I’ve been spending two weeks in New York. The weather was very hot (85-100 F), which I like. Coming back to England makes me start rummaging around for leg warmers and gloves. There is a definite autumnal feel compared to the US.

I didn’t do much cycling in New York, apart from a few interval sessions up a small hill and around the Kissena park Velodrome. Hopefully, this was enough to maintain the form of this season.

There are two months of racing season left, which will be mostly hill climbs. This weekend is the British Time Trial Championships with quite an impressive starting line up. BTTC 2010 at Team Grumpy.

Now, I’m back in UK a more normal posting schedule should resume.

It’s the time of the year, when 100 mile time trials are distant memories. It’s no longer about endurance, stamina, but about pure speed, strength and your power to weight ratio.

The hill climb is very much a specialist event, unlikely to appeal to all cyclists – (especially those with more than adequate layers of insulation.)

But, for those who ride hill climbs, it can be an interesting experience. There is a certain art to riding hill climbs and it is important to practise before racing. When you are riding so close to the limit, pacing becomes very important and can make a big difference to the final time.

A comparable event to hill climbs is the 4km pursuit. The 4KM pursuit takes around 4 minutes, similar to many hill climbs. Though the gradient and speed are very different, it is effectively a similar effort and pacing level.

Length of Climb

When preparing for a hill climb, the first thing I want to know is – how much time is it likely to take? For example – if it is a one mile climb, average gradient 10% – it is likely to be around four minutes. If it is 1km at around 15% it would be perhaps 3 minutes. You can get a good idea by looking at previous hill climb results and looking at the times of similar riders. From the time taken you can start thinking about the type of pacing you need for the hill climb.

There are definitely different types of Hill Climbs

Short Explosive Climb

These climbs are less than a mile Perhaps 0.8 to 1.0Km. (around 1000 yards). They also tend to be steep. For example, the Cat and Bec Hill climbs are both around 1Km and average 15-20%, with sections of 25%.

The winner will be just under two minutes. Therefore, it is a short explosive climb, almost like a sprint. It tends to favour short, powerfully built riders. Winning margins can be matters of fractions of a second, so every pedal and effort counts.

To ride this kind of climb

• Start fast, just below the effort of an all out sprint.
• All the time, you are trying to increase the effort, so that for the last minute it is a matter of hanging on. In the last minute, you should be riding at your maximum heart rate (or as near as you can get to it). You are likely to feel a little dizzy in the head, because all the blood is in the legs.

Even on a two minute climb, it is dangerous to blow up after the first minute. You have to save that for last minute of climb, where at the end you will hopefully fall over into the arms of the catchers absolutely exhausted from the all out effort.

Bank Road Hill Climb, Matlock, 2008 National Championships.

Two to Three Minute Hills

The National hill climb championships on Bank Road, Matlock and The Rake, Ramsbottom, are in many ways the classic hill climb. Going through the centre of a town, they are both remorselessly steep and will take the winner around 2.30 or 2.40. At the steepest the Rake is 25%, and Bank Road is around 20%.

With a crowd at the bottom, there is a danger of getting overexcited and sprinting full out from the bottom, but, this can lead to grovelling up last half of climb. But, you can’t afford to hold too much back, you need a certain momentum and keep this as much as possible right to the top.

See also: Pacing steep hill climbs

One Mile – Four Minute climbs

Jim Henderson, former OUCC team mate and multiple Hill climb champion in 2007 National Hill Climb Championship in Devon.

Many hill climbs, such as the 2010 National Hill climb championship on Dover’s Hill, in the Cotswolds are around four minutes. I tend to roughly break these up into one minute sections. Each minute, you try to increase the intensity. The first minute is fast but each minute, you go a little harder and harder. The trick is knowing that fine line of effort you can maintain in the first half. It is a level fast so your legs will be burning, but, enabling you to slightly increase the effort over the last half of the climb.

Long Climbs, Seven Minutes Plus

My favourite hill climbs are those of two miles are longer. They require even more careful pacing to get the best from the climb. Two examples are Cheddar Gorge, Somerset and Jubilee Tower, Lancashire. Both climbs start with a very steep, difficult section, and then flatten out for a long gradual ascent to the summit. Here the trick is to get over this fast section, leaving enough in tank to really fly up the remaining gradual gradient.

The easiest mistake is to blow up the first two minute steep section. Meaning you can only slowly climb up the fast section. It can feel really demoralising to be going slowly on a section which is barely going up hill.

On the Jubilee hill climb 2009, where I set a course record of 7.13, there is a very slight downhill finish. I finished in a 53*12 at 32 mph. You can pick up so much time on this section – if you have enough left to make the most of these gentle gradients. I could easily have gone 10 seconds quicker on the steepest section at the bottom, but, I would definitely have lost over 10 seconds on the gentle upper slopes.

The Alpine Pass

These are climbs of 10Km are more. They tend to be of a more gentle and constant gradient. Here it is about getting into a good rhythm. A rhythm where you will spend most of the time in the saddle, and try to power your way up. It is more like doing a ten mile time trial, as the effort can last for 20-40 minutes. In the UK, we don’t have many climbs like this. But, there are a few like the Cat and Fiddle and Shap Hill climb in the Lake District. These climbs may appeal to the non hill climbing specialist as they are not so violent in their gradient and effort required.

In Hill Climbs There are two things you need to master.

• Knowing the effort level which you can maintain in first half without blowing.
• The ability to ride at your absolute maximum for the second half.

Riding at Your Maximum

When you’re on the last half of a climb, you need to be pushing the body to the limit. Your body will be sending you every signal to slow down (burning leg, pain in chest, difficulty breathing, light headedness). You need to be able to ignore these and keep going.

Practise will help give you an idea of what you can do. But, this all out effort is only likely to come in an actual race.
You also need the mental concentration, and focus and desire to race at that level. You need to be in a very good mental space to be able to ride at this intensity. You have to be clear how hard you are going to be going and determined to maintain it. If there is any doubt or feelings of tiredness, you will hold yourself back and not be able to maintain yourself in that red zone.

Top Tips for Riding Hill Climbs

• Know how long it is likely to take. If I know how long it is likely to take, I don’t really need to even pre-ride the climb, though it is better if you can.
• Ignore the Gradient. Ride to your optimal effort level, don’t ride at a pre-determined speed. The biggest mistake is to kill yourself up a steep bottom section, meaning you are in the red for rest of climb and lose time on last half.
• You want to ignore the gradient and ride to optimal power / effort. This means for flatter sections, you can potentially go much faster.
• The best training is often just riding up hills. Get to know what your body can take.
• Be really determined to push your body into its limits on last half.
• It is helpful to know the climb, riding before hand
• Don’t eat a Big Mac and fries twenty minutes before starting

Fixed vs Gears

Chris Boardman said unless the climb goes downhill, you will be quicker on fixed. But, I prefer using gears. The weight saving is not absolutely critical, it may amount to about 2 seconds for a shortish hill. (see: importance of weight on bike) If you do go fixed, you have to get the gear right. Bear in mind a headwind or tailwind can make a huge difference, if the wind is swirling you could find yourself with wrong choice.

In Saddle vs Out of Saddle

There is much debate about best way to climb – do you try and ride in saddle or get out and use whole body, standing up on pedals.

Generally, I try and ride seated in the saddle. This position is more aerodynamic and more efficient, so as much as possible I try to stay in this position. However when the gradient gets too steep, then you need more power and so I get out of the saddle. For long gradual climbs, I am mostly staying in the saddle, apart from perhaps the odd moment to get out of saddle to give body a different position.

For difficult climbs with tough gradients, you will be almost forced to get out of the saddle.

I haven’t worked out a scientific method of when to be in saddle and when not. It just seems an instinctive thing about climbing.

Tri Bars – Time Trial Bike

There are some hill climbs with a gradual gradient, where you may go quicker by using tribars. On climbs of 5% or less, you might be averaging over 20mph, so the aerodynamics play an increasing role. The weight of some clip on bars  may only be 200-300 grams and so the aerodynamics outweigh weight gain. Make sure, the use of tribars is not restricting the freedom of your breathing.

Clear Mind

A hill climb is the only race, where I may feel some pre-race nerves, everything happens so quickly, you need to maximise every pedal stroke and effort. It also requires a big mental effort to ride at your highest intensity. Keep your mind clear of distracting thoughts – try to feel every pedal stroke and feel you are accelerating up the climb. Have a clear idea of where finish is, and make sure you don’t find any excuse to hold back before the top.

Related

• Hill Climbs
• 100 Greatest Hill Climbs
• Tips for cycling up hills

But, you missed photographing the cyclist.

Nice basket

Harrier Bicycle – A real British classic. At least I think it is a British classic, I couldn’t even find any info on t’intenet it is that old. There is a Harrier motorcycle company. Many bicycle manufacturers later developed into bicycle manufacturers.

The Bridge of Sighs and an Arden Bicycle.

Related

• Cycling Oxford

One thing that stuck in my mind when cycling to the recent 100 mile Time trial was driving there. It was about 5 am, and still dark. I was on a dual carriageway, I was pretty alert and driving at around 60mph. I then saw a fairly dim flashing light and the brief outline of a cyclist. I also was shocked how close the cyclist was. In other words, it was not until quiet late that I made out the cyclist – a rear bike light is much less conspicuous than the two powerful car rear lights. I was able to overtake the bike no problem. But, it felt uncomfortable. I realised how difficult it can be to pick out cyclists. Of course, motorists should always be sticking to the speed limit and having full focus. But, it is an unalterable fact that their will be motorists who don’t always stick to speed limit and sometimes are not paying full attention. In these cases, the cyclist becomes vulnerable.

There is a cyclist in this picture.
Of course, you might say there’s no need to be riding along a dual carriageway in the dark. But, this observation would also apply at different times.

Best Rear Light

In the time trial, most cyclists affixed a rear light to their bike, even though it was day time. This turned out to be a  good move, as it was a fairly murky morning. Overtaking quite a few cyclists, gave me the option to see the visibility of different rear lights.

The thing that stood out is how some rear lights are practically worthless. They are so small and feeble that you have to be really close before you can see them. Sometimes, hi-viz clothing can be seen before the light. Also, hi viz in unexpected places – like some one was wearing some hi-glow socks which were pretty effective for visibility.

Another thing that often happens when people commute is that there rear light becomes covered by a long coat or pannier. Also, it is surprising how many people will fix a rear light to some obscure part of their body. Like a helmet pointing to the sky, as if they were signalling to UFOs in the sky. I don’t think they would be picked up by car drivers anyway.

Cateye TL-LD600

cateye

This Cateye TL – LD600 rear light, is quite powerful for an LED rear light, it’s popularity is well justified as it can be seen at a good distance. It also fits nicely behind the seat post either vertically or horizontally, though if you have an awkward carbon seat post, the attachment may not be long enough.

With LED lights, the battery endurance is good, and it gives a light equivalent to an ordinary non-LED light.

Cateye TL-LD610

The Cateye TL-LD610  replaces the 600 series. It is 60% brighter with double the battery time. In short, a substantial improvement on a pretty good rear light.

• Cateye TL-LD610 It is £25 from Evans Cycles
• Rear Lights at Wiggle
• Best Cycle Lights

Night Photos of cyclists

A free ride on back

20 is Plenty past Cycle King

Lots of road markings around here

Cycle King next to Global Pound Plus – very appropriate.

Debenhams style

Sometimes, you just cycle along, enjoy the ride, and you even get home without some awkward incident with an impatient van driver.

I wonder whether those that read the blog may get the impression that it’s perpetual war on the roads here in England. Actually, it’s not too bad. Mostly it’s fine and you can enjoy cycle rides. But, its just the unsavoury incidents that stick in your mind and make it to the blog. There’s limited scope for writing hundreds of posts saying – Another good ride, not much happened today, many cars overtook a bit too fast but mostly leaving a reasonable gap.

photo Top Middlesmoor, Nidderdale.

We share the road with a variety of other users. In Oxford we have everything from Refuse collection lorries, innumerable double decker buses, to packs of tourists who follow a small umbrella of the tour guide oblivious to any passing traffic.

If you wanted you could very easily get frustrated with tourists who pack into popular tourist squares. But, if you live in a tourist town, it’s far better to have different expectations. It’s only a small area and it’s not the end of the world to have to wait a few seconds. You can always get really close to them and then ring your bell really loud so they jump out of their ‘I love NY T Shirts’ and nearly drop their Canon compact cameras. Not that I do that, of course.

Tourists in Road

It’s a real pain when you’re in a rush to get everywhere as quickly as possible, because you invariably look upon anyone in your way as an unwarranted obstacle. If you plan for unexpected moments of waiting and log jam, you can remain unperturbed by the inevitable.

Far more important is sharing the road with vehicles which have the capacity to deal much more injury than a passing tourist stepping into your path.

The secret of sharing the roads is empathy for other road users. If you only think of your right of way, it leads to an arrogant approach and unnecessary inconvenience to other users. It’s a two way street (headed by Gail Porter) is a good example, of how cyclists and lorry users can both consider the other users. I like the idea of cyclists sitting in lorries, and lorry drivers sitting on bikes.

When in a car, I get annoyed if you see people on a bike at night without any lights. I’m annoyed because it is really hard work picking them out and you could easily run into them. You get annoyed if someone on a bike crosses red lights in the direct flow of passing cars. This pales in comparison to the frustration you feel when your on a bike and a car gives you no space or pulls in front of you. The difference is that you know how vulnerable you are on a bike. In a car, you aren’t physically threatened by bad cycling, but, on a bike you are. This is probably why being a cyclists makes you more motivated to encourage better road standards.

Sheep in Road

I would love to see some of our Tabloid car proponents al Petronella Wyatt, Jeremy Clarkson et al. get on their bike and cycle across London. That might give a different perspective and lessen their invective.

Who is the Best At Sharing Roads?

I have seen so many different types of road use, I can’t say one road user is good and another bad. It all depends who is behind the wheel / handlebars and what kind of mood they are in.

But, I do really appreciate it, when people are self-giving in using the road.

Related

• White Van Driver
• Cycling in Holland

A narrow residential road in Oxford with traffic calming measures, gets narrower further up.

Wide enough for three cars (two parked) in theory slows cars down. Can be a tight squeeze at times.

A much nicer place to cycle – along the Thames cycle path.

An overhead shot

Bike by South Parks and St Clements

Sunday was a 100 Mile Time trial organised by West D.C, I think a lot were from Severn R.C. It’s a good course, and well marshalled. There was also an excellent free drinks service. So you could shout your number and pick up your bottle 100 metres down the road. Thanks very much to those who marshalled and gave drinks.

My last hundred was 3.52 in the National 100 mile TT. There I blew up in last 25 miles with dehydration. This hundred I went to the other extreme, worried about dehydration, I drank a lot before and during. But, it turned out colder than forecast and I hardly sweated. To cut a long story short I had to make a few dashes into a well disguised hedge (first time in cycle race). I lost 4 minutes off the bike, but, it also disruptes your rythmn, tyring to work out which is best hedge to find. I was eyeing up a spot on the section off the dual carriageway – on the return leg I knew exactly where I would go. Because I was fixed on a certain spot. I ended up flying past another ride, and then quite soon diving into the hedge, a few minutes later I  had to overtake them again. (They probably thought it a little strange.) One other thing, I also took two energy gels with caffeine in before a race which I don’t usually do (because it was so early – 6am start). But, caffeine can also act as a diuretic.

It was a tough day, and I was a bit slower than I would have liked, but, at least I finished in 4.01.00. There were quite a few DNF, so I ended up in fifth place.

It reminded me of the National 100 mile TT with a long drag into the headwind, it wasn’t as bad as in the National, but, it still made it tough.

I was disappointed with my time, as I had in mind doing something around twelve minutes quicker. But, it was not to be. One thing I’ve learnt this year, you have to treat 100s with respect, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong. The event was won by Jeff Jones in 3.49.

Nice fixed bike.

BTW: Prize for first person to Spot the cyclist in this picture photo

Cycling into town

Many stony eyed spectators look on.

The Pleasures and sorrows of Cycling.

Cycling along.

• Cycling Oxford