Tips on getting faster - Cycling

James07

James07

James07

Soldato
Joined
6 Dec 2006
Posts
5,914
Location
West Yorkshire
I keep pushing and pushing on my routes but when it comes to hills I seem to fail massively. I push hard, to the point where I start to feel sick but I don't seem to see a real improvement, I mean I'm getting faster but very slowly, and I'm trying to up my miles week by week (bar last when when I was recovering from a cycling accident) to improve my endurance but its the hills where I'm failing. The worst thing is I like the hills, I like the push and the strength it's giving me. My shoulder is very very painful after my ride home from work but I assume thats the 2 huge hills at the end of my ride but that wont be helping at the moment.

Anyone have any good tips on getting up those hills faster?

http://www.strava.com/activities/185893542
http://www.strava.com/athletes/5669888

Before anyone says anything, I'm getting a road bike within the next 2 weeks haha :) although ill be gutted if I'm still no faster up the hills!

Thanks,

James.
 
Its a painful type ache, I sprained it in a 30mph crash nearly 2 weeks ago, I might have jumped back on the bike a bit too fast but I need to as I have a 90km charity ride for cruk on Sunday so I need to rack up the miles a bit.

After Sunday ill be taking it very easy for a couple of weeks and if the pain persists then Il probably see a doc, hopefully it'll be fine, popping pills for fun, first time I've touched any legal drugs in years!
 
Brilliant, thank you!

I weren't sure if I were cycling right up the hills. Today up,halifax road impact from the bottom to the top but up past the Woodward I got to the end of the upward slope where the hill really starts to climb, changed down a couple of gears, stood on the bike and really give it some.

I might try sitting down the whole way up in the morning and see how I get on.

Thanks for all the replies!
 
Fantastic, on my way to work today I kept my speed of pedaling up, kept changing to a higher gear if I felt I needed to and got some better times.

Gonna give it a good blast on my way home.

I want clip in pedals but I'm going to upgrade to them at a later date I think.
 
My shoulders do ache a little after certain routes but most the time they're fine, yesterday I felt a tweak in my oft leg up by my bum but on the inside, I decided to give it a rest today as I have a 55mile charity ride on Sunday and so far I've done nothing to that extent yet.

I feel my shoulders are quite strong, I got slot of strength training in when I played rugby a couple of years back. My legs on the other hand are quite poor strength wise, I don't want to sign back up to the gym because I just can't make it there consistently due to working nights, what I can do though, is be versatile on my style and distance of cycling, Im getting a road bike too so hopefully that'll make a difference.

The road bike will be better for core training, the mtb won't be doing anything firmly core, but the geometry of the road bike will, not massively but I will notice different muscles aching. What kind of home based training would you recommend for core training?

I'm upping my miles week by week, I feel fitter and stronger enough to do it, this week I've felt a couple of tweaks in my muscle and my knee so like I've said above, I've rested yesterday and won't be on the bike now until my charity ride Sunday.
 
mrthingyx said:
Goblet squats (use a bag of books or water);
Bulgarian split squats ( use a settee or bed);
Nordic curls (tuck feet under settee);
Calf raises;
Chinups (loft hatch)
Inverted row (under dining table)
Pushups (various angles);
Weighted step-ups (dining chair)...

Another thing to include in your cycling training is max power/cadence intervals. ;)

The joint tweaks you are getting are probably due to rubbish mobility. Sorting it out might even address elements of your power problem, too.
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Brilliant, I'll install some routines in the coming week! Thank you very much.

touch said:
Yep, rest is the best thing to do now. Might be good to have a quick spin on saturday. 20-30 mins, very easy. easy gears and fast pedalling.
The most important thing on Sunday will be eating + drinking enough.
I would usually have a high-carb meal on saturday night, pasta or rice.
Then porridge for breakfast on sunday.

During the ride, I will have a drink at least every 20 mins and eat something (energy bar, banana, fig rolls, small sandwich) at least every hour. If you wait until you're hungry before you eat - it's too late.
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This is the best advice for the diet on the day I've had, thank you very much! I'll pack my pockets with grub :D what's the best things to buy? I can go out sat eve and collect some energy bars :)
 
touch said:
I usually take a few energy bars then some normal cereal bars and a few fig rolls too. It's all very sweet, which isnt a problem for me but some people prefer to take something savoury as well.
I always have a couple of energy gels as well to use if I start running out of energy and need a quick boost. If you've not tried them before, i'd recommend taking jellybabies instead, not everybody likes energy gels and in the middle of your big ride is not an ideal place to find out they make you a bit sick.

I also take 2 bottles on my bike, 1 with plain water and 1 with isotonic drink powder disolved in it.

You can get energy bars + iso powder in most big supermarkets now.

edit: oh, also, there might be food stops on your charity ride? Dont rely on them! It's not uncommon for them to run out of food or just be poorly stocked anyway. Plan for taking enough food for yourself for the entire ride and if you get stuff from the food stop thats a bonus.
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This is fantastic advice for a beginner like me! PureGym are providing nutrition apparently, I'll enquire now About food stops :)
 
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