59

25th September 2011

Location: Rhigos Mountain, Hirwaun, South Wales.

This years Welsh Hill Climb Champs was up the Rhigos Mountain which most of you will be familiar with as it is one of the main climbs in the Dragon Ride. The race started from Hirwaun side which is the side you come down in the Dragon Ride. I am not familiar with this climb at all really, I only ever tend to ride it in the dragon ride and have only ridden up it once before from the Hirwaun side.

I haven’t been training too well recently and running up to the event I developed a cold so didn’t have the best preparation for the event. I was listed last on the start sheet as I was the race favourite to win the event so felt quite a bit of pressure to get a result.

I made my bike as light as possible and even removed my super light carbon bottle cages to save every gram I could off the bike. I also don’t eat before a hill climb because if I do I can guarantee I will see it for a second time! Running on black coffee always seems to work well for me in time trials and hill climbs.

I had a good warm up on the rollers as the weather wasn’t particularly pleasant and I was trying to prepare my body the best I could for the pain it was about to receive. Hill climbs are notoriously hard events and usually the person who can hurt themselves the most wins… obviously the science of power to weight is a more important factor though!

I started the race quite hard (as you can see from the video) but never really found a rhythm. I was pushing quite a big gear as that suits me better so that my heart rate stays lower and I can control my breathing better. The climb seemed to go on for ages with the long straight roads until finally you get to the hairpin bend. From this point the gradient kicks up but you know you are close to the finish so you really dig deep on this part of the climb. Once you reach the brow of the hill there is a slight downhill to the finish although is made 10 times harder with a headwind!

I finished the climb in a time of 12 minutes 26 seconds which is a respectable time but only put me in to 3rd position. I really wanted to get this title under my belt after finishing second last year but it was not to be! I guess there’s always next year!

Please Note: You are not required to wear a helmet for a hill climb due to its slow speed nature. For all other cycling events and training rides I do however always wear a helmet.

Follow me on Twitter: @BenSimmons

Ben