Your mind controls everything that you do. With the exact same fitness and strength as you have right NOW, there are things you can do to get up those climbs more easily.
Here’s 4 :
1. Relax
When we get to a climb, we often tense up far too much and put in too much effort, too soon. We go into ‘nail it mode’. This isn’t the worst thing in the world for short 5-10s steep sections, but you need to relax on longer climbs. Focus on relaxing your shoulders, and grip. Breathe deeply and settle into the climb. Relaxing will allow you to pace yourself much better and you’ll find it takes longer for you to fatigue.
2. Pick the smoothest line
Look ahead 20m or so up the trail and plot your route in your head. Pick the smoothest line with the least resistance. Often when we resign ourselves to ‘This climb is going to be tough’ we just get our head down and mash away at the pedals. Take a more active approach and scan ahead for the smoothest line, with the most traction. Top tip – it’s not always the most obvious, most well-ridden line. Pick your line in advance and try to avoid as many hard obstacles as you can so you can conserve your energy.
3. Set mini goals
When you start to get tired pick a mini-goal 10m ahead on the trail (like a tree, a root, a rock, a bench) and aim to ride to that. When you get there, pick another and get to that. Furthermore, you’ll get a kick of dopamine each time you ‘achieve’ your mini goal. This will reward your brain and give you a boost to get to the next mini-goal you set yourself.
4. Get used to suffering
There’s a great quote you’ll have almost definitely heard ‘It never gets easier, you just get faster’.
Part of climbing well is understanding that parts of a climb are going to hurt. Even the fittest riders are in pain on a difficult climb. When you are used to hurting, it gets easier. You toughen up and train yourself to keep going when it gets hard.
