Introduction
This is the time of year when a lot of members are planning rides like the Dragon Ride in Wales, trips to Spain, France. and Sportives etc. So what do you need to do is start planning now if you haven’t already started.
The first things I would consider is making sure my bike is suitable for the terrain e.g. keeping my bike as light as possible and making sure my gears are OK for the hills, you maybe able to change your cassette to at least a 32 or 34 cog and check if your front chain ring matches the back, new bikes tend to run a 36 cassette. Then you need to plan your training, there are lots of websites you can go to and I have put some links below for you to look at, but as always Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS).
This is only a guide as there is a lot of information out there and different types of training plans.
Training Plan
To get good at hills, you need to improve three things:
- Leg strength
- Climbing endurance
- Power-to-weight efficiency
Here’s a simple, effective way to train.
Ride Hills Regularly (But With Structure)
Don’t just survive hills — train them deliberately.
Beginner Hill Session (1–2x per week)
Find a steady hill that takes 2–5 minutes to climb.
- Warm up 10–15 mins
- Ride up at a hard but controlled effort (you can talk in short phrases)
- Ride back down easy
- Repeat 4–6 times
- Cool down 10 mins
As you improve, increase to 6–8 reps.
Build Strength Off the Bike (2x per week)
Stronger legs = easier climbing.
Focus on:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Step-ups
- Glute bridges
- Core work (planks)
Keep it simple — 3 sets of 8–12 reps.
Improve Your Engine (Endurance Ride)
Once per week, do a longer steady ride:
- 60–120 minutes at comfortable pace
- Include rolling terrain
- Stay mostly conversational
This builds the aerobic base that makes long climbs manageable.
Technique Makes a Big Difference
On climbs:
- Stay seated most of the time
- Keep cadence 75–90 rpm
- Relax your upper body
- Don’t attack the bottom too hard
Pacing is everything.
5. Optional: Add Short Power Efforts
Once you’re comfortable:
- 30–60 second hard efforts on steep ramps
- Full recovery between
This helps when gradients suddenly kick up.
🗓 Example Weekly Plan
- Tue – Hill repeats
- Thu – Strength training
- Sat – Long ride with hills
- Sun – Easy spin or recovery
Nutrition
As everyone is different you need to thing of something that suits you, however you do need to consider plenty of fluids and food to sustain your ride, there is plenty of guidance on the web, you could even ask on our club Facebook page as we have a lot of knowledgeable riders out there.
Thank you!! This is great Is there anyway I can adjust to get better at hills as well as fitting in swimming, running and the rest of life? Which sessions are the most important?
Amy I will ask around d and get back to you
Steve
Lots we can discuss on this: –
It always challenging if you’re juggling lots of life things and trying to do multiple sports.
The key is looking at your goals and working backwards based on a non critical view of what you need and say what you’re looking to achieve in next 12 months, you cannot do everything!.
Running is probably the most high impacting of the 3 so you wouldn’t do a hard running session day before or after hard cycling.
For climbing the best way to get better is focussed “climbing” do a short warm up , then do 4-10 reps of a hill trying to keep your cadence above 75 unless the steepness is too much, if it is high use a lower gear.
Get use to how different gears feel and on steep sections ride out the saddle and get use to how you can use a bigger gear to power thru.
That’s a staring point what is nearest hills to you?
Source – Ewen Lewis