How to deal with steep climbs?

Hi there


After a circuit of nine kilometres I came to climb a quite steep hill.


I approached the hill at a speed of 17km/h, had to change gear to second “Sprocket” the middle one


Soon after this I had to change the rear sprockets to the biggest one to have an easy climb.


By the time I reached the top I was in agony.


I am sure that there must be a skill to tackle these climbs. But the question is, how?


Please need your advice. Many thanks.


TAHow to deal with steep climbs?
G-man has a good answer, As you approach a climb downshift the crank (ring) gears first before the load gets heavy or you stand a good chance of ';chain-suck'; where the chain will not drop to the next lower chain ring. As the climb goes on downshift the rear gears to keep your cadence up, once your cadence drops a lot and you start grinding at a low rpm the climb just gets harder, so the best rule is shift and shift as often as needed to maintain a good cadence. As G-man posted better to finish slow than walk. If this is a trail that you ride often you will eventually find a way to carry as much momentum to the base of the climb and what gears you need to be in, I've seen a lot of riders over the years come to a steep climb and just a few yards before slow down and down shift way to early and into too low a gear, all that does is make the climb last longer.


EDIT: Just fuel for thought, if you want to see how well you are doing get a heart rate monitor, when climbing you can use this to monitor your effort and how hard you can push the pace.How to deal with steep climbs?
You did the right move just need more riding to get used to harder climbs that is my goal this year so regular riding would be a lot easier .
A suggestion... the object is to climb the grade isn't it? If a rider goes too hard at the bottom of a long climb he/she may end up giving out before the top. An old timer cyclist gave me this advice some time ago... do your downshifting at the bottom of the climb. Get into a nice easy pace that you'll be able to maintain for the entire climb and stay at that pace. You won't get to the top first but you will get to the top without becoming completely spent or... worse yet, having to get off and walk the last few yards.





If you follow this advice, you may not be the first one to get to the top but there is a lot of satisfaction in knowing that will get there without all that agony you mentioned. I've successfully used his advice over the past 10 years of cycling and am proud to say that I've never not made it on a climb. While not usually the first one to the top, I've never had to walk it up or just given up because of overdoing it at the bottom. The secret is pacing yourself.





As far as the training angle goes, save those all out efforts for use on the smaller climbs that you know you can handle and your performance will continue to improve over time but gear it down a bit on those really steep grades.
G-Man and that old timer has it exactly right, follow there advice and you should have any problems. Good answer G-man.
Carry as much speed into the hill as you can. When you can't keep up the cadence any more, then shift down A LOT into a gear where you can keep the cadence that you entered with. Stay seated. Spin your way up the hill. You will get to the top faster in the long run, and still have energy left. Think of it this way: Would you rather lift a 2 pound weight 200 times or a 200 pound weight twice?





Don't try to emulate the pros you see on TV dancing on the pedals up incredible climbs. The average person can't do even half of what those guys do. That's why they are professionals. Sometimes I think they are a different species, nothing but legs, lungs, and heart.





HTH
i'm assuming since you are measuring distances, you are talking about road. i'm a mountain biker, but same principles apply. take g-man's advice, it's about the cadence. in mountain biking especially, always shift before the climb, this will help you keep a steady pace while you spin on the saddle and it will also protect your chain from jerky movements. if it's a short climb, take it with speed and muscle your way through. as far as the ';agony,'; it's always going to hurt, it's about being prepared for the pain that makes the difference....practice, practice, practice.
a. shift before the hill - it;s hard on your bike to shift under heavy strain - plus it may not shift at all if you pedal too hard - or the chain may come off and you go down





b. if there is no traffic and you can;t shift - zigzag - gives you less of a grade





c. you don;t say if ';second “Sprocket” the middle one'; is the smallest front or not - use the smallest front and biggest rear








d. other than that, the only skill is just do it





wle
There is no universal answer. Every hill is a bit different. You don't mention the length of the hill and that (plus the steepness) determine how you should handle it. Your bike must also be considered. And finally, it matters whether you want to get up as quickly as possible or simply make it to the top. I'll assume the aim is getting up, not racing.





That said, if a hill is fairly short and steep you can potentially ';power'; up it if you have enough momentum when starting the climb. Basically, you would accelerate as you approach the hill, but shift down as you go up, so as to maintain a reasonable cadence.





But it sounds like you are a) riding a three-speed bike , and b) it is a longish hill.





The type of bike doesn't change the basic strategy (but it does limit your options somewhat). If you know you are going to have to use your lowest gear well before the top, there is no point in attacking the hill, but neither do you want to waste momentum either. So pedal ';normally'; as you reach the hill, and as momentum bleeds off shift to your next lower gear and the next as necessary, but being sure to switch before the going gets really tough. The idea is that you don't want to have to shift too late ... i.e. ';under load'; ... since this can lead to problems (even falling off the bike), but you don't want to shift too soon since this wastes momentum. If in doubt shift early. The key is to try to maintain pedal cadence ... that's your guide and you use gears to achieve it.





If you have a 3-speed bike you will quickly be in your lowest gear. So now you must try to keep up the cadence and pedal sitting down (standing takes more energy). To minimize the chance of knee damage you want to keep the cadence above 50 rpm. If you can't keep pedal speed up sitting you have two choices, stand and ';grind it out'; or get off an walk. If you stand you can use your whole body weight to push down on the pedals, but cadence will drop off and speed will drop. You must be prepared to dismount should your speed get too low.





If you have a multi speed bike the technique is a bit different. Basically, you downshift fairly early to a gear that you think will allow you to maintain a reasonable cadence (60-70 rpm minimum). This may be a much lower gear than is available to you on a 3-speed. If the objective is just to get up the hill, many people use their lowest gear and they just take it easy ';spinning'; up the hill. On the other hand if the aim is to get up and over as quickly as possible, riders will only shift into lower gears as necessary in the early part of the hill and won't go into a lower gear than necessary at any point. Again, the aim is to maintain cadence (but not risk overstressing the geartrain by waiting too long to shift).





As you do more riding hills will get a bit easier ... and you can get stronger by working hard on smaller hills and gradual slopes ... but long steep hills are an issue for all but the ';born'; hill-climbers (you know ... the 140 lb, 5' 8'; fly on the multi-speed road bike. For mere mortals like me at 6'2'; and 200 lbs (and I suspect you), particularly if on a heavier/under-geared bike hills will always be hard work. That said, with proper technique and some determination you can make it up most hills without suffering too badly.





Hope that helps.
You want to climb those hills with a high cadence and a lite pedal pressure. If I know that I am going to have to down shift more I go to the smallest chain ring early. If I am on the center ring on the front and #2 on the rear I will do a double shift and go to #1 on the front and #3 on the rear. That drops you one gear and gives you two more. It's easier to down shift on the rear and you won't lose as much momentum. You want a gear that is easy to pedal and you can accelerate in if you need to. Pedaling too slow and hashing on the pedals will use your fast twitch muscles that use glycogen as a fuel and produce lactic acid which is the burning sensation.





Actually you want to do as much of the ride at a high cadence using your slow twitch muscles as you can. Save your fast twitch muscles for the top of the hill if needed. The more you ride the stronger you will get and the smaller that hill will get.





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Well, what I like to do is to get speed before the hill so my momentum can carry me partway up easily. Make sure you breathe, sounds stupid but it helps. Before it gets too hard pedaling, shift to a higher gear. I don't know if your bike is a double or triple chainring, but many people like to use the granny gear on super steep hills- that's the smallest gear on the triple ring. I totally know how you feel though. When I'm going up hills, I always feel like I'm going to cramp, so make sure you stretch, eat bananas, and granola bars, and drink plenty of water.