Took a whole lotta of climbing just to get up that hill

Hills are good for the heart, but many hate the effort. The Post has some tips for biking up hills.

bike riders upped their cardiovascular fitness and burned more fat after just two weeks of interval training on a stationary bike every other day. Hills may let you reap similar benefits in the open air.

Including a few hills in a weekend or evening ride is a great way to boost your endurance and improve your cardio-respiratory fitness.

Hill training may also help counter a major effect of aging: the breakdown of fast-twitch muscle fiber, used for short bursts of strength or speed. Climbing teaches large muscles -- the quadriceps (upper thighs) and the gluteus maximus (the butt) -- to compensate.

Luckily, there are some tricks that can make a climb less of an uphill battle.

· Anticipate the hill. Get a leg up by gaining speed and momentum before gravity becomes the enemy. If the ideal cadence -- about 60 revolutions per minute -- is too high, pedal as fast as you can.

· Shift gears -- physically and mentally. If you're a beginner, consider changing to an easier, lower gear before you start up the hill.

· Stay seated as long as you can. Efficient cycling means leveraging as much power as possible from the largest muscle groups: the quads, hams and glutes. Bikes are designed to do this best from a seated position. Standing on the pedals and leveraging your body weight delivers a quick burst of power, but "As soon as you stand and have to hold up your body weight, you're going to be using more energy. The only reason people should stand is to get a break. It is inefficient, but it saves the quads."

· Dance on the pedals. For optimum power, pull up with one leg while you push down with the other. When we do hills, we move away from the larger circular pedal strokes of the flat and take on a pedal stroke that more resembles a piston stroke. The goal is to smooth your pedal stroke and maintain momentum.

· Engage the core. Beginners often assume cycling is all about the legs. But engaging muscles in the lower back and abs provides additional pulling power. Strengthening core muscles with exercises such as sit-ups and the plank will reduce stiffness and injury risk.

· Know your hill. Riding just seems easier when you know what to expect

Matt Mikul wanted to gauge some of his area's formidable hills before attempting to ride them on his fixed-gear bike. He designed a hybrid application -- what Web designers call a mash-up -- that automatically calculates the steepness of a hill and creates a profile of the entire route. The self-styled tool he named Veloroutes and posted to the Web two years ago ( http://www.veloroutes.org) has been averaging about 10,000 users per month.

I've added this to the tools section of the blog

· Drink lots. Eat less. Pedaling at a moderate pace (12 to 13 mph) on rolling terrain will burn 400 to 500 calories per hour. But eating heavily before or during a ride can invite gastric distress. Try snacking lightly during a ride on carbohydrates and high-protein, low-fat foods such as fruit, nuts, peanut butter crackers or a protein bar.

The rule of thumb for fluid replacement is at least a full water bottle every hour.

· Choose good company. An equally paced cycling buddy can make a grueling climb more fun.

· Practice, practice, practice. As with any exercise, it gets easier the more you do it.

The photo is from Bike Virginia, which is June 20-25.

Comments

[jim]

Funny, my reaction when I saw this in the Post a couple of weeks was, "They have officially run out of things to write about."

[Grendel]

"If the ideal cadence -- about 60 revolutions per minute -- is too high, pedal as fast as you can." PLEASE tell me that number is a misprint and should have read 80 or 90.

[ara]

High-quality electric bicycles (e-bikes) are wonderful for hills. Some may think of e-bikes as "cheating" but they provide an excellent workout without the overexertion.