Climbing: The Wisdom of Bob
The ‘Joy’ of Climbing
Climbing hills is absolutely not my favourite aspect of cycling (descending is, I only excuse hills from going up because they obligingly go down again).
However, I am getting to be on better terms with uphill as my technique has improved. Now, on the few days of the year when I am actually on form, I love the feeling of strength you get when you know you’re climbing well. (Strength training through shifting two ever growing children on a cargo bike has also helped!)
Years ago (pre husband and children) I used to meet my brother (also a cyclist) in Majorca for an organised spring ‘training camp’. Bob and Keith were legends of this camp.
Bob and Keith (I never knew their surnames) were ex-pros, well into retirement and still both enjoying cycling. Bob was slim and an excellent climber – legend tells of him pushing struggling riders up 10 mile long climbs while never once stopping his chatter. ‘Rotund’ is probably a good word to describe Keith’s build. Keith could descend like a cannonball, although he climbed like a man who got into the van at the bottom of the hills, and got out again at the top.
Together, Bob and Keith led the slower and less experienced rides on the camp. They also offered advice to riders who wanted it with very few social niceties taken into account (“You’ll never make it around the Etape du Tour” – I was offended….Bob was quite correct).
Those camps in Majorca were really my first experience of group riding. When I first started going, I lived in the Highlands of Scotland and as ‘the only road cyclist in the village’ (well, more or less), I had a wonderful sense of what a great cyclist I was. Sadly, this turned out to be mainly due to the lack of comparison.
When I rode in a group, I really struggled. It wasn’t that I was unfit, but I just could not keep up the pace on the hills. The bigger climbs weren’t all that much of a problem because the groups tended to split up during the climb and regroup at the top. I was slow, but I’d get there eventually. It was the short climbs. I was just fine on the flat, I kept up with the group, wasn’t hanging off the back, and wasn’t struggling. But the minute there was the slightest uphill, the whole group gradually passed me as I got slower and slower and slower. At the top, I could catch back up, so I had the strength, I just could not climb. It was so frustrating.
So, I asked Bob to ride alongside me up some of the climbs I struggled with, and the advice he gave me was priceless. His conclusion was “you’ve got the strength but your technique is rubbish.” He did also give me some slightly more specific pointers. It took me about 6 months to change my technique in the ways he suggested and it really did make me a much better rider.
Recently, I started riding with a club again. Hervelo is a women’s cycle club. The club is split between the road cyclists (‘the skinnies’) and the mountain bikers (‘the mudhoneys’). The majority of the road bikers have not ridden with clubs before they found Hervelo. Like me, they just got a bike and rode it.
There is a lot to be said for just get on the bike and ride, and I would encourage anyone to do so. However, there may come a point when you hit a plateau. If at that point you feel that you want to get a bit faster, a bit stronger or a bit more comfortable, then it’s time to look for tips on technique. You can find that advice here. I would also recommend looking for coaching sessions or if there is nothing near you, Global Cycling News videos on YouTube are also great.
Some of the Hervelo skinnies struggle with climbing in exactly the way I struggled in Majorca. This made me think it was maybe worth writing down the advice Bob gave me.
The Wisdom of Bob
Use your gears. Seriously, engineering gave us gearing for a reason – it makes it easier to ride a bike. It is not a sign of weakness to change down gears before your lungs are burning and your eyeballs are bulging. I had a triple chainset on my first road bike and I loved it. I didn’t use the granny cog all that much, but when I did I was massively grateful for it.
- Use your gears one at a time. Do not try and hold as big a gear as you can for as long as you can and then slam down six gears at once before you fall off your bike. Take at least one pedal stroke before you change each gear.
- Think about your effort level. Personally, I don’t think it really matters what cadence you ride at if it is comfortable for you. But once you hit a climb, change down a gear as soon as you feel it is getting harder. Equally, change up as soon as your effort level drops again. Use your gears to keep your effort level constant (until you run out of gears anyhow, then it’s just going to get tough!)
- Climb with your hands on the bars (as opposed to the brake hoods). Unless it’s steep enough that you can’t and you need to stand.
- Climb with your legs, not with your upper body. Don’t waste energy bouncing up and down. Core exercises help with this.
- Don’t panic. If you look at a hill ahead, or you know it through reputation and you think you are going to struggle or not make it to the top, your body instantly follows your head in panicking. This raises your heart and breathing rate way before the hill has a chance to.
And thus spake Bob.
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[…] back to the legend that is Bob and Keith on the Majorca camps. As I said, Keith was phenomenal going downhill. This was possibly helped by the long rest he […]
[…] back to the legend that is Bob and Keith on the Majorca camps. While Bob was a phenomenal climber, Keith was phenomenal going downhill. This was possibly helped […]
[…] want to struggle up hills and kamikaze down the other […]