I've got a bunch of small hills on the paved roads that follow along rivers by where I ride. They might be a few hundred meters (more or less), so it takes some effort to keep the same pace (or close). If I'm trying to build endurance, should I try to shift more or try to stay in the same gear a little longer? Is there a rule of thumb for how much you should shift in this case? I'm a novice rider with a decent road bike.
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2Climb the hills more often. Shift when you feel the need.– Daniel R HicksCommented Sep 4, 2019 at 0:04
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1Are you attacking the hills standing up or increasing cadence while sitting down? generally i find if i attack standing up you ideally want to change gear before you start the attack.– Dan KCommented Sep 4, 2019 at 8:32
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What kind of gradient are we talking, here?– David RicherbyCommented Sep 4, 2019 at 9:41
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sitting down mostly, haven't figured out how to keep my heart rate steady while up on the pedals yet, working on that. Most of the hills I'm on aren't super steep, the roads around here are limited to 6% grade.– batflapsCommented Sep 5, 2019 at 0:12
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Another helpful technique is to smash the downhills where safe, and try to maintain that momentum on the flat and up the first bit of the next climb.– Criggie ♦Commented Sep 5, 2019 at 2:32
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3 Answers
To build endurance, ride farther. Do repeats on hills. Shift to maintain a more or less steady cadence as you climb.
I think in general there are two types of training rides: Long and (relatively) easy rides to build endurance and hard but short interval training to improve VO₂Max and muscle strength.
For the first type you want to keep the same intensity through the whole ride. I recently got a power meter and discovered that I tend to ride hills with much more power than flats. I don’t know if it’s psychological or a side-effect of riding on the tops of the road bike handle bar, but 200W uphill feel like 150W on the flats. So my suggestion would be to intentionally ride easy uphill but keep pressure on the pedals downhill and on the flats.
Interval training means short (~2 minute) but hard bursts of speed with breaks in-between. The goal is to spend as much time (per training session) at your VO₂Max as possible. VO₂Max is the maximum oxygen processing rate. Or in other words: When you are breathing as hard as possible you are at your VO₂Max. It’s easier to reach this level of intensity when going uphill. Since it takes some seconds to start breathing hard, an interval should be at least a minute in length. After more than two minutes or so your muscles will be exhausted and you won’t be able to keep up the intensity. Spend the breaks with easy pedaling (e.g. riding back down). They should be long enough (1 to 2 minutes) for you to fully recover.
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How much recovery time is needed after Interval training, should I wait a day or two before riding again to recover? What is optimal here? I keep trying to get up a 12 mile 6% grade every weekend, but feel like I'm not gaining much in terms of capacity, like I'm not really getting stronger during my normal little hills to make the bigger one seem more doable– batflapsCommented Sep 5, 2019 at 0:17
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@batflaps A 12 mile 6% climb is basically a measure of threshold power. You can search online for any training plan designed with this in mind. If you want to learn more about the style of training Michael describes you can search for 'polarised' training.– Andy PCommented Sep 6, 2019 at 8:19
If you want to increase your endurance, you need to build up your cardiovascular capacity.
So, ride the hill up as fast as you possibly can, as often as you can.
Shift however you feel is comfortable, but you want maximum power out of your legs. When you're done, you should be as completely spent as you can get.
Do that over and over again and eventually it'll be easy going at a normal tempo.
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1For cardio you would want to increase your cadence, not necessarily the speed, higher cadence taxes the cardio system whereas flat out speed is going to attack your muscles quicker.– Dan KCommented Sep 4, 2019 at 8:28