If you are passionate about climbing and descending mountain passes with your road bike, but you still feel you lack confidence on the climbs or don't descend with the safety and speed you would like, it's time to optimize your technique. It's not enough to just improve your physical condition; there are other key factors that can make a difference in your performance, such as pedaling cadence, your posture on the bike, descending technique or even the setup and adjustment of your bike.
These details, which often go unnoticed by many amateur cyclists, are fundamental in the world of high performance and can make the difference between an efficient ascent and an exhausting climb, or between a safe descent and one full of risks.
Whether you practice cycling on road bikes or prefer the technical challenge of mountain bikes on rough terrain, applying certain adjustments and techniques will help you face any type of pass with greater confidence. Below, we give you some key tips so you can climb with more strength and descend with greater stability on any mountain route.
How to improve your climbing on a mountain pass
Having a light bike and strong legs are the first things that come to mind when we think about how to improve our performance climbing mountain passes. However, they are not the only ones. The gearing, pedaling cadence, type of training, and even the way we eat and hydrate when riding on mountain roads are also key factors.
>> See climbing bikes for mountain passes
Control your weight
To climb a mountain pass smoothly and without suffering too much, you must have a good power-to-weight ratio, the famous watt per kilo (w/kg) that so obsesses professional cyclists. And for this, the first step is to control your weight. In practice, this means improving your diet by choosing to eat low-fat foods and regularly eating fruit or vegetables. Losing those extra kilos, always in a healthy way and within certain limits, is the first and fastest step to start improving your power-to-weight ratio. Train with intervals
The second aspect, improving power, is achieved through training. An amateur cyclist with little experience tends to train based on sensations. But organizing a session plan with intervals is a shortcut to improve performance in a short time. First, study which parts of the climb feel hardest for you, at what gradient your legs start to suffer, or what types of ascents suit you best. From there, you should establish interval sets with repetitions to improve your pace on long, steady climbs (with gradients between 3% and 9%, for example), or for shorter, more explosive ramps (from 10% upwards). Know your weak points and improve them on the terrain. At this point, it is advisable to have the guidance of a specialized coach, who can also advise you on off-bike exercises (core, equipment) to increase muscle strength.
Find your best cadence
Pedaling power is determined by force multiplied by cadence. That’s why it’s important to focus on improving this last aspect to increase the efficiency of each pedal stroke. Virtue lies in the middle ground, but opting for a lower gear if you haven’t trained enough yet, even if your progress is slower, will help you climb without much muscle fatigue.
Make changes to the drivetrain group (if necessary)
If your bike comes stock with gears that don’t let you adapt your pedaling cadence to your needs—if they’re too short or too long—you’ll need to consider replacing them. Many drivetrain groups are compatible with various gear combinations, whether by changing or adding just one cog, the entire cassette, or installing chainrings with different ratios (the best climbing combinations are 50/34 or 48/33), depending on your needs. The improvement can be very significant in practice. But you’ll need to weigh up whether it’s worth replacing the parts, as they are generally quite expensive.
Eat and hydrate well
Controlling the physiological aspect during the climb itself is vital to avoid fatigue or bonking, that is, to prevent depleting your body’s energy reserves. Low blood glucose is the main culprit for cramps and bonking or a sudden drop in performance. That’s why it’s important to keep your energy reserves full at all times, by consuming foods like fruits, bars, gels, etc. before, during, and after the climb. Likewise, don’t forget to hydrate properly every 10 or 15 minutes, as most sports nutrition experts recommend, regardless of whether you feel thirsty or not.
How to Improve Descending a Mountain Pass
At this point, it is important to clarify that a mountain road is not a race circuit. We are used to seeing professional cyclists in the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España descending passes at full speed, taking curves from side to side. However, in a competition, the road is closed exclusively for the cyclists. The reality is that if you are training or riding a route through mountain passes, you have to share the road with motor vehicles, which greatly increases the risk of an accident. The following tips are from a technical point of view, but before applying them, keep in mind that you are not alone on the road and that safety is the most important thing.
Hold the Lower Part of the Handlebar
Once you have reached the top of the pass, it's time to face the descent, the part most feared by many cyclists due to the speed and increased risk of falls. The first thing you should do to increase control of the bike and, consequently, your safety and confidence, is to ride holding the lower part of the handlebar. Do not rest your hands on the brake levers or on the flat part of the handlebar, as these do not provide the necessary force at this point to control the direction. You also won't be able to operate the brake lever with strength or adopt an aerodynamic position that allows you to increase your speed (up to 10% in many cases) and take curves more smoothly.
Look Ahead and Anticipate
In general, the descents of any mountain pass are full of curves, many of them hairpins at 180º. It is important to direct your gaze forward and, at the same time, study the upcoming turns so you have time to react quickly, braking gently if necessary to always stay on the fastest line. Anticipation is key to gaining confidence on the descent.
How to Take Curves on Descents
Knowing how to take curves well on a descent is crucial to get the most out of it and finish without mishaps. The trick lies in the anticipation explained above and guiding your bike towards the apex of the curve, the inner point that divides it in two. To achieve this, brake first in a progressive and anticipatory manner to adjust your speed and avoid going off your line. Once you start turning, do not touch the brakes at any time, except to correct a possible deviation from your chosen line, and pass next to the apex. Once you have passed it, do not start pedaling until you are completely out of the curve and your bike is straight again.
Brake Just Enough
There are many cyclists who, either out of fear or lack of practice on descents, overuse the brakes thinking that this way they descend more safely. That is false, since the risk of making a mistake and ending up falling is much higher, even though it may seem paradoxical. You should only use the brake levers before a sharp turn or to slightly correct a deviation from your line, and you should always press them progressively and gently, first the rear and then the front. The rest of the time, your hands should rest on the lower part of the handlebars and your body should guide the bike.
Lose your fear and enjoy
This is perhaps the most important advice of all. The negative slope of a descent should be your ally to gain seconds on the clock, not the opposite. Mentally approach the descent of a mountain pass as an opportunity, not as a difficulty. Assume that you will do well, concentrate and look ahead to study the descent in real time and guide the bike along the fastest line. This is the key to losing your fears. In this interactive video published a few years ago by Eurosport, you can clearly see, using the example of a descent by professional cyclist Vincenzo Nibali (one of the best descenders in the peloton), these and other tricks to descend a mountain pass better with your road bike.