Rideventures

Start of hill training

OK base training done - all those long flat rides have sorted out the distance challenge, now I need to turn to the hill challenge.  In previous years I've got over the first couple a steep hills on a sportive but then found I've got no further leg strength for the later hills.

I simply don't have enough leg strength - I get dropped on the hills anyway, and then expend too much of my leg strength just getting over the hill and have nothing left for the remaining ones.

So far this year I've been doing lots of weight training - which seems to have helped.  And now I'm turning to hill training on the bike.

Last year I did the wrong kind of hill training - blasting up this same steep, local hill as fast as I could.  But really I needed to do it much more like weight training - slowly and with maximum use of leg strength rather than anaerobic capacity.

OK so on Thursday I went up this hill 3 times - 11% gradient (with a bit at 15%) in a low gear really relying on leg strength.  Went well and certainly felt I'd worked the legs well, and now 2 days later muscles still stiff - and just like how my legs feel after a sportive - so an indication that this training is hitting the same spot.