SOCIAL CLIMBER
It’s the community spirit of hill climb season, as well as the pure physical test that makes Ed Laverack, who smashed the Haytor course record on his way to the men’s National title in 2019, such a fan of it
“Hill climb races are the rawest benchmark in cycling – it’s you versus the hill. But while that gives the impression of a solitary pursuit, what I enjoy about hill climb season is the community. It’s similar in the British time trial scene in that regard, albeit on a smaller scale, which makes it even tighter knit. Because the courses are so small, you get people strung along the hill, cheering you on, and photographers lining the climb capturing the ‘pain faces’ of the riders. Then in the village hall afterwards, or wherever race HQ is, you spend time comparing notes and poring over the finer details of each other’s races. The season is short, at the tail end of the road-racing season, all building towards the National Championship, so you see the same faces, race after race.
Last year’s Nationals were at Haytor, on Dartmoor. At just over 5km it’s one of the longer hill climb courses (they range from one minute duration to over 20) and it was one that suited me. It can take my body two or three minutes to get used to an effort, which might be the whole duration of shorter, steeper races. Different courses suit completely different sorts of athletes – you can’t say a longer, shallower climb hurts any less than a short, steep climb, or vice versa. It all depends on the athlete. There was a hill climb on the world’s steepest street in Harlech, Wales and Calum Brown, who won, held 1000 watts for a minute. It was crazy to see. That suits him and he trains for it, but there’s also a big
“There are two types of pain faces: those in charge of the effort and those for whom the effort is in charge of them”
genetic disposition of doing efforts of that nature, right out of the gate. To him those efforts are likely easier than doing 11 mins 37 seconds at 120 per cent FTP (around 430 watts), which is what it took for me to win on Haytor.
What does an effort like this feel like? Relatively easy to begin with, until my heart rate comes up and my breathing falls into place. Once my body recognises it’s in a hard effort, it’s about focusing on one thing as much as possible. For me, it’s my breathing or my power, and it depends on how I’m feeling as to which one I choose – if I feel good, it’s breathing, if not, then power, because if I’m feeling good the power will take care of itself. I need to make sure my breathing doesn’t get the better of me.
For the Nationals, my mindset changes during the final three minutes because you know the bulk of the hill is behind you and you can throw the kitchen sink at it. I didn’t even look at power or cadence. I just focused on the crowd lining the roadside and that comes back to the community side of it - it’s so engrossing to be part of a tunnel of noise, cheering you on.
I look at photos of hill climb races and everyone has their pain face and there are two types of faces: those who are in charge of the effort, and those for whom the effort is in charge of them. You aim for the former.
My Nationals win was a year in the making, ever since I found out it was being staged on Haytor, with the two months leading into it dedicated towards it. I broke the course down into three chunks: the first 3.5km, a flat 500m and the final kilometre to the finish. I thought about how I could pace it, where I could gain time and where I could back off. I think I won it on the flat section because I’d built up so much speed leading into it I was able to free wheel and recover, before burying myself on the final section. That’s where the planning paid off. When you’re racing to the top of a hill as fast as possible it takes a lot of courage to back off, to say I don’t have to go so hard on a particular section. I stuck to my plan and it paid off.
I’m a road racer at heart and I think the course suited me. People argue Haytor is a time trialist course but I disagree. Like road racing, Haytor requires an over/under effort, where you go into the red, bring it back and go again. It’s what wins bike races, and it’s something most people can train to adapt and bring about a lot of fitness benefit. I’ve spent a lot of time doing 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, 1 min on, 30 seconds off, over and over, at 130 per cent FTP with cruising during recovery intervals. They are sessions that are part and parcel of being a bike racer and they proved to be a big factor in my Nationals win.”
The 2020 National Hill Climb Championships will take place on Streatley Hill, Berkshire on 25 October. It’s of the short, sharp variety – 0.8km at 13 per cent