When it comes to training for hills, there’s really no substitute for the real thing. I like to think of the climb as the price of admission for the descent – the harder the ride up, the more thrilling the ride down!
Here are some training resources to help you get your climbing on point:
Seven Hill Cycling Tips for Flatlanders – Basic but useful advice from Active.com for how to train for hills when you don’t have ready access to them (not usually a problem for us in the PNW).
Mountain Goat Climbing Workout Program – Geared more for competitive riders, but some good suggestions for interval training from Bicycling Magazine.
Become a Hill Climbing Star – Good Bike Radar article that includes tips on how to ride to engage different muscles and training for different lengths of climbs.
Strava Training Plans – Seven different customizable four-week hill training plans, based on climb duration.
Climbing Repeats for Developing Power – A detailed Strava blog post about the benefits of hill repeats/intervals. It goes a little deep cycling geeky, but it covers the hows and whys of training for hills.