a little climb

There's a little climb 5 minutes up the road from where we live. It's 1300 m long, 85 m in height, well surfaced and of constant grade all the way up. I imagine if I lived in Holland or somewhere, I would love this climb. However, with the number of bigger, tougher and more varied climbs around here, it gets largely overlooked.

However, the shortness, easiness and uniformity of this climb also have their benefits.

Yesterday I was talking to Enosan about the importance of variety in training and in climbing in particular. When climbing, taking the climb tempo or taking it full on, are often the only decisions we make. However, climbing in different ways: light gear, heavy gear, high cadence, low cadence, sitting, standing... are all important to become a “complete cyclist”.

This little climb is perfect for more structured and focused training. Today I did some big gear repeats.

Monday's training:

Climb 1: 53 × 27
Climb 2: 53 × 24
Climb 3: 53 × 21
Climb 4: 53 × 19
Climb 5: 53 × 17

(36 km, 470 m climbing)