Training for hills when you live on the flat?

Oundle is a perfect base for some hillier cyling Fish_n_Chips.

You can make Rutland on a good day and some serious climbing from there.

Have a look at www.yaxleyriders.co.uk , we are members of a number of local clubs but just like to hang about and ride together. More than welcome to tag along.

Just checking how flat it is here I looked up last week's club ride - 139km with a grand total 265m of climbing.

Slightly less than a 0.2% gradient.

funnily enough i'm the opposite; i live in nice hilly bath and i suffer like a dog.

it's a pie-related issue i think

I live in Cambridgeshire too, and have been pleasantly surprised by how well I climb on the rare occasions when I do hit the hills.

I think my secret is that I practice sitting and spinning. I have a bike computer with cadence, and try to keep between 95 and 100 rpm. When I hit the hills I shift down to maintain the same steady, high cadence.

Are there any multistorey car parks near you?

You could always just move the the French Alps and solve your problem that way.

good plan - doesn't work when you're testing an electric Ute, I've found out thins evening

My technique for hill training;

1. Find a supermarket downhill from your house, it doesn't need to be a big hill just physically lower than your house.

2. Buy a bike trailer, those single wheeled MTB ones are good.

3. Do the weekly food shop for you & your household by bike.

Even the smallest slope becomes significant when your pulling an extra 30kg.

Hill climbing ability is for the most part a function of power to weight ratio, so getting lighter whilst maintaining your current power or increasing power for you current weight will make all hills easier. Whether you achieve either of the above whilst training on the flat or in the hills makes little difference.

Training for hills in the hills seems logical, and does help psychologically to give you confidence, but you can achieve equally good results on the flat.

Depends where in Cambridgeshire you are... I can get to Northants and the hills around Oundle pretty easily from my house.

Might be worth chucking the bike in the boot for a twenty minute drive before starting a ride ?

Headwinds are truly miserable - the only solace I take out of one is that it's the gift of an invisible and unexpected hill. Still miserable though.

Depends what kind of hills, really. If you're off to france for some alpine or pyrenean climbing then generally the slopes are gradual and long and you need to do long efforts. time trialling may not seem like great practice for the hills but physiologically it's very similar exercise.

round here the hills are steeper and shorter, which is more difficult to replicate, but you could try sprint intervals like monty dog suggests. basically you want to get as much resistance as you can!

Sprint drills into a headwind in a big gear out the saddle - builds up your quads and core.