Whats your diet like, I am attempting a tone up in order to ride up hills faster! o probs with the downs!!!! I eat fairly healthy – fruit veg pulses etc – is there anything you include or exclude?

This is aimed at the pro's!

EPO

Less cakes, no alcohol, no crisps and no junk.

Lots of pasta, veg, fruit, oats, wholewheat flour.

Not really rocket science – but at least I know it's not my diet that stops me from winning races.

GB

Less cakes, no alcohol, no crisps

Your livin' in crazyland!

really no cakes! 😥

really no cakes! 😥

I'm pretty quick up hills, even on a SS.

I stick to a strict training regime of crisps, beer, beef burgers and ciggies.

I don't do any specific training or related exercise.

I am just teh awsum, with rad skilz.

On a slightly more serious note; having a low bmi, being quite light and having a large power to weight ratio helps quite a bit.

5'4 1/2", 9 1/2 stone. SS bike weight 29lbs. Resistance training ftw!

I eat fairly healthy

Identify and remove the bits that make it "fairly" and just go for "healthy" then ride up hills, ride up them faster, ride up them more often, ride up them with a smaller sprocket.

And be patient.

I eat crap, but I ride over 100miles in a slow week, I frequently clock over 200 if I do some road riding.

If you are eating ok and riding enough, the weight will come off and the pace will rise. Takes time unless you are seriously prepared to do some training.

no crisps…..no beer…lots of beans and loaves of soreen.

Getting used to feeling hungry helps as well.

I am not fat btw!!! I am 5'4'' also but 9 stone ish!(female)I could be a lot lighter – used to be – but its more the speed – I wanna get fit quick, incrediably frustrating when you go biking with two burds who are fitness instructors!!!! Mind you I dont struggl with the tech stuff or getting down the hills at fair pace!!!

@elfinsaftey – are you a dude???

I am just teh awsum, with rad skilz.

You are Mark Datz and I claim my £5.

@elfinsaftey – are you a dude???

Dat is right you know. I is also well buff an ting.

I've just always been good at climbing. I do have a bit of explosive power when needed, for the very short sharp steep bits, but I suppose it's down to the right natural body type and technique. Watch videos of Tour De France riders climbing mountains. Alberto Contador in particular is very, very good. He is very fluid on the bike, and lets his whole body move around to gain maximum efficiency. He's a bit taller than me, at 5'9 1/2", but the same weight (!). So, maximum power with minimum weight.

Watch this vid. Note the way Contador 'dances' on the pedals. But he still looks comfortable, and all the riders in the clip are fantastic cyclists.

Do you use SPDs? I find they are invaluable for climbing, as you can 'pull' nearly as hard as you can 'push'. making pedalling more efficient.

I am not fat btw!!! I am 5'4'' also but 9 stone ish!(female)I could be a lot lighter

You're a good weight. Your BMI is spot on. You don't need to lose weight at all.

With climbing, you have to be able to reach the point where your legs are screaming to stop- and keep going. Learn to enjoy the pain!

I tackled a short but steep climb in Wales recently, that my mate who lives there gave up on early on. To me half of it is psychological too; I just won't let it beat me.

TBh I don't do nearly as much biking as some folk on here, and I ride in London which is flat, but I can still climb a bit. It's all the right attributes coming together I suppose.

Oh, and make sure you smoke loads of cigs. All the best cyclists do….

funny! I will have a wee swatch or the rubins in a min!

I know what your saying and recently I have battled with myself uphills and loved the feeling when I got to the top and my thighs were on fire! Its always worth it for the downs I guess, which is why I wanna enjoy it more rather than just do it and thats it – I wanna be good all round! I do get that voice in your head thats shout if you push you lose!!!!Its a race against me, however my other half always says it dont matter how fast you go as long as your enjoying yourself he is fast so I beg to differ!!!

Oh and I dont do spd's I am fearful I would'nt unhook in time dh to crash off my bike – have a fear my bike would come with me and it was be pretty bad!!!I know they are way more efficent however and would take getting used to.

Cheers though 😉

forget diet-get some spd's , adjust them loose and you'll always come out.

Oh and I dont do spd's

Embrace them. You'll get used to them very quickly, trust me. They really are a bonus, although good technique/physical ability is more important.

I will have a wee swatch or the rubins in a min!

I'm a bit tired, and must confess I don't get that. 😳

SPD's or not it's power to weight that makes you a climber. Unless you work on sustained output at a high level you're going no where. Ride lots, take in plenty of hills and prolonged pedaling sessions. I know riding quite a lot on the road this year has helped me massively.

My climbing has improved, post climb/effort recovery has improved too. I've done knocking on 4000 road
Miles this year, subsequently lost a bit of weight and improved power output too