If anyone ever wonders how they can become a better cyclist, I would suggest doing hill climbs at a minimum. The strain you put on your legs, and the amount of work you make your heart do, does wonders with your strength and conditioning on bike. As long as you give your body a chance to recover.
This season, I am trying to incorporate more hill workouts into both my cycling and my running training. Last year, after doing a few hill workouts, I noticed a considerable difference in the rest of my training with leg strength. Going to blue hills reservation is going to be a regular event for me this spring/summer, and hopefully with a group of people; it always makes it more difficult to quit with more people. The loop around the "mountain" is approximately 7.5 miles, while the access road up the "mountain" is approximately 0.9 miles. Typically we start out the workout with 2-loops around the mountain, for a 15 miles warm-up. Then we hit the access road with blazes. I go hard up the access road, and then cruise back down (wearing my brakes out the entire time). Two weeks ago, we completed 3 intervals up-and-down the access road, and we were close to spent. This past week, we completed 4 intervals. The goal is to increase the intervals by 1 each week, until we cannot feel our legs anymore. I can already feel improvements in my cycling in only 2 weeks of this. Last week I went out for a 20 mile tempo ride, and I felt so much faster than I had previously, and it was so much easier.
Below is not any recent data, because I broke my garmin, but you can get a glimpse of what it's like.
Do not try this workout unless you are ready for the following:
Blood. Sweat. Tears. Torture. Pain. Strain. Infliction. Hurt. Fuss. Wound. Ail.
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