Hill Training

Big Bob

I live in south wexford i.e no hills. and last year i did the wicklow 200 for the first time. i did pretty good except for the sally gap, wicklow gap and slieve mann , I did about 4-5 months training which included the mt leinster challange 100k, I can go all day on normal roads but i find my legs give out pretty quickly on the mountains.
What's the best way to train for hills without actualy training on hills?
Any advice would be much appreciated

Raam

a turbo trainer would be very useful. It can simulate hills for you

Lumen

Stick it in a big gear and adjust the brakes so they're lightly on.

Should simulate the correct degree of utter misery, but might wear your rims and pads out a bit quick. :pac:

Big Bob

Thanks for the advice folks it is much appreciated.
I'll give give the gear change a try and let you know if it worked in june.
The advice on a turbo trainer sounds good but the thing is i've 2 young kids when I'm home they hang out of me so the peace and quite out on the road is just unbelievable.

Raam

Big Bob wrote: »

Thanks for the advice folks it is much appreciated.
I'll give give the gear change a try and let you know if it worked in june.
The advice on a turbo trainer sounds good but the thing is i've 2 young kids when I'm home they hang out of me so the peace and quite out on the road is just unbelievable.

That really ain't gonna work too well. Hill climbing is much different than using a higher gear

NeilMcEoigheann

why do you not want to train on the hills? training on the hills will not only make you fitter but you will improve your climbing technique something that can't be replicated on a turbo trainer

Big Bob

I'd love to train on hills but there is just nothing in south wexford that would comes close to the sally gap. The lads I do the challanges with live pretty close to the sally and can get up there on a regular bases, i meet up with them once a month but it's not enough. Maybe I just need to do a lot more miles than there doing i don't know

Raam

If there is a short steep hill near by, perhaps you could do repeat sessions on it.

Big Bob

There is it's steep but only about a 200m drag, I'll try dropping one of my normal sessions and do repeat sessions on the hill. Thanks folks, that was a nice peice of brain storming if I may say so.

victorcarrera

Choose a 7Km section of road. Ride it dilligently in a gear that labours your breathing and burns the legs @ 60-70 RPM. Intermittently change up one or two cogs while standing on the pedals for 10 or 20 seconds. This should improve your muscular endurance.

rottenhat

Are you too far from the Comeraghs to ride there? The big climb in the Sean Kelly last year was at least as hard if not harder than Slieve Maan, I thought.

Hungrycol

I find a big gear on a turbo trainer while standing out of the saddle, front wheel raised slightly more than normal, gives me a very good workout for hill climbing in the absence of one near you.

Tackleberry

rottenhat wrote: »

Are you too far from the Comeraghs to ride there? The big climb in the Sean Kelly last year was at least as hard if not harder than Slieve Maan, I thought.

I was gonna suggest this too, you could do drive over to Dungarvan or something and ride over to Mahon Falls, if you were mad enough you could do both sides in a day, you'd be fit as fook in no time, come to think of it there's plenty of hills in that area, including a very very long climb from a small village called Tallow (I think) to Youghal, lasts about 10km at least, seemed more like 20km.

Even if you got one or two days a month to do these trips you'd be flying.

rottenhat

Ah yes, Mahon Falls, that was the one. Rarely been closer to getting off the bike and walking.

Billy Whizz

I find that finding a good stretch of headwind and riding at about 70rpm is an excellent substitute. You can conceivably simulate a good hour or two worth of climbing by sitting up in the wind, choosing a lower cadence and riding at a brisk, tempo effort.