Cycling up hills and mountains

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Cycling up hills (or mountains) is the hardest part of cycling when you are just starting out. Ignoring problems of speed, most new cyclists can manage to go along a flat road for a reasonable distance without any terrible difficulties.

But what happens when a hill turns up? Even a small hill can be a big challenge if you don't know what to expect and haven't prepared.

To put the record straight first - hills never get 'easy'. They get easier with experience, but then you go faster. However casual that cyclist might look as he races past you on the hill, be assured that he is also suffering. Suffering faster, it is true, but suffering all the same. Hills hurt - those little slopes you call hills when you start out you may not even notice a couple of years later, but there are always longer, steeper hills somewhere else!

Hills for me, are still the greatest pleasure of cycling. They are the best time to really push yourself to the limit, and the pleasure (and sense of achievement) of going 'fast' up a hill that you know you would barely have got up at all a couple of years earlier is very real.

Once you have recognised that hills are and always will be difficult, how should you approach them?

Getting Started

Find a positive attitude and a hill. Ideally your cycling practice will start with a hill 2-3 kilometres long and rising about 30-50m per kilometre, but we all have to take what is near us.

Choose a nice relaxing gear, at which you can pedal up your hill at 65-80 rpm, keeping a consistent speed, and try to go up steadily. This is important! You are trying to carry on 'pedalling quite fast' in an easy gear, not pedal slowly and strain your legs. With a little practice you will come to know your own capabilities and what level of effort you can sustain, and you will find a speed at which you can cycle up most hills moderately painlessly, but first you need to develop that capability.

At first, you don't need to worry about racing up the hills, just focus on maintaining a constant speed. You should be able to speak if necessary, but singing should be beyond you. Depending on your fitness even a small hill can be very difficult at first.

Remember: it is better to start out too gently and have some energy left for a last minute surge than to start cycling up the hill too fast and then completely run out of steam half way up. Over-exertion for the first part of a climb is very common, especially when you are unfamiliar with the hill.

Try not to look at the top of the hill until it is quite close. I always stare at the road immediately ahead, or the side of the road, or an intermediate point on the road. The goal is to avoid panicking about the hill, but to just take it one section after another. For the time being try and do all this while remaining seated on the saddle.

Focus on breathing out regularly. Don't worry about breathing in, that will happen naturally when you breathe out!

Most hills have several sections, try and think about finishing the section you are on, rather than worrying about the whole hill.

If you can look down, and concentrate on your breathing and the rhythm of your pedalling, the hill will pass in no time.

Initially the goal is simply to reach the top - nothing is more demotivating than failing to reach the end of the hill, so first worry about finishing the hill, then later about improving speed.

Getting better

The next step is to slowly improve your cycling speed. After a few weeks of the above, you will find that hills are becoming slightly easier, that your speed (and more importantly your confidence) improves, and you can use slightly harder gears. Now would be the time to start setting goals. Find a hill that you are familiar with, and two or three times a week do the same hill, noting which gear you are in and what average speed you can do. Try and do it a little faster by using a harder gear, but maintianing the same cadence (pedalling speed).

Sooner or later you will reach the point where your willpower and new found abilities takes over, and you WANT to go and beat that hill. You will know what speed you can keep going at, and be able to judge for yourself if you can go faster. The hill is no longer a scary place, it's where you want to be!

Getting even better

At this point you can think about interval training on the hill. More or less, this means cycling up the hill for perhaps 10 minutes, then going back down gently and doing it again. Perhaps three times. This stretches your legs to the limit, because just as they finish recovering from one exertion along comes the next.

A more sophisticated version of interval training is also possible. Choose a part of the hill about, say, 300 metres long, and from start to end of that section work very hard. Only as hard as you can maintain for the distance, but hard all the way. Then cruise along for five minutes at an easy pace (or go back down the hill), pedalling gently but continuously as you recover. Now do the same again, climbing the same hill (or sections of the hill) three or four times.

The goal here is to use 'anaerobic energy' - which requires great effort but is very efficient at building short term strength and stamina.

Repeat the process about five times. In no time at all you will be that person roaring past the other cyclists...or at least keeping up.

Standing up cycling

Sometimes it is necessary to stand up (cycling, not pushing!) for the steepest parts of a hill, but this uses more energy and raises your heartrate, so it should be saved for occasional use only. Having said that, when I restarted cycling after several years away from the sport, I found I couldn't cycle more than about 50 metres up-hill standing-up. If this is the case, you should practice this skill also.

Probably your hill has one or two shorter, steeper parts. If you change to standing position for those sections, it uses different muscles and gives the others a brief moment of welcome rest. But ultimately, standing-up is more demanding than sitting down.

Change to a harder gear when you are about to stand up, and an easier gear when you are about to sit down again. Try and maintain the same cadence (number of turns of the pedals per minute) whether standing or seated.

Pull up on the handlebars as you push down with your pedal. After a few tiles, try and use a harder gear. Soon you will be able to burst up short sharp sections of hill on your bike.

Standing-up cycling is also commonly used for short-sharp hills, especially when you can maintain the gear you are already using. Instead of changing to an easier gear for the short climb, stand-up and keep using the same gear.

Keep pedalling until you are over the top of the hill. Many cylists stop the effort a few metres before the top, and 'cruise' over the brow. You lose valuable seconds doing this, and also lose important speed for the following section.

Overall

With regular practice, the shallower hills that you once struggled up will start to seem like flat sections of road, and big hills will get much easier. If you really have no hills at all near you, there is one way that you can still practice. Wait for a windy day, and go and cycle straight into the wind. Almost as much fun as a mountain.

16 Comments

Paul Smith makes this comment

Saturday, 10 July 2010

Hi love the site some nice reading thank you, my question is how do feel about the triple chain set, there seem's to have this stigma to them. Reason is I'm going to buy my first real road bike soon and even though I have rode bikes for twenty years or more they have always been mountain bikes or hybrids, currently riding a hybrid with granny gear's but it get's me up the hill's as my area is pretty hilly. Going for a double I just don't think my knee's could take it, they sometimes swell up but learned to cope and live with them, I want to enjoy the ride not kill myself but push myself when I can. Thanks
Admin makes this comment

Sunday, 11 July 2010

I use a comapct double but used to use a triple and in truth next time I'll probably go back to a triple - not because of the hills but because where I live the roads are quite undulating and I'm forever changing between the small front ring and the large one - I preferred it when I was usually on the middle ring with no need to keep changing.
Have no shame in sticking with a triple if that's what you want. Like you say, enjoyment is the goal!
Your knees shouldn't be swelling up. Are you sure your current bike is the right size for you and set up properly? Also try using an easier gear and getting usd to pedalling faster, it puts less strain on your knees than 'forcing' your way up hills, also perhaps standing up cycling on the steeper bits mght help?
BenthamBloke makes this comment

Monday, 16 August 2010

Admin, if you're on a compact (50/34?), you might consider changing to a normal double? (53/39 ish). Would probably help in your situation. Should manage to change for less than £100?
Samantha makes this comment

Thursday, 23 September 2010

Try not to look at the top of the hill until it is quite close. I always stare at the road immediately ahead, or the side of the road, or an intermediate point on the road. The goal is to avoid panicking about the hill, but to just take it one section after another. For the time being try and do all this while remaining seated on the saddle.

This is great advice. I've only recently come back to cycling after piling on 3 stone in weight and hills were a problem for me back when I was thin, so you can imagine the pain of getting myself up them now. I've only just come across your site, and am thoroughly enjoying reading through all of the articles and comments. This particular one hit me though... the other day I tackled a horrendous hill, a really painful incline that lasted for a seemingly LONG time. Every time I looked up at the top of the hill, I panicked and mind over matter told me I couldn't do it. But when I stared at the ground in front of me - and the ground seemed to be moving underneath me at an alright pace - I could find my rhythm and keep pedalling on.

I've now got a 50 mile challenge ride ahead of me on Sunday and to say I'm worried would be an understatement. But, I'm heeding your advice on here and just going to take it in my stride. If I have to cycle it alone to maintain my best pace then so be it. And it's for charity, so its not one I need to worry about racing!
Pippa makes this comment

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Hi, this is very interesting. I do triathlons, rather than just cycling, but have only been doing them over the last 3 years. I have signed up to do a full Ironman next year in Europe and the bike leg is hilly, to say the least!! I have a Trek road bike with 2 rings at the moment. It is almost 2 years old, a great bike, but am worrying about doing lots of hills on it. What would you recommend? I will be out there doing your interval training on the hills around me here, sound advice. Thanks.
Admin makes this comment

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Hi Pippa, it depends on both you and on the actual bike gearing you have. Most of us who are less than super-fit would prefer compact gearing when tackling hills (typically the smaller front ring having about 34 teeth rather than 39), but it's quite possible your bike already has that. Doing mountains on a standard double could be a challenge.
Bava makes this comment

Saturday, 23 April 2011

My age is 56yrs. I've been cycling off and on since I was 6yrs. Some years I've been stronger and some not...depending on diet, colds/flu, pulled muscles and business schedule, etc. I find using a triple is better as you age. Keeps you from overheating your joints and you can vary the pressure you exert on the pedals without burning your muscles and attachments. Make sure your cycling shorts don't fit too tight and that the elastic above the knees aren't shutting off the circulation to your knews...which will put you into a couple of weeks of healing before you attempt to ride again. Spinning on slightly rolling hills is a nice ride with continuous gear swapping on the rings from 2/5 upto the 3/6 rings holding your speeds between 20kmh-30kmh with the occasional slow down to 15kmh to the speedup of 35kmh. If you go up steep grades that are about 30 degrees up - you'll over time learn to do these either in low 1/2-1/5 granny gears and sometimes standing up going to a stiffer pedal exertion if your legs are upto that conditioning. Over a couple of months they should be in pretty good shape to do a complete 1 to 2 kilometer run on a 30 degree grade standing up without much ado. You'll know you're in shape at the point when you get home after a 2 1/2 hr ride up these grades and you can still walk around and pick up the dog pooh, take out the trash and cut the lawn without much effort. Start out your riding though with ease...always with ease. Faster spinning (pedal revolutions)with less pressure is always better even if you are an excellent rider...you still need to learn to do ONLY what your knees can do without pain.
Admin makes this comment

Saturday, 23 April 2011

Hi Bava, thanks for the advice.
One question, when you talk about a '30 degrees uphill' does that mean the same as a 1 in 3 gradient? I'm surprised roads even exist that cover 2km at 1 in 3 so I'm guessing you might mean something different - or you live somewhere pretty hilly!
Ray Whitehouse makes this comment

Sunday, 24 April 2011

30 degress is about a 60% or 1:6 hill. A bit too tough for me no matter how long it is and I'm 58. A 10% hill 1:10 is hard enough. Ditchling Beacon, the hardest hill on the London to Brighton route, runs for 1445m and rises 142m so is a 10% hill. A lot of people walk this.
Phil B makes this comment

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Another technique for focus on hills, count something...
If you are on a country road - concentrate on passing just the next tree or fence post.

If you are in town - just go for the next drain or grid at the side of the road.

When you pass this - tick it off, and look for the next one.
Each one is a minor achievement, and gets you to the top!
yuanzhoulv makes this comment

Sunday, 03 July 2011

Great advice.

I don't usually stand on pedals though, ever. One because it's a bit unsafe unless you have clipping pedals (if you slip, you can get injured in a pretty bad fall), and second, it looks like the cyclist has ants in the pants (or bees, if they rock the bike while standing). One thing I've always had about cycling is that I hold very strongly to it being a graceful sport, having my view of the surrounding scenery be very smooth, like to the graceful movement of a high-speed train -- if my view is bobbing up and down it's not a great experience.
shakil makes this comment

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

i live in Bangladesh where it's only 30 feet above the sea level and have a treak MTB. i have been commuting to office on my bicycle for couple of years. the highest long ride that i have done is 170km in 2days in 36 degree celcius. our country is almost flat execpt some hills which is about 400km far away from where i live which i'm planning to complete. since there's no scope for training myself in the hills will it be possible for you to suggest any other training for the ride so that i can complete. the ride starts from 300 feet and goes upto 2300 feet and it's a 86km ride which i'm planning to do it in 2 days. would appreciate your suggestion on it.
Admin makes this comment

Tuesday, 18 October 2011

Hi Shakil, great question but not easy to answer. During the winter I use a training bike - either a gym type bike or a training machine which my usual bike can fix on to, both have 'difficult' settings which come close to being like a real hill.
Out on the road the only thing that comes close to hill cycling is cycling into a strong wind - is there anywhere you can go that has a consistent strong wind?
jackorina makes this comment

Saturday, 29 October 2011

i think that hills are a lot of fun to tackle and that u should think of them as an enemy and attak them with a different burst of speed to get yourself up the main bit of it
long hills u can stand up on and like someone else said set yourself targets
berny makes this comment

Saturday, 29 October 2011

i have a question,
when you are trying to tackle a hill and you are already very tired, how would you tackle it without exhausting yourself or getting injured? Because near me in the surrey downs there is one particularly big hill up by leith hill and it really gets you after a long ride
any advice would be SUPER!!!
Admin makes this comment

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Hi Berny, the key is to getting used to how much effort you can make over the ride as a whole. If you overdo it on previous parts of the course you won't have any strength left, but if you can find a constant level of effort that is within your capabilities you should be OK. This level varies with every rider of course, and also the distance to be covered.
By doing this I am not usually any more tired on, say, the fifth hill of the day that I am on the second hill. Takes a while to find the right level of effort though.
Apart from that just take it easy in a low gear at the beginning of the hill and if you have some energy left later speed up for the later parts. Cycling too hard at the bottom of a hill is very easy to do and usually ends badly!