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50 Classic Cycle Climbs: The Bristol-Bath Region

De J J Wheeler

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Longueur: 230 pages1 heure

Éditeur:: Crowood
Sortie:: Feb 29, 2016
ISBN:: 9781785001321
Format:: Livre

Description

Riding up hills is the ultimate challenge for a cyclist. This guide is a compilation of some of the best hills in Bristol, Bath, and the surrounding area. It's not just a definitive list of the top 50 toughest climbs; instead, author J J Wheeler has selected some of the most iconic, the most thrilling, the most interesting, varied and, of course, hardest hill climbs that this region has to offer. There's something here for everyone, from the Weekend Warrior to the serious road racer. Just get out there and enjoy the ride! Each route is illustrated with a map and profile of the climb, and there are numerous photographs, plus an overview map locating the routes.

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Informations sur le livre

50 Classic Cycle Climbs: The Bristol-Bath Region

De J J Wheeler

Longueur: 230 pages1 heure

Description

Lire plus

Éditeur:: Crowood
Sortie:: Feb 29, 2016
ISBN:: 9781785001321
Format:: Livre

À propos de l'auteur

J J Wheeler

Joseph Wheeler's love for bicycles and bicycling began in the mid-1980s when he saw his first mountain bike in a cycle shop in Cheltenham while studying for a Fine Art degree. He bought it and spent his weekends for the rest of his studies riding and exploring the nearby Cotswold hills.In 1988 he travelled to London where he worked as a cycle courier, clocking up 60 miles a day on a second-hand Raleigh road bike. Two years later, Joseph moved with his partner, Jenny, to Bath where he worked as a bicycle mechanic for a few years. Then, along with a bit of amateur racing for local teams, he began a full-time career as an artist and illustrator. Now with a young son he continues to ride, fettle and occasionally race his bikes around the countryside and hills of his adopted home in Somerset.

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50 Classic Cycle Climbs - J J Wheeler

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Technical Matters

THE TERRAIN

As areas of England go, Bristol and the South West are not enormously hilly. There are areas where big hills certainly predominate, most notably Exmoor, the northeastern corner of which features in this collection. While the Mendips also harbour some impressive challenges, Exmoor can probably hold its own amongst the toughest, in terms of their exposed nature, their length and their steepness, of any in England. Generally though, with a few notable exceptions, most of the hills in this book are manageable by anyone with good fitness, riding an adequately geared bicycle and with sufficient resolve. Getting up them quickly is of course quite another matter.

GRADIENTS

You’ll notice this book is full of endless references to gradients. Satellite-linked cycle-computers and barometric altimeters have made this possible. In the recent past, unless the local council had installed a sign, cyclists had no precise idea of how steep any hill was. In fact, since the introduction of this technology it has become apparent that a lot of these warning signs are woefully inaccurate. They may give a driver adequate notice that they’ll need to take extra care, but when a claimed 15 per cent hill has clearly taken no account of the 100-metre bit that touches 20 per cent near the top, you know that not only are the signs usually just estimates or averages at best, you can also be sure they haven’t been thinking of cyclists when they put them up.

I quickly noticed when I was researching this book that almost without fail the most popular websites that allow cyclists to upload their ride data significantly underestimate gradients. This has something to do with the shortness of most British hills as well as the way these sites extract data, often missing or failing to record short sections of a climb or even, on some of the shortest climbs, barely reporting a gradient at all. All of the gradients I give are taken from my bike-mounted, barometric-equipped Garmin. While I know, due to its own idiosyncrasies these may not always be precise, they will still give people a very good understanding of what they are going to encounter on the road.

GEARING

As with other aspects of cycling, what is otherwise a perfectly understood subject when applied to bicycles has become imbued with myth and unfounded theories. Happily however, with the increased application of science to the engineering and physiological aspects of cycling, particularly at the elite competition level, a few valuable facts have emerged. Perhaps the most important of these is that on any hill over about 200m, lower gears are quicker. Assuming you can do it at all, no amount of heaving your way to the top of a 2km 9 per cent climb on a fifty-three tooth chainring will get you up quicker than if you select a far smaller gear, spend less time out of the saddle and learn to spin the pedals faster. This will save your legs, probably save your knees and most importantly, save you time.

This is not to say higher gears aren’t quicker. At any given cadence (see below) they obviously are, but the tendency for cyclists to select big gears regardless of their ability to actually turn them at anything like an efficient cadence is legendary. This is probably a habit that particularly afflicted a slightly earlier generation of cyclists before lower geared compact transmissions and mountain bikes were widely available, but nevertheless the principle is still true. As you get fitter and stronger, you’ll then find you are able to use a bigger gear, but without changing your cadence. This is how you’ll get up the hill quicker.

Hills shorter than 200m are often an exception and can be ridden – by those who want to – as a sprint or ‘power climb’. Here the rider works, out of the saddle, pushing a bigger gear, at or close to their maximum effort (anaerobically) all the way to the top. You’ll find a few climbs in this collection that can be ridden this way. Be aware though, this type of climbing is inefficient and uses a lot of energy. On a long ride you should be very careful how often you do it.

TERMINOLOGY

There are a few words and phrases I use in this book that most seasoned cyclists will be familiar with. But for those less used to the language, here’s a brief run-through.

Attack

Approach the hill (or part of it) aggressively. In cycle racing, also used to describe a sudden effort by one rider or group of riders to move away from the other rider or riders.

Break

Short for ‘breakaway’ in cycle racing. A group of riders that has moved ahead of the main bunch, often as the result of an attack.

Bunch

The peloton or main group of riders.

Cadence

Pedalling rate in rpm (revolutions per minute). Research has discovered that the most efficient cadence on a flat road is somewhere between 80 and 110 rpm. This apparently wide range allows for differing physiological factors in individuals as well as the vagaries of the terrain they may be riding over. When climbing you should expect your cadence to fall to between 60 and 80 rpm. If it falls much below this for any significant length of time and you’re already on your bottom gear, then you should consider getting some lower gears.

Drag

Slightly steeper than a false flat (see below), but usually undemanding if it’s not too long. Probably between 3 and 5 per cent. May be a problem if encountered immediately before a large climb.

False flat

A very shallow up-hill gradient, no more than 2 or 3 per cent. Not necessarily enough to immediately notice, but if it’s long enough, very wearing. If it features in the approach to a hard climb and is long, like the drag (above), it can be a significant factor.

Steady

An even cadence, not necessarily slow, but remaining as comfortable as possible. Usually in the

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50 Classic Cycle Climbs: The Bristol-Bath Region

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