How to improve uphill cycling with no hills?

[tjdixon911]

I live in a fairly flat part of the country, and fairly regularly go out for 30-40+ mile rides, most of the hills I hit can pretty much be freewheeled up from the momentum you take into them.

When I go further afield for Sportives etc, I just struggle on the uphills (they may not even be that long!) - Is there anything I can do in my regular rides that may be able to help / improve my climbing? Is it just a matter of finding a hill and ride up/down it a few times?

[TheFungle]

Do you struggle up the hills or are you just not used to them?

At the start of the year I would avoid any hills, the more miles I get in the legs the easier they become, so much that now I will actively seek out a hilly route.

IME it's fitness that will get you up, not just practising on the hills although cycling purely in the hills should get you fitter faster!

[BalhamBadger]

Years ago when I was first into MTBs I remember seeing fins that you could attach to your spokes advertised in the back of bike mags. Attach enough of these things and I reckon it'd be like biking through treacle, easily replicating a decent gradient.

[oyster]

tjdixon911 said:

I live in a fairly flat part of the country, and fairly regularly go out for 30-40+ mile rides, most of the hills I hit can pretty much be freewheeled up from the momentum you take into them.

When I go further afield for Sportives etc, I just struggle on the uphills (they may not even be that long!) - Is there anything I can do in my regular rides that may be able to help / improve my climbing? Is it just a matter of finding a hill and ride up/down it a few times?

Could you adjust your brake cables so the brakes are slightly binding?

[BalhamBadger]

Tow a small parachute behind you?

Edited by BalhamBadger on Thursday 31st May 16:05

[paranoid airbag]

Ride with the brakes on?

In all serious, I'm the same tbh - flat as a pancake round here, although it does mean headwinds. I'd say using an exercise bike at the gym is the closest replication to proper hill riding I get - due to a)no cooling airflow, b)avoiding freewheeling.

[groomi]

Wear a baggy top and find a long straight road with a headwind.

[Fluffsri]

drag an old car tyre behind you, thatll build the old legs up

[itsnotarace]

As above, a lot of pro's in flatland countries like Belgium and Holland train by riding hard into a headwind

[shouldbworking]

Deliberately shift your riding position forward forcing you to hit the muscles for climbing more? nb depends on your climbing technique, I prefer to attack a hill than sit and spin. Doesn't mean I'm any faster for it.

[Barbarossa]

For me, there are two diferences between riding hills and riding on the flat: first, if you stop pedaling, you quickly come to a stop, second, you are probably riding at a lower cadence than you would like.

So try some 10 to 20 minute intervals in a gear or two higher than you would like and try to keep the effort constant.

When you get to a real hill, pace yourself!

Edited by Barbarossa on Thursday 31st May 16:01

[Justayellowbadge]

This may well be a silly idea, but is there something like a multi storey car park near you?

[Animal101]

Put the bike into the highest gear you can pull away from. Then start Riding as hard as you can without changing gears untill it starts to feel easy. When that happens stop and start the process again.

[crisisjez]

Pick a tall gear, stand and max effort for 10 secs, then sit and try to hold the speed for 20 secs. Pedal it off and repeat untill done to a crisp

And/or....get a cheap hardtail leave the knobblys on and ride at 20psi as far as you can.

[New POD]

Animal101 said:

Put the bike into the highest gear you can pull away from. Then start Riding as hard as you can without changing gears untill it starts to feel easy. When that happens stop and start the process again.

I've pretty much given up using 17 of my 18 gears.

Maybe having to carry extra weight is the answer. Get a heavy old push bike, and fill the tubes with concrete ?

[okgo]

Its perfectly possible to train at the same effort on the flat as a hill, just not as easy to motivate yourself. I've put out 5 min efforts on the flat that have been the same power/effort as climbing a hill of 5 mins, like Box Hill.

So if the hills you're planning on riding are not that long (longest hills I ride are 5-6 min efforts, damn Surrey) then do intervals for those periods of time on the flat, so for me riding as hard as I can on the flat for 5 mins is going to be pretty good training for the hills round my way as it simulates the effort.

[russy01]

Go find a hill. Nothing else will work aswell.

A lot of hillclimbing can be mental. I.e hills can look much harder or easier than it actually is - so its all about practise and pacing yourself.

[okgo]

swerni said:

Not really the same is it.

Hill climbing is more about torque and engaging the big muscles.
You're never going to accomplish that on the flat

If you improve your threshold performance you'll get faster up hill. Engaging muscles and creating torque are required on the flat just as they are up hill. It's about power, and sustained effort, that can be trained on the flat just as easily as a hill.