Hill training = any good for the flat ?

brocbrocach · 10-08-2015 3:00pm #1

Just wondering whether the hours I put in killing myself on the highest mountains I can find are an efficient use of my time when most of my riding is done on the flat...
Everyone says training on hills is the only way to get better on them. Fair enough. Your riding on the flat obviously benefits to some extent from this training too, heart + muscles working etc, but I wonder if I spent the same amount of time doing proper serious work on the flat would my flatland cycling benefit a bit more, for eg. trying to hold a high speed for longer?

Don't get me wrong either, sometimes there's nothing better than murdering yourself going up a hill. I also enjoy downhills!

Alek · 10-08-2015 3:08pm

I train mostly on hills as I enjoy it a lot. I'm not too bad at climbing now, worse at descending, but on a flat route I often find it hard to keep pace with guys that I easily climb with.

triggermortis · 10-08-2015 3:10pm

I ride hills a lot now by default, and I'm still woeful on them but I find it more enjoyable than just riding on the flat

Alek · 10-08-2015 3:19pm

^ true that

Forgot to mention, once you start enjoying hills you'll never get back to flats

brocbrocach · 10-08-2015 3:21pm

I suppose bodyweight comes into things as well, obviously the less svelte of us can handle the flats better. Don't know why the climbers get all the glamour!
Then again you see some monsters on the flat that struggle going uphill - surely a lot of the biology is the same?

I probably prefer conquering a mountain to just cycling 20km or something myself but there's also nothing nicer than pushing the speed up over a good surface flat road.

Alek · 10-08-2015 3:25pm

I'm 80kgs now, so no lightweight in the cycling world. Its certainly easier for sub-65kg whippets to go uphill

... yet I still enjoy it!

The Noble Nudge · 10-08-2015 3:39pm

Alek wrote: »

I'm 80kgs now, so no lightweight in the cycling world. Its certainly easier for sub-65kg whippets to go uphill ... yet I still enjoy it!

Says Alek half man half Honda 50.....:D

Alek · 10-08-2015 3:43pm

Ah c'mon, I was on EPO that day. Prescribed medical use, I swear!

(You should have seen TripleMinor that decided to chase those guys in the front for some fun when I was dying to keep his pace up Shay Elliot :P )

TripleMinor · 10-08-2015 4:34pm

Alek wrote: »

Ah c'mon, I was on EPO that day. Prescribed medical use, I swear!

(You should have seen TripleMinor that decided to chase those guys in the front for some fun when I was dying to keep his pace up Shay Elliot :P )

Is that what was in all those bars of soap you were eating? :pac:

You cant deny its not fun chasing down groups of riders on hills - I'm easily amused though.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 10-08-2015 5:05pm

I'm surrounded by hills and mountains and so do most of my training on hills/climbs. I'd rather do 30km spin on hills/mountains than 60k on the flat. Hills certainly help with my fitness levels and while I'm not really keeping any records, my speed on the flat seems to be improving too.

triggermortis · 10-08-2015 6:05pm

Alek wrote: »

I'm 80kgs now, so no lightweight in the cycling world. Its certainly easier for sub-65kg whippets to go uphill ... yet I still enjoy it!

I've another 10 - 15Kg on you so shedding that would help me, but I like food (and beer) too much...

rollingscone · 10-08-2015 6:24pm

I'm a horrible Ogre, 188cm about 100kg and a terrible climber but I quite enjoyed my slow steady 1km of gain yesterday.

Up until the point Kippure defeated me my Strava recording was going to be called "Floating and breathing".

Oh well. Know yourself and seek self improvement as the saying goes.

Alek · 10-08-2015 9:38pm

but I like food (and beer) too much...

Don't give up on these, just cycle more. And more. That's how I started 17kgs ago

Hill training = any good for the flat ?

Comments