement of getting a new timetrial bike, it’s the time of the year when my thoughts move away from riding on dual carriageways and towards the hill climb season. Fortunately, it’s too early to worry about regimented intervals, August / late July is a great time for just riding around and trying to cycle up as many hills as possible. This is the kind of cycling I enjoy most – no pressure, just ride around for four to five hours and cycle as fast as you can whenever the road goes up. If there’s a better way to spend five hours on a summer day, I don’t think I’ve found it.

Oxford is ideally suited for a range of hills – we have both the Cotswolds and Chilterns within reach, but to be able to ride some new hills (without cycling 120 miles +) I drove to Burford and parked in a lay-by. I don’t really like driving, but it gives a bit of variety for the summer holidays.

Cycling towards Cheltenham on the back-roads parallel to the A40 was a nice warm up. The first climb of the day was Bushscombe lane – (100 hills #105)

Bushcombe Lane is a real beast of a climb with prolonged 25% gradient. I stumbled across Bushcombe Lane in the middle of winter and, a bit unprepared, almost had to get off and walk. In my view, it’s the hardest climb in the South of England.

buschcombe lane — Bushcombe Lane in winter. I was in no mood for taking photos today.

With summer fitness and a lighter bike, I was a bit more confident than last time I rode up. It starts off reasonably enough. I was climbing nicely in a 39*25 and thought I’d be able to make it all the way in that gear. But as you start to turn a corner, the 20% turns in to 25% and it becomes a real fight to keep the bike moving. I was in my last sprocket 28 pretty quick. But, even that was a struggle. (so much for writing a post on a compact chainset) My cadence fell as low as 45 and it was a real struggle to get up last part. Yet again I seemed to under-estimate Bushcombe Lane and went too fast at the start. Anyway I made it up and enjoyed the great descent from Cleeve Hill. The road surface was reasonable, though my tyres were only 19″ I would have preferred fatter ones.

Next on the list was the suitably exotic sounding “Devil’s Chimney” – From south Cheltenham (Leckhampton) south (Not to be confused with the Devil’s Staircase in Wales – which was recently featured on the Cycle Show with Simon Warren riding up it.)

Devil’s Chimney

Length: 2 miles
Average gradient: 6%
Max gradient: 14%

The road is called the “Old Bath Road” and used to be a main A road, until they built something not quite as steep, you can imagine old lorries struggling up here.. It is really a climb in two parts. Going out of Cheltenham there is a testing 14% ramp before levelling off in the middle. This gives you a bit of recovery before a left turn (on a minor road) takes you up another 14% gradient to the top of the hill.

By comparison to the innocuous sounding “Bushcombe Lane”, ‘Devil’s Chimney” was a slight disappointment – it was nothing like the last climb. Still it’s a good hill and a nice wide road, though there wasn’t any view at the top.

I cycled back to Cheltenham and did a few more climbs around Cleeve Hill. There are three ascents of Cleeve Hill from Woomancote. I did them all – though none of the other two compare to Bushcombe Lane, they are real difficult 25% gradient hills. If they weren’t overshadowed by their noisier elder brother, they might get more visitors. If you’re ever in this part of the world it’s worth having a go at these climbs, though come prepared!

Last climb of the day was Round Hill from Winchcombe – a good 200 m of ascent with gradient reaching 20%

In total, 6,000 ft of climbing in just 70 miles. It was a good days cycling.

Related

Standard vs Compact Chainset

July 30, 2014July 29, 2014 by tejvan

Readers question: Which is better standard or compact cranks?

A compact chainset is typically 50/34 gearing.
A standard chainset typically has 52/39 or 53/39

A compact chainset enables smaller gears making it easier to go up steep hills. For many beginners to road cycling, a compact chainset is likely to be more useful

PCD Distance of compact vs Standard

Standard groupsets have a PCD of 130mm (135mm for Campag) PCD Is the distance from centre of groupset to the centre of each chain wheel pin.
Compact gears have a smaller PCD 110mm – this enables smaller chain rings to be put on.

Advantages of Compact Gears

An inner chain ring of 34 or 36, will enable you to climb at a slower pace.
A Standard gear 39*25 @ a cadence of 80rpm means you will be going at 10 mph (16 Kmph).
With compact gear of 34*25 @80 rpm, you can go slower 8.7 mph.
With a compact, it means on climbs you can maintain a higher cadence and avoid pushing the gears like a weightlifter. This is important in long rides where you want to prevent your muscles being overtaxed.
Compact gears were developed by MTB producers seeking to reduce weight (Having a compact chainset avoids the need for 3 rings), though the weight gain is relatively minor (perhaps 100 grams).
You rarely regret having too many gears. You will regret struggling up a 25% hill when you’re legs are tired and you have to maintain an impossible cadence of 50rpm and are weaving all over the road to try and make it to the top.
It depends on the hills. Even professional cyclists may have compact chainsets fitted for particularly steep hills, like Mount Zoncolan in the Giro Di’Italia. (up to 20% gradient)

Cycling in the heat and avoiding dehydration

July 30, 2014July 25, 2014 by tejvan

Cycling in the heat can be challenging, especially if you are not used to it. When cycling in the heat you have to be careful to remain hydrated, plus taking on enough water and salts. In the UK, we rarely get the opportunity to ride in really hot conditions, which is probably why we struggle a bit more than continentals who are more used to it. Even when it goes above 25 degrees is can feel hard work. But, if we go to Europe or US, it can be even more challenging with temperatures of 35 degrees plus.

The good news is that cycling is one of the better sports to do in the heat. At least you get a cooling effect from the wind – something you don’t get so much when running.

Heat in the Tour de France

On the BBC, there’s a good article by Geraint Thomas on riding in the Tour de France with temperatures nudging 35 degrees +

Thomas writes that:

“I had been drinking around three bottles of fluid every hour – 1.5 litres – to keep myself hydrated and to ride at that threshold. (BBC link)

For a six hour stages, that’s 18 bottles or 9 litres. That’s tough for whoever is on water bottle carrying duty that day.

Even with all that water, Thomas says his head felt as if it was going to explode. It’s one thing to ride in the heat, it’s another thing to ride at threshold in the heat. Thomas says he got used to the heat a bit, riding in the Tour down Under. But, even a professional with the best possible backup and experience, still finds it really tough; that’s an element of riding in the heat – it is always going to be a bit harder.

Tips for riding in the heat

The need for water can increase dramatically. Once the temperature goes above a certain level, you can need much more than usual. It’s not necessarily a linear progression The danger is that you just take the usual amount, plus a bit more. Thomas writes that he was getting three bottles an hour. Just to emphasise – that is really a lot. But, the amount you need is quite an individual thing. To put it bluntly some people sweat more than others.
Consider increasing your water carrying capacity. In winter, you can get away with one or two bottle cages, but if you need to be drinking 2 bottles an hour, it can become a real pain, having to keep stopping. For a pro, like Thomas it’s much easier when you have a team car and people to pass you water. For a lone, unsupported rider, it’s a bit more of a pain to keep stopping. If you’re going to be riding a lot in the heat, consider 1000ml bottles (I use this 1L SIS water bottle – good on down tube, but gets in way on the seat tube) or an additional rear mounted bottle cage, so you don’t have to stop so much.
Electrolytes. When you’re drinking extra quantities of water, you need to take water with electrolytes in. If you just take plain water, you can deplete your salt levels and this can create real problems. A litre of sweat can contain up to about 800 mg of sodium (depending on person) – that’s 50% of recommended intake of sodium (link). I like to take some small packets of electrolytes in back pocket, to put in bottles when I fill up.
Reduce concentration of energy drinks. When it’s really hot, your stomach will not appreciate highly concentrated energy drinks. As you will be drinking more you can afford to reduce the concentration of energy powder and you will still get enough carbohydrate.
Getting the right quantity of water and electrolytes is not so easy. It’s hard to give precise quantities because everyone will be different depending on their weight, effort levels, propensity to sweat e.t.c. One very rough rule of thumb is to check quantity / colour of urine. You will notice on very hot days, you need to work harder drinking extra water to keep urine normal colour.
It is also useful to weigh yourself before and after a ride, you can easily lose a couple of kilos during a ride. However, don’t feel you have to keep the same weight after the ride, it is inevitable your weight goes down a little after a ride (even when it’s freezing), but if it is more than normal, it is a sign of excess water loss.
One thing about riding in the heat is that it requires a certain discipline and focus to keep drinking and taking on energy. If you’re not careful, you can just suffer and not take on enough. Often it is only when you stop, that you realise how thirsty you are.
Just because it’s hot in the valley, doesn’t mean it is hot everywhere. If you’re climbing mountains or even big hills it can still be a lot cooler high up. A good rain jacket can help protect should the weather change.
With riding in the heat, there is an element of acclimatisation. If you go from a cold British winter to 35 degrees in Australia, it’s quite a shock to the system. The longer you spend riding in the heat, the better you will get. The body can change the way it sweats and it becomes more tolerable over time. Therefore, if possible give yourself time to adjust to the heat.
There is a psychological element to riding in the heat. I’ve heard many British people say quite strongly “I hate the heat” – “I’m useless in the heat”. I do think this makes it even more difficult. Certainly some people will find it harder in the heat, but try and avoid being too pessimistic. Even if you’ve had a bad experience riding in the heat, there is probably quite a lot you can do to make it better next time – acclimatisation, drinking more, and gaining more confidence to riding in the heat. Don’t write off you ability to ride in the heat. See it as a challenge – something to get used to, like you train to get faster, you need to train to get used to the heat.
It is possible to drink too much. It can cause a condition known as hyponatremia – when you take so much water, cells become depleted in sodium. The phenomena has been observed most in slow marathon runners, who took a long time, and drank too much at every water station. There is an element of common sense. You don’t have to down litres of water before starting – this will just make you want to stop.
Caffeine. There seems to be conflicting research, some studies suggest caffeine can act as a diuretic and increase chance of dehydration. Others negate this. But, I avoid anyway.

Genesis Equilibrium Review

July 22, 2014 by tejvan

In the shop, the Genesis Equilibrium looked stunning. You could perhaps describe as understated retro, it looks everything a classic road bike should. It will definitely get a few admiring glances on a club ride and help to stand out from the Aluminium / Carbon fibre crowd. I particularly liked the shiny silver and red colour combination. Nearly everything about the bike looks very impressive. Though perhaps a brooks saddle rather than white Madison saddle, would have completed the ‘retro / classic’ look.

Questions on cycling uphill

July 20, 2014July 20, 2014 by tejvan

A bit of a hobby is seeing the Google keywords that people search to come to your blog. These are some of the interesting keywords and questions that people type in Google to end up at cyclinguphill.com. Unsurprisingly many things connected with cycling up a hill seems to get linked to this blog.

These are some of the random keyword searches that people put into Google. However, many of these queries can be answered with three golden rules of cycling uphill.

horse-shoe-pass — Horseshoe Pass in Wales – a good hill to practise on with max gradient of 10%

For example, take the Google search – ‘can’t cycle up hills’#3

3 Rules

You will have to cycle up hills slowly.
Get a lower gear for your bike. This makes it easier to cycle slowly.
To get better at cycling uphill, you need to do more of it. Eventually after years of practise, you will be able to cycle up hills, slightly less slowly.

If all else fails, moves to Netherlands, but cycling uphill is not as intimidating as it might first look.

For the very keen:

Check out these techniques of cycling uphill.

If you’re really keen:

check out these hill climb intervals.

– Some suggest the ideal hill climb interval is a gap of about a year in between each big effort. Others of a more masochistic sort, like to see how many times they can go up and down a hill in a day. You pays your money and you take your choice.

The hills never end

It may seem daunting at first, but once you’ve done some training to get stronger and more adept at going uphill, you will soon be seeking out the hardest and steepest hills to see what time you can do – e.g. 100 climbs.

Google Searches related to Cycling Uphill

‘riding uphill find it hard’

This is good. Riding uphill is supposed to be hard – whether a beginner or pro, cycling uphill is never easy – otherwise where would be the fun? As Greg LeMond once said about cycling uphill. (much repeated advise) – ‘It never gets easier, you just get faster.’

ralph-wilson-hill-climb — Ralph Wilson in National Hill climb, looking in great shape.

‘biked uphill almost passed out gear‘

‘Almost passed out’ is something hill climbers might like to boast about. If you cycled so hard you nearly passed out, this is a sign that you could make an excellent cyclist. If you don’t actually enjoy that feeling of nearly passing out or if you have a 100 miles further to cycle after going up hill. The best advice is to go slower (see: rule #1)

This is the real secret to riding uphill – go slower. Lowering your expectations is always a good way to get through life.

Another thing to consider is getting a compact chain set or even triple granny chainring (rule #2 – get a lower gear). There are some people who will tell you a granny chainring is for well ‘Grannies’ but when you’re struggling up Kirkstone pass in 39*25 – zigzagging all over the road trying to prevent yourself falling off into a ditch – you soon learn macho gears are no comfort. Get a lower gear, and enjoy the ride.

Dash Tri 7 Trial saddle

July 15, 2014 by tejvan

I’m selling a dash Tri 7 Trial saddle on ebay.

It is unused and entirely unmarked.

I tested a different Dash Tri 7 saddle and thought it was great. However, by the time it arrived, I’ve decided its wrong saddle for me. It won’t be so good for 12 hour time trials. I saw a rider use one in ECCA 100 and he said he was quite happy.

One-piece construction (No after-bonding)
Dual density padding
55mm clampable x 7mm round Carbon/Kevlar rails
Weight: 77g
Measurements: 190mm L x 115mm W
Dash Tri 7 Trial.
* Triple layer padding, standard reinforcement.

Dash saddle offers excellent comfort for time trials where you are flat out, relieves pressure in groin. Unlike Adamo, these are super lightweight and aero.

Tour shorts

July 15, 2014July 15, 2014 by tejvan

The Tour de France was supposed to be Contador vs Froome. After watching the Dauphine, it looked might it could be an epic battle between the two. But, now it’s looking like the Vicenzo Nibali and Astana show. There have been so many twists and turns already, but now, maybe no one is able to attack Nibali and Astana all the way to Paris.

On the plus side, it’s looking like it will be a cracking Vuelta – a three way battle between three of the world’s best cyclists – Froome, Contador and Quintana. Perhaps even Wiggo will get his long awaited chance to ride as super-domestic.

If the Tour is going to be predictable from now on, at least that is good news for those who need to go out and train on the bicycle. I have a 12 hour time trial in 11 days, and I could do with some training more than just watching the telly. As the event looms, I’m torn between resting and doing nothing and going out to panic train to get a few 7 hour rides in. Common sense will probably prevail and it will be a compromise with a few 2-3 hour rides to keep ticking over.

National 100 mile TT

July 15, 2014July 13, 2014 by tejvan

Sunday was the national 100 mile Time trial championship in the sleepy Norfolk town of Swaffham. It was was essentially 4 laps of an undulating course, run on quiet country roads, with minimal traffic. I thought it was a good course for a national 100, especially with the outbreaks of rain which would have made a dual carriageway more difficult. The men’s event was won by Charles Taylor (South Pennine CC) in 3.43.27. The women’s by Brownen Ewing (Trainsharp Racing Team). I finished 3rd. It was one of the hardest time trials I’ve done for a long time, and really blew up after 70 miles. My average power was much lower than last 100. I’ve never hurt so much in TT for a long time. I also punctured at 90 miles, but just managed to scrape home, to pip Michael Broadwidth into 4th by 20 seconds. Adam Topham (High Wycombe CC) was 2nd.

The first 50 miles were good. The only difficulty was at about 40 miles – catching someone who started just in front, but then half a minute later they re-overtook. I had to sit back ease off, take a gel and then I went really hard to make sure they got dropped. I think this sustained burst of power didn’t help later on. At 70 miles, I started to feel really tired and there wasn’t much power left. I’m not sure why, in the ECCA 100, I had a similar power at this stage but could maintain it all the way to the end. But, for some reason today, it wasn’t there. At 75 miles, I stopped by side of road to pick up a third bottle. In ECCA I only needed 2, but today I needed some more energy. Shortly after – going down a fast hill I got overtaken by a rider who I had recently caught for 16 minutes! He shouted some encouragement and said not to loose concentration. But, It wasn’t really a loss of concentration, just a loss of power. Anyway, the good thing about being a hill climber is that if someone who is slower than me overtakes on the downhill. I know that on the uphill I’m almost certain to be able to overtake and drop them. Even if my power was relatively low.