Apr 23rd, 2008 / Technique / 24 Comments
Cycling Up Hills Made Easy
Imagine cycling over the top of a hill with your breath intact and a smile on your face. In talking with new cyclists the complaint I hear most often is how hard it is to ride up hills. Now nearly everyone loves the downhills but when the road goes up that look of dread appears.
It is not uncommon to arrive at the top of a hill to see a cyclist crumpled over by the road-side, spluttering everywhere and looking like their heart may at any moment explode from their chest.
But it doesn’t have to be that way - hills do not have to be that difficult.
The Hare and the Tortoise
Unless you live in the proverbial Flatland, hills are just a part of cycling life. And the problem that most people find is that they start out too fast (like the Hare) trying to attack the hill to get over it as quickly as possible without losing any speed.
Now for experienced cyclists, who know what they are capable of, this is often very achievable. They can apply a sustained burst of power and they have a good level of fitness so recover very quickly once they are over the top. But even this approach doesn’t work for them on longer hills.
The approach to use for going up hills the easy way is that of the Tortoise - slow and steady. Remember, the hill is not going anywhere.
The Technique
So how do I actually do it? The objective is to keep riding with the same amount of effort up the hill, as you were using on the flat. You need to ensure that the level of effort is comfortably sustainable for the full length of the hill.
- Change your bike into an easier gear before getting to the start of the hill. Changing gears is more difficult when you have started going up the hill. When you first try this I suggest selecting a gear that is 1 or 2 gears easier than what you think you will need.
- Keep the pedals moving at the same speed as they were when you were on the flat. Pushing a hard gear up a hill wears you out much quicker. It is far easier to spin your legs relatively quickly while going up-hill rather than grinding against a harder gear. If you find that you are putting in too much effort then select an easier gear.
- Keep a steady and controlled pace and make sure you are breathing deeply. If it begins to feel like you are putting in too much effort then change into an easier gear. Also, remember this for next time so you can select the right gear at the bottom of the hill.
Overtime you will learn to enjoy riding up hills. Just think about the views at the top and the exhilaration of the descent down the other side.
For more on descending see Cycling Down Hills Made Easy
24 Responses to “Cycling Up Hills Made Easy”
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April 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Very nice tip. I think i might just take the plunge and go for that cycle trip! I’ll let you know how i got on, and whether I managed to enjoy the climbs!
April 24th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Glad I can help. Enjoy your cycling.
May 11th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I’ll be looking to test your advice, on my commute in the morning, cheers
May 11th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Thanks for dropping by welshcyclist. It would be great to hear how you get on.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:21 am
Excellent advice - they put those gears on the bike for a reason.
It amazes me to see cyclists up off the seat. Standing on the pedals is about the worst thing you can do if you’re trying for any real distance.
I know this works because I use the technique frequently. Except I usually do it with 300 pounds of water-softener salt in a trailer behind me. I’m in decent shape, but I’m more worn out racing up the hills with no load than I am hauling that 300 pounds up the same hill, slow and steady.
Going uphill, speed is irrelevant. Focus on the pressure you’re putting on the pedal, and downshift to keep it constant. If you’re doing it right, you might feel warm, even hot - you’re not really all that much warmer than on level ground. The lack of wind makes you feel a lot warmer than you normally feel.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:28 am
“Unless you live in the proverbial Flatland…”
Also called the Netherlands.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:06 am
dave: thanks for the tips. I certainly don’t envy you dragging a 300 pound trailer :-) The distance thing is interesting as I learned to ride up hills based on experience riding up mountains - where you have no choice but to take it slow and steady and stay seated.
noDutch: thanks for dropping by, Netherlands is certainly flat. Last time I went there I noticed that 90% of the bicycles are single speed.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:29 am
This is the only way to do a hill on a recumbent…which is what I ride. It’s great at the top. g
May 16th, 2008 at 7:29 am
and down the other side
May 16th, 2008 at 8:40 am
We’ve got some steep windy paths to navigate on our most common journey. I just stick at it and my partner stands up and pedals. I think he’s wasting all that energy standing up like that!
Mind you, there’s been the odd time I’ve run out of momentum and had to get off and push.
I’ve visited Amsterdam and was amazed at all the bikes! That multi-storey bike park at the station is just fantastic! And so flat! I would love to visit that hill-less city again!
May 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
All well and good but what about when you run out of gears???!!
May 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
The Netherlands may not have hills, but the wind provides a similar challenge…
May 16th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Sensible advice for you multigeared cyclists but what advice for guys like me who ride with a fixed wheel??
May 16th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Thanks for all the comments.
@greg: I have never ridden a recumbent, but great that the technique is the same.
@diane: Amsterdam is great. I have a post ready to go in the next few days that includes a video of cycling in Amsterdam including the multi-story car park you mention.
@Wil: the wind is quite similar in terms of the impact. I found a calculator that told me that cycling at 15pmh into a 10mph headwind is the same as cycling 15mph up a 3.5% slope. You can read more about it here
http://www.cyclepig.com/archive/blowing-in-the-wind/
@JohhnyNegativity:
@Wil:
The short answer for both of you is to buy a bike with some more gears:-)
But I guess that will not suffice.
I normally tour through mountains on a mountain bike and find that in my easiest gear (22×32) I can usually ride at 4mph up at 10% slope. Anything steeper than this is quite difficult for me on a loaded tourer over any sustained distance. But actually, extra gears won’t really help as it becomes almost impossible to steer the bike up a steep hill at this v.slow speed. If in this situation, I generally split the climb into 500yard sections and give myself a few minutes break in-between.
When I am on my road bike (which only has a double) I do encounter some steep hills where I would prefer to be changing into easier gears if they were available. My general approach here is to slow the cadence and do a very controlled pedal stroke trying to apply power all the way round (required clipless pedals). Although I do get quite a leg burn at least I pretty much keep my breath and ride over the top with something close to a smile on my face.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Nice.
As someone that climbs a lot (slowly) I would add:
1) Ensure you have the right gearing on the bike if doing huge hills. Forget the macho stuff, it is miserable to do huge long climbs if you can’t turn the pedals.
2) Shift your bum a little back on the saddle
3) As you say, cadence is king, keep a high cadence!
My wife has the largest granny gear ever made ….. BUT …. it has allowed her to climb Ventoux, Alpe d’Huez, Galibier, etc. Equipment matters
May 16th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I learned that one a long time ago - the hard way!! I used to do exactly as you described - pedaled furiously at the bottom, only to realize I had worn myself out and couldn’t make it up. Now, with the wisdom that can only come from years of experience, I learned to shift down and adjust my mindset - it works.
We are now getting ready to take off to ride our bikes from Alaska to Argentina - with our 10-year-old twins. I’m sure my son (who will be riding a single this time) will go through that burst of power stuff. I’ll be sure to show him your post tonight so he knows it’s not just me and Daddy telling him to slow down and make slow, steady progress up the hills!!
You can read about our journey at http://www.familyonbikes.org
May 16th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
With the high price of gas these days, we’ll all be doing a lot more cycling. Thanks for the article.
May 17th, 2008 at 9:33 am
It took me a while to learn this lesson. I was charging at hills like I did as a kid. But if the hill is long you can’t carry that much speed anyway. So when you run out of momentum you are also out of reath.
The slow and steady technique works and as you get near the top if you feel like you have enregy to spare you can start to accelerate.
May 18th, 2008 at 2:04 am
I used to try to take on hills at full speed. Now I realise there is no point! Unless I’m in a hurry, just put the bike in a lower gear. Think of it like a car. You wouldnt go up a hill on 5th gear. Same thing with a bike.
May 25th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Thanks for this advice and for a great blog.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:55 am
i used to have a 1 speed bmx bike, and boy was it impossible to go uphill. Maybe I should get a multi-speed mountain bike.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Good point! :) Very useful, saves up power for the trip down on the other side too… Actually I have this problem reversed, that is I find uphills less stressful than downhills - why? Because downhill I _have_to pedal at full spped to maximize the effect of gravity and I won’t have to pedal as much on that flat/up whatever comes after … :P
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 am
Hmm. I’m no expert, but when I am in my slowest gears I find the hill is actually more difficult. I would rather stand up and chunk up the hill a bit than go at walking pace for five minutes.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
@Hakkon: Is great that you find the uphills easy. I also like the downhills…mainly because of the speed.
@daretoeat: On a small hill, many people find it easy to stand up and pedal. However this approach is very difficult to sustain for longer hills as it requires more energy.