[Closed] How much do you like climbing?

I'm not built for climbing, so doing well on a climb (on or off road) gives me a sense of great satisfaction.

I was fit for a few months once & whilst i still didn't enjoy climbing, going up a climb in the knowledge that you won't be knackered when you get to the top is quite a nice feeling. Also not having to measure rides by the number of clibs that you've got left before you get back to the car/house is quite liberating too.

I only ride the downhills so I can get to the climbs, love em

Call me a sicko, but the first climb on White's level/Skyline at Afan is one of my favourite bits of either...

I hate climbing, especially if it's long as I find i'm then tired on the downs and can't really go for it!

However - it's the pleasure/pain equilibrium! (anyone remeber the advert? - can't remember who it was for!)

Call me a sicko, but the first climb on White's level/Skyline at Afan is one of my favourite bits of either...

never done it but friends say the same.

climbing's great when you're fit, shite when you're not.

I'm a climber, not a downhiller.

Can't stand climbing. I get no pleasure from it at all, even if I do it well.

specialised in climbing in my formative years on the road bike
(no mountain bikes back then)
now find them a struggle since i'm carrying a few extra pounds 😆

I despise the boring fireroad slogs that gently head uphill - dull!
But I do love real steep and technical climbs - the White's level being one of my favourite!

DrP

Call me a sicko, but the first climb on White's level/Skyline at Afan is one of my favourite bits of either...

Climbs are the incentive to get fit, otherwise the temptation to drink more beer to increase my original gravity to go downhill faster would be overwhelming.

i used to hate them but they kinda grown on me living in a very hilly area but over where i live you got your tarmac hill climbs which arnt as good but you also got your tricky off road sections too which are alot more fun, i guess its one of those things you get used to, what you have to say to your self is " if theres ups theres downs" 🙂

I don't mind it, but I know it is going to hurt and I'm not going to be happy during the pain...however climbing is part and parcel of it all so as long as you don't think negatively it isn't quite so bad...it's not something I relish but it isn't something I don't worry about - just get on with it, accept it's going to be slow and painful but it'll get you there...

hate em! but to come down you've gotta go up and i'd rather it was 'involving' and 'distracting' than 'boring'

Twrch climb is ok
y Wall climb is mucho boredo

I'm getting pretty nervous about Phase2 of Follow The Dog. There seems to be a lot of climbing and I'm allergic to gravity.

Agreed about Whites, it's a great climb technical enough to take your mind off the pain in your legs. Long dull fireroad climbs are the worst, I just switch off and sing to myself, or recite lines from films, TV etc. Don't mind climbing, it's OK, but then I'm reasonably light and fit, must be shit if your neither

Like downhills, there are boring and fun/interesting climbs. Glentress is much better now that it is singletrack almost all the way to the Buzzards nest car park. It is great fun on the singlespeed, hammering up to the switchbacks, swinging round them then sprint off again. Especially good if you are racing a mate to the top.

I love climbs - on tarmac or easy stuff they're only okay, but nothing beats the feeling of having got yourself all the way up some monster pile of rocky horribleness or over a bunch of crazy roots. Almost as good as hammering back down the aforementioned pile of rocky horribleness.

Some lovely person on here recently posted up directions for a new to me route up one of my local hills - 245m of climbing, and at least 150m of the ascent is on stuff you have to think about at least a bit, finishing off with a fabulous rocky trail to haul yourself up. I think it has to be one of my favourite routes now.

Downhill is more fun when you're fit from climbing too. Although I still suck a bit at downhill I have to admit.

Joe

I enjoy it on my road bike, but not so much on a mountain bike. However it's not too bad if it's a long steady climb out in the mountains somewhere on a nice day.

Devil's advocate: if you have climbing, why not buy a Big Bike and take up DH properly?

i love climbing, especially tough, singletrack/rocky/grassy climbs. i get bored on fireroad slogs though.

Fireroad is simply a means to an end (the downhill). A good tech climb can be a lot of fun and incredibly infuriating at the same time. That feeking of success for every extra yard gained, versus the failure when you cock it up and dab.

My problem is that I have the mindset that once you clear something once, you can clear it everytime. If you don't, the only reason is because you're crap, and if you're going to be crap you shouldn't have gone out in the first place. All of which tends to lead to me losing my temper with myself far too easily if I'm not spot on the ball.

Oh and White's is neither steep or technical. Good fun, yes, but hardly challenging.

[i]"oh goody", here comes a really tough bitch of a climb?[/i]

Yep, that's me. Obviously not as enjoyable as the downhill sections, but all part of the pleasure.
Really hate climbs on the road though, especially when they are part of a mtb route.

I love climbs just as much as I love the downs, I also love single track bits which you have to really put effort into enjoy them.

The point where I feel most alive whilst riding my bike is riding up a lung busting hill, glance at my heart rate maxing out then as you reach the brow pushing it a little bit harder change down at the back and pull away from fellow riders, nothing beats it!

if you have climbing, why not buy a Big Bike and take up DH properly?

That's an easy one. I used to have one, but there's nowhere in the UK worth using it without a) paying a fortune to get uplifts or b) travelling miles to get to.

I did W2 on Sunday for the first time, I managed it ok, but I wasn't smiling. My short stem doesn't help, but I don't want to change it. I guess it will get easier the more I do. For some reason I don't even remember the Whyte's climb, I was probably gritting my teeth and wishing I had a granny ring.

Devil's advocate: if you have climbing, why not buy a Big Bike and take up DH properly?

Why not both? I know of very few DHers who don't have an xc or trail bike, it does require fitness you know it's not all fat blokes trundling down fireroads...

As for the OPs question:

Enjoy it? No.

It is a necessary Evil, sometimes I feel a sense of achievement at the top, but often I’m just annoyed at my lack of fitness and bad pedalling technique, and wasted energy I could have used for coming back down…

Some perverts enjoy it I’m sure, but then some people like bestiality, it takes all sorts I suppose…

[i]but there's nowhere in the UK worth using it without a) paying a fortune to get uplifts or b) travelling miles to get to. [/i]

Totally agree - I find it bizarre when I see blokes lugging great dh bikes around QE Park... all for downhills which must take about 20 seconds at most!

I like climbing, especially (surprise surprise) rocky technical climbs... BUt i also like climbing on m road bike. I dont like lots of fireroad though. Some is ok, as it means that i get to the top quiker, but too much is dull.

climbing's great when you're fit, shite when you're not.

+1

+1 for JonEdwards. We have a climb in the Malverns known - somewhat obviously - as "The B@stard" and it has to be done. Every time. With no dabs.

Being fit enough to climb stuff that before had you dying over the bars is definitely satisfying. Having the energy to ride the downhill sections more aggressively because you're not so kn@ckered is the real pay off for me.

Living somewhere hilly, there's not much choice really. Either get one with it, or don't do it.

miketually- I have a big bike and have spent most of the last six years only riding DH,4X and 'Freeride'. So pushing up or uplift/ski lift. I recently decided to get 'back to my roots' with more uppy downy stuff.

Fitness is definitely the key, I can do pretty much all climb's, but I don't have enough gas left to attack the descent's the way I would like.
Oh well, I had better get fitter then.

I remember having a bit of an epiphany on one of Mosquito Bikes' "Hell of the North Downs" rides. Lots of long climbs and long descents.

On the first half of the ride, I'd get a sinking feeling the longer a descent was, knowing that the longer it went on, the longer the climb would be on the the other side. At some point I decided that I could enjoy the climbs more the longer they went on, because there would be a bigger descent on the other side.

So the answer is get fit and get lighter!!!! "simples" - so much easier said than done!

WIsh we had the gravity of the moon sometimes!

i always feel like shit on the first climb of the ride then enjoy them afer that, specially the more tech ones.

this means i usually end up planning routes that start off with a road or fireroad climb so as not to waste any of the good stuff. descending is better than climbing though.

I would mountainbike even if it never went "down"

As an (ex) runner I love the long and hard climbs. Having said that my descending skills are pretty pathetic!

riding up climbs is like riding down in slow motion.

all good

[i]riding up climbs is like riding down in slow motion.[/i]

I think I'll avoid your training then! You pedal all the way downhills? 😉

I was always all about the downs and a shite climber. Problem is, if you're last or mid pack to the top, you're not first in line for the descent.

I set about getting quicker just so I could do my best to skin everyone on the ups (I'm by no means fast but you get what I mean) and get the uninterrupted first run on the descents I so craved.

As I got fitter and better, I started enjoying the climbing, but I also got faster going down. Particularly on the Afan-type stuff where a lot of the downs are quite flat and drawn out in places and require a lot of tempo and pedalling to get the most out of them. So it was kind of win-win...

i like climbs, technical, switch-backy, not-too-steep, lovely!

I'd say I like climbs overall but I think even the most harden climber would say there are some they hate.

Obviously I like technical climbs and I love short sharp climbs where you can really push your self all the way up.

Really long climbs are fine too you just get in a gear your comfortable with and keep going.

However there are always some climbs in the middle where you feel like you should easily be able to get to the top quickly but you just cant because the ground is clangy or something. But at the same time the climb isnt so difficult you can just drop to the little chain-ring and spin. They're infuriating because Im always thinking I should be at the top already.

[i]So.. does anyone actually
ride along and think "oh goody", here comes a really tough bitch of a climb?[/i]
absolutely. It's the best and most rewarding thing about cycling.
I'd rather they had downlifts than uplifts...

It's what Bontragers are made for. 8)

I'm beyond middle aged and newish to the sport, hated climbing when I started, but now sort of get the, 'it has to be done so get fit and do it as well as you can' reasoning. I am getting fitter, can climb better but not well, but will never really enjoy it the way I enjoy, in my own limited way, the down!

As I've got fitter I've come to enjoy climbing. It's also very satisfying when you start beating your mates to the top.

Still haven't quite cracked some of the really steep technical climbs but woudl like to.

I love climbing. A great sense of acheivement when you clear the nemesis climbs that you've not been able to clear before. Plus less chance of me falling off than when I go downhill!

Quite refreshing the number of people on here who do like uphills. I was starting to think no one rode uphill, now all the youngsters are on 50" travel suspension bikes 😉

Yes.

As I'm no longer prepared to push my limits on the downhills, I enjoy pushing my limits on climbs I would have previously considered unrideable.

A new bike which seems to excell at climbing helped this, plus spending more time in the big hills where stopping mid climb is often a recipe for pushing the rest of the way.

However I'm learning not to confuse "I've cleaned that climb" with "I CAN clean that climb". Having conquered a couple of toughies in the Pentlands I then went boasting to all and sundry only to fail miserably on subsequent attempts...

I hate climbing when I'm doing it, but getting to the top is a great achievement. Plus you have to go up there to come back down, which is the most fun bit anyway.

I am not greatly keen on climbing. A nice short techy climb can be an interesting challenge and one I am reasonably good at. However the hour plus slogs that I sometimes meet are soul destroying. The only good thing about them is " what goes up must go down"

I love me some climbing, all sorts in fact. Even better when I have someone with me [s]to punish[/s] for the company. There better be no dogs, kids, fatties or mincers in my way when I'm raging it uphill on purpose built trails though! Grr, etc.

[i]riding up climbs is like riding down in slow motion.[/i]

that's what one of my mates says.

I love climbing, Cwmcarn is one of my faves, so are the Golf Links and Bonk Hill at Rhayader /Cwmdauddwr. Whites is a goodun as well... and yup, I do look forward to them when I see one looming in the distance. No way I'm stopping 'till I reach the top. On the odd occasion when I have been beaten by a climb I feel gutted and am even more determined to never let it happen again.

Kev

Love the challenge of a techy climb, but not the dull grassy stuff that takes no mental effort.

Don't mind too much on the road - apart from like this morning when honking up a killer my back wheel spun on a damp pizza box left in the road!

I never finish with a climb. That is a bit pants AFICT.

+1 for long technical climbs - I love them! Best bit. Probably controversially, I don't like downhills as much as I'm nervous on them.

I enjoy seeing how long I can keep momentum up in a big gear on the ups. the only time they become a bind are slippery grassy climbs.

I love climbing even though I'm in no way built for it. Sure, there are times when I've had enough and choose a different route round a particular climb, but generally I've got now problem.

IMO it's one of my fitness indicators, especially when I climb a ba5stard hill and need only a couple of seconds recovery before sticking it in a bigger cog and speeding off.

I think it stems back to my teenage road-riding days when I'd spend 8hrs in the saddle with a couple of whippets who were into hills. We'd go all over Hants, Surrey and Sussex and I never once got off an pushed. Hence I always summon up those memories when the going gets tough. Although in MTBing there are various climbs that either catch you out because they're just too steep or technical, especially in certain conditions, etc.

One thing I find weird is what I call thermals and anti-thermals.
- Thermals: Some stretches of road of trail can go uphill quite steep but I always feel like I'm being pushed up them.
- Anti-thermals: Other stretches can be relatively flat yet seem to suck every ounce of energy to get "up" them.

I love climbing providing it's not fantastically steep or technical, when I swap to pushing - which I also quite enjoy.

I love them. Long and non technical, just sitting there knowing you can do it. I like to add to the weird pleasure be keeping a few gears in reserve.
I'm not any good a technical off road stuff, but a long road climb is far more satisfying than the following descent.

If you don't like climbing, why even bother riding a mountain bike in the UK? You know you're going to spend more time climbing on any ride than descending - assuming it's circular anyway - so you might as well like it 😉

I like climbing, and after living in Tirol I've got to really enjoying the long 3 hour plus slogs. Just stick the bike in the right gear, switch the brain off and enjoy the view. Then some food at the top, stick on some more clothes then downhill all the way to the bottom of the valley (where I live luckily).

All part of riding bikes and you can get a peverse pleasure from meeting the challenge.

One thing I find weird is what I call thermals and anti-thermals.
- Thermals: Some stretches of road of trail can go uphill quite steep but I always feel like I'm being pushed up them.
- Anti-thermals: Other stretches can be relatively flat yet seem to suck every ounce of energy to get "up" them.

Yeah, I find this now and then, although most seem to be “Anti-thermal” with me, there are a few Climbs (the same climbs too) where it all seems a touch easier than it should be, I find myself picking up a nice rhythm in my pedalling even if it’s close to the end of a ride and I’m blowing a bit. The Glider analogy is a good one, you do almost feel like you’ve gotten some lift.
It’s not just down to tail winds or better rolling surfaces either, maybe it’s certain angles of incline where you just get the right position on the bike; not so steep you’re having to lean into the bars or hoik yourself out of the saddle perhaps, but there is a definite sensation of “This should be a bit harder”…