Hill repeats question?

kildare snooker

hi,
Quick question, I'm looking to do some training on hills and been reading doing repeats is good,I'm stuck for time and although i live in kildare and could cycle to the wicklow hills I'm often stuck for time so only hill i know of in the area is the same one the use in the RAS,although the categorise it a class 3 but i don't think it is.

Question is, is this hill ok for doing repeats on or is it to short,not steep enough,hard enough etc? and advice id really appreciate please and thank you .

i can't post a link to the climb as i don't have permissions so ill just put the details from strava

1.9km
Distance

2%
Avg Grade

79m
Lowest Elev

123m
Highest Elev

44m
Elev Difference

t'bear

although the distance is okay, the grade is a bit low, I would want about 7 or 8 precent at min 1km distance

kildare snooker

looks like ill prob have to cycle further to find that which is difficult when time is hard to get,

anyone any other suggestions in and around the newbridge area?

manwithaplan

Boston Hill would probably do the trick - it's on the Newbridge GP circuit near the curragh. You'll find it on strava.

kildare snooker

ill take a look now never heard of it and i always thought that route was flat but never rode it,thank you

kildare snooker

details from strava on boston hill,
opinions?

1.5km
Distance

3%
Avg Grade

76m
Lowest Elev

121m
Highest Elev

44m
Elev Difference

nilhg

I live beside Boston Hill, if you do enough repeats of it at a suitable intensity you'll sleep that night, you also have the option of coming up from the northern side, the road surface is poor, especially if its wet but a mix of the two will give you a good work out.

Something like this is what I have occasionally done,

http://www.strava.com/activities/68085210

I reckon Boston is more suitable than Allen anyway, it's definitely harder.

Some friends of mine who were training for the RAI last year used to do repeats on the Lamb hill at Kilteel but that's pure savagery, you'd need to be flying before you'd think of that.

http://www.strava.com/segments/5890791

sullzz

nilhg wrote: »

I live beside Boston Hill, if you do enough repeats of it at a suitable intensity you'll sleep that night, you also have the option of coming up from the northern side, the road surface is poor, especially if its wet but a mix of the two will give you a good work out.

Something like this is what I have occasionally done,

http://www.strava.com/activities/68085210

I reckon Boston is more suitable than Allen anyway, it's definitely harder.

Some friends of mine who were training for the RAI last year used to do repeats on the Lamb hill at Kilteel but that's pure savagery, you'd need to be flying before you'd think of that.

http://www.strava.com/segments/5890791

I did lamb hill for the 1st time on Tuesday evening ... Jesus it's a killer, my Garmin registered 20% at some parts.

wirelessdude01

sullzz wrote: »

I did lamb hill for the 1st time on Tuesday evening ... Jesus it's a killer, my Garmin registered 20% at some parts.

Mine says 23% near the top. I've taken nearly 3mins off my time on that climb since Feb.

rckfld

I know ever inch of that 23% ouch!

kildare snooker

I may try both so,boston hill would suit me better for weekday spin when time is tight but might try lamb hill just for the fun of suffering.

sullzz

And suffer you will
But it's a nice type of suffering

secman

And what exactly did Hill ask and why were you not listening first time !

Raam

secman wrote: »

And what exactly did Hill ask and why were you not listening first time !

He asked summit or other.

secman

Was it Joe Hill, dreamt he was as alive as you and I.

smithslist

I'd be interested to know how people do hill repeats? I tend to like doing a loop, where you don't have to go up and down the same hill, and have a short course where you meet the hill the same time after (4-6mins).

I know of people do Atgoe(Newcastle) and also Embankment, Bohernabrena(If I can spell it).........I just wondering what other hills people favorite for there hill repeats around Kildare\Wicklow region.

maloner

smithslist wrote: »

I'd be interested to know how people do hill repeats? I tend to like doing a loop, where you don't have to go up and down the same hill, and have a short course where you meet the hill the same time after (4-6mins).

I know of people do Atgoe(Newcastle) and also Embankment, Bohernabrena(If I can spell it).........I just wondering what other hills people favorite for there hill repeats around Kildare\Wicklow region.

Up Cruagh road to the viewing point and down stocking lane.

http://www.strava.com/segments/3673399

Or just up and down cruagh bridge to bridge.

2 Wheels Good

Due to a sore shoulder I didn't go for a long spin this week. Not sure if they're useful for hill repeats as they're shortish but I did the Patricks hill/Richmond hill loop in Cork 10 times one night and Temple hill around to the Tower road 4 times another night.
Patricks hill is a bit short but I found the Temple hill loop good as the Tower road is good and fast to spin out the legs before starting back up the hill.
Would anyone down this direction use Temple hill for repeats or would I be better going on one of the longer less steep hills over Glanmire direction?

bogmanfan

Strawberry Beds is great for hill repeats. Coming over the bridge from Lucan you can go left up Barnhill, then down Laraghcon. Turn left and onto the Strawberry Beds proper. Take the hairpin left onto Tinker's Hill. Continue on past Westmanstown gym and Castleknock Golf Club. Turn right and head down Rugged Lane (mind the descent - road is poor, and very little room if you meet a car). Then left at the bottom and continue on Strawberry Beds until you hit Somerton Lane. Head up that, then turn right at the top. Keep right at the lights and you'll eventually come out at the Mount Sackville entrance to the Phoenix Park. Head back down the Strawberry Beds in the opposite direction and do the hills in reverse (head up the ones you've descended and vice-versa).

All of these hills are short, but they are pretty tough. Taken one after another they can wear you out quickly. My neighbour rode the Ras several times in the 70s/80s and used this route for training.

Bloggsie

Hi folks. Only just began to read of hill repeats, Fupping Hell some of what Ive read would bring a tear to a glass eye.
In Narnia (kildare)there arent to many hills compared with Co Hill (wicklow), I spin 48-49km from maynooth-kilcock-summerhill-dunboyne-maynooth in either direction & the only hill is from summerhill to kilcock (i know thats co meath) I dont do the strava thing so I havent a clue what percentage it is. my 1st spin on it took 2hrs 40, now I am hitting 2 hours 5-10, avge of 23-24kmph (on 1 spin I was home in less than 2 hours thanks to a great drag from two others)
Can anyone advise me what the percentage on the hill I mentioned is?

SMacX

Bloggsie wrote: »

Hi folks. Only just began to read of hill repeats, Fupping Hell some of what Ive read would bring a tear to a glass eye.
In Narnia (kildare)there arent to many hills compared with Co Hill (wicklow), I spin 48-49km from maynooth-kilcock-summerhill-dunboyne-maynooth in either direction & the only hill is from summerhill to kilcock (i know thats co meath) I dont do the strava thing so I havent a clue what percentage it is. my 1st spin on it took 2hrs 40, now I am hitting 2 hours 5-10, avge of 23-24kmph (on 1 spin I was home in less than 2 hours thanks to a great drag from two others)
Can anyone advise me what the percentage on the hill I mentioned is?

If you're out Maynooth direction you should check out Newtown hill out past Kilcock, towards Enfield, left turn at cross roads and keep going until your knees start to crack

Joking aside, sign up to strava. Won't cost you anything for basic setup and all you are looking for is interesting routes around about you.

Or you could do what a good friend of mine does and just go for a wander until you find a road with grass growing down the middle of the road and see where it takes you

Brian?

Bloggsie wrote: »

Hi folks. Only just began to read of hill repeats, Fupping Hell some of what Ive read would bring a tear to a glass eye.
In Narnia (kildare)there arent to many hills compared with Co Hill (wicklow), I spin 48-49km from maynooth-kilcock-summerhill-dunboyne-maynooth in either direction & the only hill is from summerhill to kilcock (i know thats co meath) I dont do the strava thing so I havent a clue what percentage it is. my 1st spin on it took 2hrs 40, now I am hitting 2 hours 5-10, avge of 23-24kmph (on 1 spin I was home in less than 2 hours thanks to a great drag from two others)
Can anyone advise me what the percentage on the hill I mentioned is?

If you want to do something with a few hills. Go Maynooth>Straffan>Kill>Kiltel>Brittas and back.

As for the hill out of Kilcock, about 1.5%. Not really a hill

kildare snooker

what is funny is that the first hill i posted details of the hill of allen is considered a cat3 climb in the RAS,is that not considered good enough for repeats so? confused

nilhg

kildare snooker wrote: »

what is funny is that the first hill i posted details of the hill of allen is considered a cat3 climb in the RAS,is that not considered good enough for repeats so? confused

And they go over it at +40km/hr, hardly a Cat3 in the international sense but I suppose the RAS has to mark them some way.

http://www.strava.com/segments/821001

Lumen

kildare snooker wrote: »

what is funny is that the first hill i posted details of the hill of allen is considered a cat3 climb in the RAS,is that not considered good enough for repeats so? confused

Climb categories mean little in isolation. They are relative to other climbs within a race, and depend on the length of race (stage) and where in that race (stage) they are placed.

At the other extreme, Alpe d'Huez is not much use for hill repeats either. :pac:

Koobcam

If you're in Kildare, you could do worse than the Newbridge GP circuit. The hills aren't particularly hard, but then again difficulty depends on how much effort you want to put in. If you want to add something to that circuit, instead of heading left after Boston (up Dunmurray), go right and then take the left turn a couple of kms before Rathangan. The road rolls a bit for a few kms and then you see 'the Wall' (or Rahilla as we used to call it). It's a short hill, only a few hundred metres, but very steep. Try doing that 4-5 times and you will know all about it. So, basically, (Newbridge GP circuit+Rahilla) x several times would be my Kildare hill repeat route. If you have a mountain bike or cross bike, I'd recommend the Hill of Allen-the actual hill where you climb off-road all the way to the round tower. It's about 8-900 metres in length and double digit gradient the whole way. Just keep doing that until you're ready to pass out.