Improve your hill climbing this winter

The winter is a great time to get better at climbing. If you’re faster up the hills, you’ll find yourself faring much better in group rides and races. Even if you’re just riding solo, being speedy up the inclines is always a good thing. An Elite Suito-T and Elite Rizer do a great job of simulating hills. They are great assets for climbing workouts, which will have you ready for spring rides or virtual races. It’s very simple to use the Rizer. It has two modes: manual and simulation. The Led light can be found beside the padlock icon on the keyboard, so if it is on if the simulation mode is active, off if the manual mode is active.

How to use the Elite Rizer

The Rizer console consists of three keys and one red LED light. The “up” key increases the Rizer tilt in manual mode. The “down” key decreases the Rizer tilt in manual mode. The “padlock” key changes between manual and simulation mode. The “LED light” indicates the Rizer’s state.

Here are three workouts using the Rizer so that you can get better at long climbs, short ones and rolling hills. It’s best to mix it up and do one of each every few days.

Long climbs

A key aspect of doing well on longer climbs is maintaining a consistent effort. Starting off too fast and blowing up halfway is easy to do if you don’t know your limits. To improve your skills on long climbs, you can focus on learning what your threshold power is and working within, and eventually raising, that limit.

1. Set the Elite Rizer at 4 per cent, and stay seated the whole time. You want to slide back in your saddle, relax your body and focus all your energy on the pedals. A stabilized core will help you power up the climb while seated. Stand now and again to give your body a break.

2. Set your timer for 10 minutes. Ride the first three minutes at a steady pace, which could be 80 per cent of your maximum heart rate. Then increase that for a minute to 90 per cent. After that minute, return to 80 per cent, and repeat the process until your 10 minutes are up.

Recover for 10 minutes, and repeat Step 2 again. It’s important to focus on breathing and relaxing your shoulders and back as much as possible when you have the Rizer on the incline as it will help you maintain as much power output as possible. Make sure to focus on your cadence. If you push too big of a gear, you’ll find yourself getting tired quicker. Aim for 80 r.p.m. when you’re climbing a longer incline.

When you get used to these efforts, you’ll be able to measure your output better for when you get outside and hit your favourite longer local climb.

Short Climbs

If you want to master short climbs, it’s best to think of each one as an uphill sprint. When you are approaching the hill, you should put your hands on the hoods or hooks and be prepared to sprint as hard as you can, even getting out of the saddle, to keep your momentum as you crest the top.

Here’s a workout you can do at home to get better at sharp inclines.

1. Set the Elite Rizer to 10 per cent.
2. You’ll want to put your bike in a smaller gear to start as you’re starting on the virtual incline.
3. Once you’re spinning comfortably, set your timer for a minute.
4. Shift into a bigger gear, so that your cadence is 60 r.p.m.
5. Stand up and crouch over the bars, hands on hoods or hooks, and push on the pedals as hard as you can.
5. After a minute, switch to an easier gear and spin it out for two minutes.

Repeat these steps five times.

Rolling hills

The key to riding rolling hills is trying to keep your cadence steady, and carrying momentum on the way up and down. By keeping your output consistent, you’ll be able to ride over the crest of the hill at a good speed as you ride down the other side.

There are two options for this next exercise. The first is using only the Elite Suito-T and the Elite Rizer. The second features these two products and a training app, such as Zwift.

Without training app:

1. Set your Elite Rizer to 3 per cent.
2. You’ll want to stay in the same gear, so pick something that you can maintain at about 80 r.p.m. You don’t want to spin too fast, or you’ll slow down by the top, and you don’t want to pick too hard of a gear or you’ll lose momentum.
Start your climb hard, and then maintain your effort for two minutes. Keep your hands on the hoods. Once you reach the “top” you can shift into a smaller gear and spin to simulate the “downhill.” After a minute, do another two minutes in your “rolling” gear.
3. Repeat this five times, or for as long as you can.

With training app

Zwift has a lot of rolling hilly courses, and your Elite Rizer will go up or down in sync with them.
Try one of many here (requires Zwift login.)

This story is presented by Elite.