Surprisingly few people know how to climb hills on a (loaded) bicycle. Some rarely suffer when doing it whatever way, some resort to walking their bikes. This solution generally works, although it has downsides. It is good nevertheless to understand a few things about the specific nature of the challenge and overcome it with less effort and in less time.
This short guide should not scare you off. We don’t love to torture ourselves. The point is not to pull one’s veins out, but to avoid having to pull veins out. If you are afraid of not handling the rides, or you just want to be less tired at the tour – or pull the trailer – you may want to read.
TL;DR at the end of the text
Cycling is about endurance mostly, but cycling uphill is also, to an extent, about strength (btw, the more luggage, the more strength is needed). It also means it is not anymore an aerobic excercise that, simplyfying, depletes body resources and produces not so nice metabolites; the anaerobic share of the workout causes more microtear in the muscle tissues and inflammation, and stuff. This kind of tiredness lasts longer and is painful on the next day(s), more unpleasant… accumulating. For many, or for a majority, the body adapts worse and develops strength slower than it works with stamina.
Climbing an ascent is less like this when the slope is not too steep, setup is relatively light and all the other things are in your favor. Especially the road surface. The wind is of less importance at very low speeds, but still. The length of a climb is not a big deal when it’s mild, but for the not so mild ones, it is a big deal in itself. In practice, all kinds of challenges reinforce each other’s effect. Plus, the difficulty level for each one grows exponentially… in plain words, a small difficulty is a small challenge, a small-ish one translates to moderate one (not to a compareably small-ish one, but to worse than it may seem at first sight), a moderate one already to a hard one, and a biggish one to a hardly doable. Let’s mention that different tools show different amounts of elevation (I believe the biggest values are usually, although not always, closest to truth; I like FacilMap.org, Locus Maps seems to be quite accurate, too), and surfaces that map shows as ‘unkown’ are bad – on top of that, in many coastal or post-glacial areas or soft calcium rock terrain the steepness may make challanging even small-ish rolling hills that look easy on paper.
You enter this harder, anaerobic type of excercise whenever you feel you don’t pedal easily, or, often, when turn you cranks too slowly – instead of switching to a softer gear with higher cadence/faster pedaling, or when you don’t have softer, soft enough gears anymore. On a flat road, when it’s too hard, you can slow down. There is a limit to slowing down: at one point the balancing (against wobbling) itself ‘steals’ quite some power, at another you can’t ride anymore… and uphill you’re likely already slow, approaching these limits. The ‘softness’ of gears is not unlimited either. You will probably be helping yourself with own body weight when standing on the pedals, which also has limits, takes a toll on bicycle and has extra efficiency losses.
Depending on your strength, tireness by the time relevant, conditions, and your setup, you will cross the treshold of ‘easily’ less or more often. It will become more frequent, until the rest day. In consequence, if you don’t have a notable strength and you’re not sure if your bike is energy-effective, but carry more than a bare minimum, either the ride(s) have to be easy, either you will probably suffer… and/or just need to know how to deal with the challenge. On a flat road, it is fully possible to take a rest any time. On a steep road, restart after stopping is an extra struggle in itself.
– This accumulating kind of tiredness means you better think in advance. Ideally, both before the tour at large and before the day, and the very hill. Make sure you have soft enough gears (0.6-0.8 usually, it depends, we have it described in our tech examination guide), amount of gear corresponding to your carrying abilities, weight distribution (left-right and front-rear), size and position (saddle height!) and other bike things chosen/done wisely, that you know the terrain and the wind forecast, and your body limits; try to plan. Check for ‘chain skipping’ under big load and kicking on pedals when standing on them, in safe traffic conditions and with carefulness: you can simulate a climb with the use of brakes if necessary.
– Evening before the climbing, preferably right after ending the day ride. You can dip in cold water (lake, river, channel) for 10-15 mins (if you are fresh, you can ride up with luggage just a tiny bit, carefully, and then dip). It will lessen the inflammation, soreness and pain on the next day. Even though soreness is not directly related to muscle growth, regular practice of post-workout cold dipping limits the development of new muscle mass. This, however, is not so much developed from cycling anyway (despite the superficial ‘pumping’, which is actually related to inflammation and swelling), so you can do it even every day, reducing soreness and pain with minimal or no impact on stamina and strength development.
– You can consider looking for a buddy that will match your pace without making you (consciously or not) get more tired than necessary. Communicate clearly. If you end up being the one who gets less tired on the road, communicate your needs clearly, too, and try to not make your riding buddy exhausted by being too fast/not waiting (enough), too short breaks etc. Sharing snacks can also feel nice. Some may want to redistribute some weight.
– Take A BREAK *BEFORE* a HILL that poses a difficulty to you at a given moment. (And at least two sips of water, even if you’re not thirsty yet; however, don’t overload the stomach). Don’t postpone resting it until you reach the top… it is too late at that point: the energy resource will be recovering normally, but you will have muscle microdamage that won’t heal in a minute, or in a few hours either. A rest at the top may feel nice, may also feel unnecessary before just rolling farther without moving one’s legs much. If there’s two hills one after another, you can and should take a rest at the top of the first, not because it is after a climb, but because it is *before* a climb.
The thing is that after a break you can generate way more power for a few minutes, up to a few times more during the first minute. Optimally, if you have time and the hill is big, you can eat some simple sugars and let them ‘load’, just without cooling your legs and joints down completely. If the hill is just a limited difficulty, even a two minutes break for a pee makes great difference. (For a difficult one, you may want to check if you don’t carry more water than needed.)
– When approaching the climb, try to build up the ‘cadence’ (speed of turning the cranks). Building up speed doesn’t hurt, but is less important and should not cause a significant effort before it’s necessary. Try to aim for the right gears well, without too much trying and changing again. In doubt, go for the softer and not harder of the options you have in mind. If you can feel the saddle hitting your ass to the rythm of pedaling, it’s probably too soft a gear. If the front wheel jumps into the air, it is also probably too soft, but you should anyway be moving your body mass to the front (and have your luggage distributed beforehand) to mitigate it and reduce the overly resistance on the rear wheel. Try to keep it steady and breathe deeply.
– If the hill has a non-negligible difficulty for you, and is not of the too long kind, try to overcome it in one go; once you stop, it is hard to start up again from the 0 km/h speed. If you arrive at the top before your ride buddy, you can wait there, and maybe give them time to catch breath and perhaps even more if they need before going again.
– Standing on the pedals is the way to go when it’s much too hard, but shouldn’t be overused and puts an extra hard strain on the vehicle. Besides moving body to the front, moving it constantly left-right-left-right to the rythm of pedalling is also helpful. Walking the bike may be okay, if riding would be like way too much no matter what.
– In case the traffic allows, you can ride up in a zig-zag pattern, which makes the way longer, but less steep and usually pays off!
– As for the lunch breaks, especially if consuming fats or proteins, it’s better to make them well, well before difficult sections – or after them.
– If the climb is mild (can be taken with non-minimal speed), especially when there’s headwind. Consider going up in a train like racers do, with the strongest rider at front, as close to each other as possible. The breaks should work decently and the first person should not brake, at least not without warning, but uphill the risks are minimized anyway, as bikes slow down much by the sole gravitation. Panniers may provide some aerodynamic cover and make it at least a bit easier for one who follows just after the rider before them.
– After the climb. You may take a break or still ride, with little effort now. If there are next climbs awaiting you, choosing a break may make more sense. If it’s easy now, it may be better for the muscles to keep on moving, without strain. Again, raw sugars may be nice now.
– After arriving. Eat raw sugars and protein as soon as you can, take a cold dip if possible. Sleeping much is most important for regenerating. In regards to rest day(s), there is no universal truth applicable to everybody whether it is better to undertake a short and easy excercise or avoid anything such.
– Light stretching is good, before and especially after, just with the body still warmed up.
Again, this doesn’t mean we cycle like ‘pros’. There are participants who come with whatever bikes or come without any and improvise a whatever-improvised-bike; in the past there have even been people who have learned to use a bicycle just on the very tour. I hope the above advise can help others enjoy the tour more, like it has helped me.
Most important:
– pack accordingly to own strength/hills size and steepness on your way
– breaks before climbs
– turning pedals fast on approach and trying to keep a steady effort
– climbing in a zig-zag pattern
– stretching
– eating and dipping in cold water for min. 10 minutes right after end of the ride.