First Gravel Grinder - Training for hills

In an earlier post, I laid out a five week plan for your first gravel grinder. I assumed that most people were somewhat fit, have done some riding, but probably aren't used to riding long distances on unpaved roads. And I've heard from a couple of people that maybe it should have been a SIX week program with a couple of 10 mile rides just to get used to being on a bike again - especially if you are planning to ride a fat bike!

On several of the weekly rides on the above plan, I list 'ride a few hills' as the goal.  Depending on your fitness level, and what's in the area, that can mean anything from a freeway overpass to a 300 climb from the river to bluff-tops.  Generally, I look for climbs that are around a mile, and nothing steep.  the first few should be at easy grades - 3-4% (200 vertical feet in a mile of riding).  This is enough to raise your heart rate and make your quads burn a bit without straining knees.

First, pace is not important on the first few - just ride them.  Find out what pace feels comfortable,

and use that as a mental benchmark (baseline really).  Try to time that mythical mile long hill - or whatever length you have to work with, and watch your average speed.  If it takes you ten minutes, fine.  If it takes 20, it may be a little long for now.  Cut back to around 8 minutes for the first 2 weeks.

Try to do 5 repeats of the hill - that will be a total of around 15 miles on an 8 minute climb. (level 2-3 if you are used to heart rate).

So now you've got your pace sorted out for something that you can accomplish, let's crank it up a bit. If you've been tracking your speed, try to increase that by 5% a week on your hill.  See how long you can hold your speed.  It's not essential you ride the whole thing without fading, but do try to hold a steady speed for most of the way. Now turn around, ride back down, and do it again - a total of 5 repeats.  See how you feel.  If you've never done repeats or not done them in years, it may not be much fun, at least the first time or 3.  Take a breather, and then ride the rest of your ride.

I'm big on interval work (what we just did).  Improvements come rapidly, and can be really rewarding.  If you can increase that speed up the one mile climb by 5% each week, that's a 20% improvement in 4 short sessions, which is probably 2 MPH or more!  The quicker you get over long slow climbs, the sooner you get to enjoy the flats and downhills again!

You should also find something steeper and maybe longer for the last 2 weeks.  Miesville offers about a dozen climbs of anywhere from a minute to 10 minutes, with the last two climbs being 10 minutes or more.  None of the grades are really steep, but they are challenging, and will take some mental energy to complete.  If you are training for the Pisgah monster cross, it's probably more like a 50 week program instead of 5, but the same general elements apply.  Good climbing is mental as well as physical.

So that's another element to training for your first grinder.  If you have any questions or comments, use the link below and I'll be happy to answer them.

~marsh