1

I can ride on flat at high gears all day without a problem I usually go way faster that most of riders. But once it comes to hills I die... My heart beat rate jump up my stamina go away and I get tired in seconds. Even older folks that barely have any cadence on flat can beat me on hills. I need to get down from my bike , take a break and keep on foot. Because once on bike again my heart rate will go crazy again and I will get tired in seconds.

I am doing something wrong ? I always go to the lower plate and lower cogs on climbs but if it is too steep even the lowest one kills me.

I drive a lower end hybrid bike. It have I belive 14-28 (7 rings) rear cassette and 28/38/48 front gears. How much it matters compared to how fit you are ? I mean 1:1 relation it is should be more that enough to climb.

kifli
  • 942
  • 1
  • 12
  • 27
  • @andy256 I have read it and it is slightly unrelated. I can do short climbs, no problem. But as I said my heart rate will get out the cachart but I can do it. Longer and steeper climbs will absolutely kill me. That is another point I am not sure if it healthy to go for long having heart rate over you theoretical limits. Also I do great of flat but terrible on climb what can be the issue ? – kifli May 20 '16 at 08:27
  • If you don't mind, are you a heavy guy? I used to ride with a friend who is a big muscular guy and he could blast along all day on the flats, but in the mountains he would die within a few minutes (I was probably around 80 kgs, he was around 110 - approx same height). Weight really matters when going up. If you look at the pro riders, the successful climbers are mostly flyweight guys. – Kenned May 20 '16 at 09:44
  • @Kenned no, I am quite thin. I weight 70 kg and 1.76 cm tall. – kifli May 20 '16 at 09:54
  • Are you or have you ever been a smoker? Had asthma ? Hows your heart - any family medical history there? Personally I get wheezy on hard power climbs after a minute. My heart rate rockets up to 160-180 bpm, and that's all there is. If I approach the same climb more relaxed and pace myself, then its slower overall but much calmer. – Criggie May 20 '16 at 09:54
  • @Criggie none of this. My heart go up to 200. It should not even be possible also it makes me concern about how healthy is it. – kifli May 20 '16 at 09:57
  • Btw, 70kg and 176cm is not thin for a cyclist :-) – andy256 May 20 '16 at 11:55
  • 2
    I am about your weight and slightly taller. Have had a similar problem long ago, now climbing a lot without issues. The solution is to climb, but climb slowly. Switch to the lowest gear you have and go up steadily, without pushing too hard. If you see guys dropping you at the beginning of the climb, do not try to catch up - you will drop them later, when they are out of power. The key is to avoid wasting energy. The more you climb, the stronger you get. If the heart rate goes into limits even then, see a doctor. – Rilakkuma May 21 '16 at 14:06
  • @andy256 I weight 75 now :O. By brother who did a degree in sports advised me to do max effort test (I am not sure how it is called in english) basically it is to test your limits. But it is costly :( I am quite casual rider I just not sure it is worth for me. – kifli May 23 '16 at 06:29
  • 1
    @kifli Perhaps it's a Vo2 max test, which tests your maximum rate of oxygen consumption. If you don't feel discomfort, don't worry about your maximum heart rate. It varies widely between people and doesn't actually mean much. If you investigate you can find how to estimate your Vo2 max cheaply. – andy256 May 23 '16 at 11:45

1 Answers1

4

Too much info for a comment, I've checked the suggested duplicate and this is slightly different. This question is about effort and approach, not climbing technique.

Answer You're going at the hill too hard. Learn to PACE your efforts.

Medical rule of thumb, your maximum heart rate should be 220 minus your age. I'm 40 so my heart rate should not exceed 180. However my HRM in strava shows peaks in the high 170s. So 200 BPM might be a maximum heart rate for a fit 20 year old.

If you're doing decent flat speeds, then don't expect to travel uphill at those same speeds. I think you're trying to keep the same speed and blowing yourself up.

Instead, find a quiet grade of about 8%, and start by riding up like normal. Note how high you get before you have to stop. Then turn around and go down, resting and recovering.

Second time - go up the hill in your bottom gear (that's the small front and the biggest rear cog) Focus on keeping your pedalling cadence at "normal" and avoid pedalling too fast. Also avoid bouncing in the saddle, but stay seated. You will ride slower, but see how high you get before you have to stop. I bet it takes much longer, but you will well exceed the turnpoint of the first attempt. And you'll be less shattered passing that point too.

Climbing is all about PACING your effort.

Criggie
  • 124,066
  • 14
  • 180
  • 423
  • 1
    What's the difference between effort and approach and technique? – andy256 May 20 '16 at 11:47
  • 1
    220 minus age for determining max heart rate gives a rough ballpark figure at best. – Ealhmund May 20 '16 at 11:47
  • 1
    As for peak HR, I'm almost 60 and have no trouble cracking 180, with the odd peak of 190. 220 - age is well known to only apply to people who have not maintained fitness. And even then it's very approximate. – andy256 May 20 '16 at 11:50
  • 2
    @andy256 Effort is the work you're putting in. Approach is how you intend on doing it (subconscious plan, if you will). Technique is what you do to apply that effort (execution of plan).
    So in this one, the original effort was Bull-at-a-Gate and the new effort should be "sustained and steady." The approach is to slow down, and the technique is to pedal same speed in lower gear to produce less forward speed but increase total climb at the expense of speed. Also, your fitness is likely well above OP (quite a lot above mine too!)     – Criggie May 21 '16 at 02:12
  • 1
    Fitness above OP - probably both strength and aerobic, and IMO these are the main things to work on. Everything else will follow. Fitness vs any other of the regular posters here - we can't really know. I get the impression you ride MTB, whereas I ride road (I think I'll stop taking my road bike on dirt and gravel trails). Performance road vs mtb is very different, from what I see. – andy256 May 21 '16 at 03:54
  • 1
    what to do if I am already at lowest gear possible but still getting tired ? – kifli May 23 '16 at 08:31
  • 1
    @kifli firstly, pedal slower RPMs and breathe more. Perhaps your bike is set up as a flatland bike. I can (barely) ride up a 26% grade in bottom gear, which is a 26 front grannie and a 25 tooth rear big cog. If I changed the rear cassette to a 28 or 32 max it would make climbing slower and easier at the cost of bigger jumps between gears. – Criggie May 23 '16 at 22:37
  • @Criggie well I have 28 28 on lowest gears. I dont know if I can add a bigger bottom gear and definitely don't have tools to do it. Or even if it possible as it is quite basic bike. I should have spend more on my bike. – kifli May 24 '16 at 06:57
  • This is a bit chatty for comments, so this is my last. Your first serious bike is merely a toe in the water. In a couple years when your fitness improves to the point the bike is the limiting factor, then you buy another one. If climbing is still hard on this bike in a year or two, make sure the new one is geared the same or lower. Shimano 105 groupset has a triple crank and 10 speed cassette at the moment, but nothing higher is a triple. You might end up with compact double and a 32 tooth big rear. Give it time, and join The Velodrome chatroom for less structured convo like this. – Criggie May 24 '16 at 10:49
  • http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/214/the-velodrome <-- SE's cycling chatroom. – Criggie May 24 '16 at 10:49