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Birdlip Hill, Mental Block?
grant1974
Posts: 262
in General Chat
Hey,
This evening I tried once again to ride a infamous hill in my area, Birdlip hill. My previous attempt was a disaster, I had only been cycling a couple of weeks and it was the first time I had ever wore cleats! You can imagine what happened! That was about a year ago now and tonight on a bit of a whim I thought I would have another go. It wasn't as bad as last time but I did fail to get up it again? To be honest I think I failed before I had even got on the bike, I was quite tired from yesterdays session, I have hayfever at present but still thought what the hell. I got half way up, and all the memories of not being able to get my feet out of cleats came flooding back, so I thought I would just pull my foot out and then clip back in just to reassure myself. As soon as my foot came out, it hit the pavement. I walked a bit feeling very disappointed with myself, and thought I would get back on, at this point I couldn't get going again as it was too steep, in fact I nearly got hit by a car because I nearly fell into the road trying to get going, lucky for me he was a careful driver and spotted me in plenty of time.
I'm pretty determined to concur this hill as I believe it will be great training for next years Wimbleball 70.3 which apparently has a 14% hill in it. I don't really know how that compares to Birdlip which has a sign saying it 1:6 at the top. I don't really understand how to compare the two?
The following link is to the motionbased route of Birdlip; http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6088836. I've posted this so people can compare the hill to Wimbleball which is here; http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/dashboard.mb?episodePk.pkValue=2355404 and maybe let me know which they feel is tougher? Then I can work out whether I'm wasting my time trying to get up Birdlip if Wimbleball is not any where near as hard. In any case I would still like to get up that route.
I do cycle hills very regularly and actually consider myself a pretty good hill climber, not fast, but strong and steady. I regularly climb 1,000 foot hills and in fact have done Birdlip, albeit via a not as steep route, however you do hit the same peak.
So finally on to my questions!
Is this just a mental block considering I've been up bigger, however maybe not as steep?
How would others approach conquering this hill?
Is the Wimbleball hill as steep as Birdlip?
That should do it for now! Thanks for your time if your reading this!
This evening I tried once again to ride a infamous hill in my area, Birdlip hill. My previous attempt was a disaster, I had only been cycling a couple of weeks and it was the first time I had ever wore cleats! You can imagine what happened! That was about a year ago now and tonight on a bit of a whim I thought I would have another go. It wasn't as bad as last time but I did fail to get up it again? To be honest I think I failed before I had even got on the bike, I was quite tired from yesterdays session, I have hayfever at present but still thought what the hell. I got half way up, and all the memories of not being able to get my feet out of cleats came flooding back, so I thought I would just pull my foot out and then clip back in just to reassure myself. As soon as my foot came out, it hit the pavement. I walked a bit feeling very disappointed with myself, and thought I would get back on, at this point I couldn't get going again as it was too steep, in fact I nearly got hit by a car because I nearly fell into the road trying to get going, lucky for me he was a careful driver and spotted me in plenty of time.
I'm pretty determined to concur this hill as I believe it will be great training for next years Wimbleball 70.3 which apparently has a 14% hill in it. I don't really know how that compares to Birdlip which has a sign saying it 1:6 at the top. I don't really understand how to compare the two?
The following link is to the motionbased route of Birdlip; http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6088836. I've posted this so people can compare the hill to Wimbleball which is here; http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/dashboard.mb?episodePk.pkValue=2355404 and maybe let me know which they feel is tougher? Then I can work out whether I'm wasting my time trying to get up Birdlip if Wimbleball is not any where near as hard. In any case I would still like to get up that route.
I do cycle hills very regularly and actually consider myself a pretty good hill climber, not fast, but strong and steady. I regularly climb 1,000 foot hills and in fact have done Birdlip, albeit via a not as steep route, however you do hit the same peak.
So finally on to my questions!
Is this just a mental block considering I've been up bigger, however maybe not as steep?
How would others approach conquering this hill?
Is the Wimbleball hill as steep as Birdlip?
That should do it for now! Thanks for your time if your reading this!
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Comments
I dont know what the wimbleball hill is like but I doubt it can compare to birdlip, my car struggles up there!
Very interested in your posting about Birdlip Hill, I am coming to the UK for IMUK and will be in Gloucester area for a week or two before it and had planned an assault on Birdlip, I located the following page http://www.geocities.com/sidestreetluge/grade.html and was confused by it!
I then found a simple formula as follows
1 in 5 = 5/1 = 0.2 = 20%
1 in 6 = 6/1 = 0.1666 = 17%
1 in 7 = 7/1 = 0.142857 = 14%
which seems to me that Birdlip is steeper than Wimbleball (14%?) and definately worth conquering, if you want another go at the end of August let me know, I am not too good at hills as I live in Perth and there are not too many around here so the IMUK course is going to be a bit of a mission.
These could be complete rubbish but maybe someone else here has better understanding of, all I know is that I hate hills and the wind is NOT my friend!
Cheers
FW
Thanks for the explanation of gradient, it's one of those things where I kind of get it, but not really!!
So it would seem Birdlip is steeper than Wimbleball, I also think the 14% section of Wimbleball isn't that long either. This makes me think Birdlip is going to provide some excellent training.
I would be very happy to go for a ride with you Free Willy, however if your saying you've not done too much training on hills I wouldn't be that cruel to take you up it, however there are various ways to the top which I can take you, less steep but hard all the same. Let me know when your in the country and we can see if we can hook. End of August is very busy for me, but I'm sure we can sort something out. In worse case scenario I can give you some good rides to do.
So I guess the question still remains;
How would others approach conquering this hill?
I hope there is still a pub at the top as I may need plenty of refreshment after a long walk uphill!
FW
I have thought about trying to attack it (briefly, once, in passing) before coming to my senses (I'm still to crap on the bike). Is there a footpath up the hill then, as the thought of trying to cycle on the road with artics slowly chugging past sounds close to suicide.
Thanks for the reply, that's really interesting, would you mind spelling out the turbo trainer session for me, I don't really understand your explanation. However I am very keen to do it!
FW
i'd rather not put the sessions on a forum as the lady in question is making her living as a cycling coach and it's not fair to post up her sessions in full. if you want her email or website pm me and i'll send them. sorry i this seems rude but she has to make a living.
good luck
matt
your post caught my eye as I used to live in Gloucester and remember Birdlip Hill!!!
I have has a similar problem on my cycle route home from work (now in Mid Wales) I fell off last year, into a ditch full of nettles and brambles and have had a mental block ever since. I always set off with a real positive attitude - telling myself that I CAN do it, then, just as i get to the really steep bit the panic sets in and off I get.
I conquered it a few weeks ago, as I deceided I would cycle it with some friends - I was too embarrassed to get off so I had to keep going and it worked! I was in my most "granny" gear but who cares?
Keep at it - you'll get there in the end - when you do it will feel FANTASTIC!!!