Hello

Going to afan soon and have not been cycling in about a year. Have gotten fat (18st) and am looking for some tips to survive the initial hill climbs from the trail centre.

Have a lightish full sus bike and a rowing machine I can use every night for a week.

What do you reckon I can do to prepare myself?

Cheers

You can make it easier by riding out of the center to the road. Turn left then ride through the village. Take the fire road. Then turn left back on yourself and up the hill. It’s a crap fire road climb but it’s easier to push/pedal and it’ll get you to the start of the black

Fitness wise. Lose weight. Try meal replacement shakes for breakfast and dinner with a proper 500 ish cal lunch. At 18st the weight should drop off as your resting calorie count will be high.

Obviously the best thing to do is change your lifestyle but it’s easier to do that when you are lighter so can run/cycle/swim without injuring yourself

I find that loud swearing and cursing gets me up steep climbs 🙂

You say soon, how soon? If soon is a few weeks unlikely you can do much fitness wise. Just make sure you are well rested and have no injuries. Then shift down to the granny and just spin.

Does the Afan uplift still run?

The Wall climb is much nicer than Whites Level, in my opinion. Much easier on your legs if it’s the first climb of the day! Actually Penhydd is a nice warm up too.

Going by yourself or with a group?
tip 1 – ride bike a bit
tip 2 – do what you can
tip 3 – who cares if you push a bit enjoy the rest

Going next weekend and spending an hour on the rowing machine each night. Will get a bike ride in sat and sun this weekend for an hour or 2.

The group I am going with has another slow person so not going to be too bad as I will have company.

A few years ago I was 14 stone and would stop for a smoke half way up! I have been saying this is my last cigarette for 15 years!

what do you reckon to using energy gels etc for the first 30 minute climb? Do they work? Any tricks people use to get through the mental barrier of a long hill climb?

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Not much you can do now. Just take it easy, spin your smallest gear. Walk a bit if you need to. Stop and have a breather. Don’t knacker yourself out and enjoy the fun bits later on 🙂

Overall the last post is in line with what I end up thinking on the day. I will cycle as far as I can, get off and push till I can pedal again, enjoy a 5 min rest at the top and then make the most of my weight going down.

Gels do work to fill in a hole but if it’s an early climb, it’s better to be solidly fuelled beforehand.

You’re doing the best thing- riding in a group that’s not just going to torch off into the distance. There’s always a person at the back, maybe it’s you, maybe not. Every so often I go for a ride without a Designated Slow Person and it’s shite, you get to the end way too early having not talked even 10% of the required pish.

I have been looking at electric pedal assist motors that fit on the bb area. They look like the future!

tip 1 – ride bike a bit
tip 2 – do what you can
tip 3 – who cares if you push a bit enjoy the rest

Tip 4- Listen to Mike.

what do you reckon to using energy gels etc for the first 30 minute climb? Do they work?

They work if you’re used to them and are working at top-end race pace where you simply can’t digest solid food. Otherwise they’re just another (rather grim) form of carbs, and pretty pointless imo. You’d be better off simply eating well a couple of hours before starting out.

‘Tip 3’ is the best advice.

Honestly if your resorting to energy gels out the car park you’ve probably got something wrong. Not bad for an emergency boost near then end.
These are worth throwing on your bag

It’s chill out, spin up in a nice easy gear and save your energy for the down bits.
Did W2 on Tues and I reckon that the Wall climbs are ‘easier’ although steeper in places they are more wid edoubletrack than singletrack. If you don’t want to kill your legs that means you’ll gain height quicker on them walking than on the more meandering White’s climb. The Whites main climb is more about being able to ride the switchbacks though, doesn’t feel that steep and was fine for my ‘medium’ fitness with 32/40.
Whatever you end up doing, don’t stress. Some people will always be quicker and I’ll bet you anything there will still be slower ones too. It’s not a race, so sod it. As long as you are having fun it doesn’t matter if it takes you a bit longer to top out than anyone else.

I always warm up a bit first, e.g if doing penhydd or the wall do the first little climb and Jim Crow descent of blue scar and then turn right and zip back down the fire road to the in bye section. Otherwise I find the leg burn sets in too quick.

Personally I think the glyncorrwg climb is better, there is enough to concentrate on technicality wise to forget your climbing. The penhydd main climb is fire road to the top so you end up just spinning up getting bored!

If you’ve got routes near you with hill climbs, just ride them a lot.

Weight obviously is an issue, but for climbing legs just need to get fitter, but you need to regularly exercise them. I find just a couple of weeks without riding and big climbs can be a struggle. Regular riding will hopefully help with the weight also of course, though careful not to pig out on big meals after a big calorie burn 😀 (which is my problem, though at least I don’t put on weight, but I would if I stopped riding).

But, take your time, push bits, rest, don’t overdo it first time. Have fun, go back and see if you’ve improved 😀

They hire out E-bikes now 😀