I’m a Big Rider, Here’s How I Making Climbing Easier
The mountain is the great equaliser. The grade is the grade and the vertical is the vertical, no matter your size, build, or body composition.
The mountain doesn’t care that I’m a big rider—1.9 metres and 116 kgs, to be exact.
I realised this halfway up a recent local climb, as my riding companions—four men, the biggest one barely half my size—zipped past me with ease. The sweat poured down my forehead, stinging my eyes as, one by one, my friends disappeared around the mountain’s series of switchbacks.
Still, I climbed, one searing pedal stroke at a time, eventually reaching the top where my buddies were waiting, their lungs long recovered. And then again, a km down the road, up another mountain, and another.
The mountain is the great equaliser because the grade is the grade and the vertical is the vertical, no matter your size, build, or body composition. The only difference is, in order for me to get to the top of any mountain, more wattage is required to fight the gravity that constantly tugs me down like an anchor.
I’m not a weak rider. Put me on rolling hills, and I can easily hold a 35 to 37 kph pace over a century, averaging well over 200 watts. But as soon as those foothills turn to mountains, I’m toast, dropped like a rock as smaller and leaner riders grind up the mountain with ease.
More often than not, my legs can handle the work. In fact, for a rider my size to climb a 5 percent grade at 16 kph, I need to make 341 watts, something I can hit for 10 or 20 minutes, no problem. According to cycling coach, Colin Sandberg, a 73-kg rider only needs to sustain 226 watts to climb the same grade at the same pace.
Preparation for almost any kind of riding can be broken down into three parts: off-the-bike training, mindset, and on-the-bike execution. And given the brutal and unrelenting nature of climbing, all three of those elements must coexist to get you and your bike to the peak of a mountain, especially if, like me, you’re larger than the average cyclist.
How to Prepare for Hills Off the Bike
Sandberg sees cycling as a sport that, unlike sprinting or swimming, anyone can excel in, regardless of body type.
But when it comes to climbing, body type plays a bigger role than when it comes to flat terrain or rollers. Sandberg stresses the importance of strength training to supplement and enhance on-the-bike performance, with a focus on the body’s core and its complementary muscles.
“Everything in cycling happens on one plane,” he tells Bicycling, noting how the muscles we use while cycling—such as quads, hamstrings, and forearms—tend to get very strong, while others may suffer from inactivity. And for bigger riders who can create more watts, those imbalances become even more apparent.
“Anytime a bigger rider accelerates, they’re creating a lot of power,” Sandberg said. “So, the strain on the complementary muscles is huge.”
Sandberg recommends a basic 20-minute core-strengthening routine that focuses on planks, side planks, scissor kicks, and Russian twists, along with embracing exercises that highlight lat and lower-back strength.
Pull-ups, push-ups, pull-downs, and bench-pressing should all become part of the circuit, according to Sandberg, but with a focus on lower weight and higher rep schemes.
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