# Training for hills in the flat land



## Ropes4u (Jun 30, 2009)

I got my @ss kicked in a forty mile ride through the hills of Texas today. I have another ride coming up in a few weeks that is notoriously hilly. I need to get in better shape or I will die before I finish. I live in an area where there are little to no grades to train on, suggestions?


----------



## andulong (Nov 23, 2006)

A good headwind will help simulate a climb.


----------



## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

andulong said:


> A good <strike>headwind</strike>* hurricane* will help simulate a climb.


Fixed it for lard-asses like myself.


----------



## bike_guy (Mar 26, 2002)

Any bridges or overpasses that you can do "hill" repeats on?


----------



## coachstevo (Sep 11, 2009)

This is going to sound crazy-- but run fat tires, and low air pressure...then "spin" a really big gear


----------



## Opus51569 (Jul 21, 2009)

coachstevo said:


> This is going to sound crazy-- but run fat tires, and low air pressure...then "spin" a really big gear


Not "crazy" necessarily, but isn't that just asking for a pinch flat?


----------



## brianmcg (Oct 12, 2002)

Opus51569 said:


> Not "crazy" necessarily, but isn't that just asking for a pinch flat?


No. Larger tires require less air pressure. Just do more intervals.


----------



## olr1 (Apr 2, 2005)

Use a smaller back wheel...


----------



## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Just shift to a gear that puts you into your climbing cadence. That' about it.


----------



## Drew Eckhardt (Nov 11, 2009)

Ropes4u said:


> I got my @ss kicked in a forty mile ride through the hills of Texas today. I have another ride coming up in a few weeks.


You may be out of luck because it takes about three weeks for your body to respond to training.

Consider lower gears (this could be as simple as a new cassette, or as expensive and involved as new shifters, derailleurs and a mountain/loaded touring triple crank) that allow you to use a higher more sustainable cadence.



> hat is notoriously hilly. I need to get in better shape or I will die before I finish. I live in an area where there are little to no grades to train on, suggestions?


1) Get a training plan which has you spending quality time around your lactate threshold and includes rest days/weeks/months which make it sustainable.

1a) If your gear selection is forcing an unsustainable low cadence and you're unwilling to change your equipment, make sure the training plan includes hard efforts at low cadence.

2) Keep a training log

3) Follow the plan and make adjustments based on your log - maybe you need more time to recover.

Simple!

There really isn't anything special about hills.


----------



## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

Pay attention to how you ride when you're on hills, when you do visit them.

I like to get out of the saddle and shift up a gear or two if I find I'm having trouble maintaining a good cadence. I'd rather do that than bugger up my knees pushing too high a gear in the saddle. It sometimes feels like walking up stairs, to me.

Unfortunately there's not a lot you can do to practice hills without a hill, as far as the stuff that's different about being on a hill vs. riding at high power outputs any other time. If you learn to sprint, though, you'll have a little easier time figuring out how you like to climb out of the saddle, and while it's objectively less efficient to stand up and climb, for most people, I find that the break is helpful.

Of course, the disadvantage to learning to be faster up a hill is that it doesn't really make it any easier. You still have to expend a certain number of joules to get to the top, and if you do it faster, it's actually even more.


----------



## Ropes4u (Jun 30, 2009)

I found a long slight incline I can train on, it won't hurt like the hills I'm am headed to but I will survive either way. 

Work doesn't let me plan much training but I will start looking for a plan. On a good week I can get in three or four rides. Sundays I hike ten miles with my wife, we are working towards twenty. I felt pretty fit for a 47 year old desk jockey until las weekend.


----------



## evilduc996 (Jun 17, 2010)

Come to Kansas, we have enough wind with no breaks to give you the best up hill flat you could want.


----------

