Just come back from a few days in the Pyrenees.

On the hills I was fine up to about 6% and could keep going for a 10 mile climb. However, if the gradient average went above this I really started to suffer and could not sustain a steady pace.

What’s the quickest win solution? Is it to do hill reps? Ride up more big hills in each ride, or go to the gym and push weights?

Ta

Smaller gears?

I find (primarily based on mtb rather than road/cx) that steep hills lead to a sufficiently differnet body position that (percieved/HR based) power output does not equate to flat or shallower gradient. Thus for hills over about 10-12% I find the need to seek out such hills and train with hill reps on them.

I believe that traction has a bearing on this too, on very steep 20% or so hills I figure the contact pactch is no longer below your c.of.g. and hence mashing out power is harder and a gentler touch required.

A) Lose weight (assumption here, but it applies to most people)
B) Get a lower gear so you can continue to spin comfortably
C) Find a suitably long 10+ min climb and do big gear/low cadence repeats on it.

A) Yep that’s a fair point, would hope to be able to drop 5kg or so, but been at a static (comfortable) weight for nearly a year now.

B) You can’t get much lower than a 32, and if you do, you don’t get any quicker!

C) Will try this as a first approach. Norwood Edge should do the trick, I can only currently manage it in lowest gear as it is!

Hmm, My current best time up Norwood Edge is just over 10mins but was done four years ago when I was about 12Kg heavier than I am now. It’s not that steep after the first couple of hundred metres.

Nought Bank Rd https://www.strava.com/segments/2341236 has some properly steep sections before easing in the upper part. Greenhow Hill https://www.strava.com/segments/6690987 is also a good workout. Slightly easier (and quieter) is https://www.strava.com/segments/1021558

Your at the most efficient between say 80 and 100rpm so you need a gear that allows you turn that at a Heart rate that’s maintainable for the length of the hill. So if we’re talking abroad 10/15k thats maybe an hour and half.

There’s a recent GCN vid on pacing.

As for improving your capability, unfortunately weight loss seems to be the number one factor

Squats.

Some thoughts on big gear training for steeper hills:
– Don’t worry about your speed at all when you try it. You might be slower or even faster than usual. Concentrate on your form and cadence instead. And the effort 🙂

– Don’t overdo it – you don’t need to attack every hill in the big ring. Do a few 2-3min efforts like this and build up from there.

– A cadence of 50-70 is a good range to aim for.

– I try and do most of these efforts seated as it helps concentrate on engaging my core when climbing.

– If you start getting knee pain, stop.

Training at high resistance is great way to build strength and form and you’ll find yourself much happier on the steeper gradients. As long as you don’t EXCLUSIVELY climb that way then you’ll find it helps you at higher cadences too.

My recommendation would be lower gears so you can keep within your comfort zone while still making progress. If your geering is too high you’ll eventually struggle as you’ll be forced to maintain a speed that your fitness doesn’t allow.

I treat big European climbs like timetrials – You know it will take about 60 minutes to get up so maintain a pace that you can hold for the right amount of time. Adjust your gearing and speed to maintain the effort. Start easy and finish strong.

Beyond that it is fitness. I never know the technical jargon but probably FTP – your ability to maintain a high level of effort for longer period of time. Guessing that you are not a climbing god then anything that improves your fitness will help. If you don’t want to adjust your gearing then some strength training may help as might intervals where you are riding hard, then sprint, then continue to ride hard rather than the usual hard/recover. You don’t necessarily need to be riding uphill as you won’t find any climbs equivalent in this country. Headwinds and rolling roads can be used. The longest climb in England is Hartside (?) which is <20minutes if you are quick.

Weight also helps but I find any weight loss mitigated at the first sign of a French bakery.