I am wanting to maximise this winter (on the road) to make next year better on the mtb. I want to feel fitter and stronger.

Interval training is something that i want to find out more about as is doing hill reps. Anyone point me in the right direction?

This direction any good??

HTH

Just get the miles in and the rest will come. Although I'm not quite sure how many miles you need to put in before it comes. 😉

Thats the point Goan – i have limited time and want maximum results. No point plodding miles, i want speed and strength!!

find a hill not to steep and not too long and sprint as hard as you can for as long as you can and then a bit more ride back down the hill and repeat.It only works if you give it everything you've gotand warm up first.

Edenshawbay thats not good advice.
Your effort needs to be controlled in order to be able to repeat it consistently. Ride the hill hard but not so hard that you cant repeat it at the same intensity for the pre planned number of efforts.
You should feel very tired on the last effort or two but not exhausted after the first then slowing on the rest.

if you havnt done the plodding miles just expect to get injured heading out and pummeling hills ….

you cant have the cake and eat it ….

I am "plodding miles" fit

Now is not the time to be doing this. Now is the time for long plodding roadie miles and miles. Spring (after all the base training) is the time to do all the interval and hill training. Oh, and lose some weight.

at 6ft 2 and 12.5 stone – i don't need to!!

depends on your season nickc ….. im in spring phase now.

If you really are short on time I would recommend getting chris carmichael's book Time Crunched Cyclist, the training programs are pretty good.

"im in spring phase now" 😯 surely it's winter.

I'm no expert but got some advice on the same aim.

I mixed up my riding style on the hills by varying the cadence. Some climbs I'll "crank" up in a higher gear at lower cadence and some climbs I'll "spin" up in a low gear at higher cadence.

The net effect of this was when I rode the same climbs in the optimum gear I was quicker.

I do have the advantage of living in among a lot of hills/forests so have easy access to hilly on/off road routes.

Obviously warming up is essential and there's no real substitute for time on the bike but you can use the time wisely.

Just ride as many hills as you can and you'll notice the improvement fairly quickly.

Good luck 😀

if you havnt done the plodding miles just expect to get injured heading out and pummeling hills ….

you cant have the cake and eat it ….

Not necessarily true but you do have to take a sensible approach. If all you have is 45 minutes a day to train then riding 45 minutes steady provides much less benefit than riding 45 minutes of intervals/hills.
If time is no problem then of course a more structured approach is best however its not the case that intervals cause injuries if your are not fit (the OP is fit) they just need to be regulated to get the desired effect.

if you can find a local roadie club and join in with them. Try and find one who may do a plodding mid week ride, a slow ride on Sat ( average 14-15) and a fast ride sunday (19-21), make sure you do your turn at the front and if there into doing little sprints then use the climbs to do yours. Remember winter riding is mainly all about distance, then as the layers of clothing start coming of next year then start picking up the pace a bit. There wont be many riders at there peak just now, if any, just alot putting in some miles

The hardest part is convincing yourself to go out during rain or sleet, in blustery conditions and at -5oC.

Also, if possible add commuting to your routine whether it be 10 miles or 40 miles round distance, every bit counts.

Oh ( and my downfall), when your body says it tired, then have a break for a few days

yes it is good advice it comes from one of the top hill cilmbers in the country.

yes it is good advice it comes from one of the top hill cilmbers in the country.

Maybe that's what he tells you. I guarantee it is not what he is doing, unless he is only doing one effort and that's not interval training.
Its irresponsible advice and not conducive to improved performance.

edenshawbay – that is crap advice. I reckon that "one of the top hill climbers in the country" is in that position despite their training rather than because of it.

i think you have been rumbled goan – thats your technique – why are you not one of the uks top hill climbers ?

its probably because i've been bursting my arse sprinting up climbs for too long. i.e, training dumb.

I have trained with a few good distance runners over the years and its interesting to see their approach to interval work.
One guy I knew ran 28:15 for 10,000m yet in training there were other guys almost 2 minutes slower than him who could keep up with him in training. They were leaving their best performances on the track, he was the only one "training"

if you want to ride hard you have to train hard.you have to push your limits. thats all i am saying.if you want to ride long distances you have to ride long distances or fool your body into thinking it.

Goan – Member

edenshawbay – that is crap advice. I reckon that "one of the top hill climbers in the country" is in that position despite their training rather than because of it.

That is the good old fashioned no pain no gain way of training.

probably better popping over to a roadie forum 😉

Sure I read somewhere that you need to find a hiil that takes you something like 3mins to climb and then have something like a 1min recovery at the top, turn around and repeat using a gear higher, then repeat.

Not done it for a long time but I have a hill in my local wood that I can ride up, down the other side, along and back up. Repeat as often etc…

Absolutely no expert btw.

Keep an eye on the roadie mags. They start to do training features this time of the year. Just as bad if not worse than mtb mags at repaeting stuff(as you get older you notice these things 😕 )

Now if you use our friend google you find;

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/cycling/cyclingplan.htm

http://www.roguerunning.com/articles/17.html

http://roadskater.net/chris-carmichael-lance-armstrongs-cycling-hill-training-adapted-for-skate-training