How to cycle up a STEEP hill. 5 tips! Ft Bushcombe Lane

Never been as hill obsessed as many Brits, but some amateur races in Colorado felt similar. Mountain bike on steep single track trails adds complications of balance, maintaining traction, and dodging obstacles like roots and rocks, where it is often a function of near-standstill wobbling without falling over, otherwise the similar objective is to succeed without dabbing a foot down, not necessarily being faster than another. On pavement, a slight variation in style can save the day, where standing can become akin to a slow hiker's cadence, rather than a typical racer's stroke - once cadence drops below 60, stand more upright, and visualize each stroke as a hiking step on a trail or staircase, pulling up on the lower foot if needed, and focus more on balance than pedaling. This can't be sustained for long stretches, but may get you past the steepest cruxes.

Bushcombe Lane is quite local (about 3-4 miles from here). It used to be the first climb on the Cotswold Corker Audax. During those Audaxes I climbed it (on my steel audax bike, including mudguards and a full Carradice Barley saddlebag) with a 26 x 27 gear (nothing wrong with triples). Several years later, with that Audax ride no longer taking place, I've completed the climb with the local Cheltenham CTC group (normally in February each year). Now, the local Cheltenham & County CC use Bushcombe Lane for their annual hill climb in September. After a hiatus of a few years, I entered the hill climb event in September 2023. I decided to use my carbon fibre Dolan Dual bike (without the mudguards). Two attempts prior to the event saw me fail, so I decided to fit a gear extender for the rear derailleur and a cassette with a larger sprocket. My front chainring was 26/34/46 and the rear cassette was a 9-speed 13-36, so I effectively climbed Bushcombe Lane in a 26/36 gear. At my (pensionable) age, I have nothing to prove by trying it again, having done it several times in the past.

Spot on with every point, living on the edge of the Cotswolds I see so many riders struggling with overgeared bikes, I think most road bikes are overgeared for the vast majority of riders - perhaps it's also a bit of an ego issue - look at me with 52/36 crankset and 11-28 cassette, personally I run 46/30 crankset with 11-42 cassette on my roadbike.

Tip1: Get easy gearing.. For road bikes that would be sub-compact GRX cranks with smaller chainring 30T. Bolt diameter center is 80mm and theoretically could fit 26T, but guess what... Non available for GRX pattern, so I had to get mtb 26T chainring with 64mm bdc and drill new holes. Now I have front 26/46 in front. Went on first ride yesterday and it works. Shifting is not perfect but my speeds are low and I have time. Also waiting for 11-40 cassette and few sprockets for converting to 14-40. This would cover almost all climbs around here. That's about as low as you can get for road bikes. My logic would tell me this would be available in bike shops for elderly or not fit or someone who prefers climbs over speed, but solution these days is just buy electric bike to help you climb... For extreme climbs I'm using MTB with triple in front. Smallest chainring 22T. 11-46T cassette in back.

Luv your video! At 65 I'll get some assist for the very step hills with my new e-assist Creo 2 where we live in Ontario . Done the hills and mountains on my steel frame Marinoni touring bike and as the stoker on our steel frame touring tandem through Europe, US, Cuba and Canada where we live. My captain isn't ready for an e-assist bike. Lol We're thinking of the Lands End John O'Groates Route in the future on the tandem. First the Danube this year. Cheers! 😊

There's a hill in my neighborhood that I'm unable to climb despite my low gearing (38t chainring, 48t cassette). It's so steep when I put enough power in to move forward, the bike wheelies and I can't stay straight. I know it's a skill issue, I need to practice standing up at low speeds to get my weight forward on the bike and keep the front down.

Rode that hill about 10 times it was always the 1st hill on the Cotswold Corker back in the 90s & 2000s. Only managed to ride up it without stopping two times. As the ride was usually late Feb it was often wet or icy leading to rear wheel spin. The 2 times I was successful it was bone dry.

Tip no 1.1 for climbing get yourself a set of low profile tyres, as that's impacting gearing as much as the cassette and the chain rings.

Or you do what I do if you have Addisons disease you get off and walk a bit but don't give up

very useful and down to earth, thanks. I am scared of the hills...

This is toughest hill in country a absolute beast!! Great effort.

Some good tips 👍🚴

Just fyi it’s pronounced “Bush Cum Lane”. It’s a killer hill so well done for doing it.

Well done

Or get yourself a mid drive e-bike. Fantastic on steep hills and you still get your heart rate up which it’s all about.

I use triple chainring. So i have a 30 x 28. I am. Very overweight so 15 percent peak gradient max on short distance

At 64 and over 15 stone i think i will give that one a miss lol!!

42/52 downtube shfter crew in the house...😃

when u sais u went away and built power how did you do that??

What camera system are you using for this. Enjoyed the video