A 40-year-old amateur cyclist named Andrew Feather beat Tadej Pogacar on a Strava climb segment a few years ago. Same climb, same conditions, same Strava timing. The amateur held a slightly faster time than the world's best climber. The detail is in the I asked a 40 year old amateur how he beat Pogacar episode.
This isn't a story about Pogacar having a bad day or the amateur having a freak performance. It's a story about pacing. Pogacar surged and recovered repeatedly across the climb — the classic pro climbing style for racing other riders. Feather sat on a steady target power for the entire climb, never surging, never recovering, just holding. The steady-state physics won the time gap that the peak-power surges couldn't.
The lesson is the most important one in amateur climbing. The peak watts of pro cyclists are out of reach. The pacing wisdom they use isn't. The amateur who learns to pace climbs the right way often beats riders with substantially higher peak power.
This article is the diagnostic of the five fixable reasons your climbing is slower than it could be, drawn from the 5 fixable reasons your climbing is slow episode and the related expert conversations.
Reason 1: Pacing
The most common fixable reason. The amateur who hits a climb hard at the bottom, sees power drop in the middle, and limps to the top is leaving substantial time on the table compared to the same cyclist riding the climb at steady pace.
The mechanism is straightforward. Anaerobic work at the bottom of a climb produces lactate accumulation and ATP debt that takes time to clear. The cyclist who blows up at 30 seconds and then rides the rest of the climb at recovery pace produces a much lower average power than the cyclist who holds steady at 95% of the same peak power but never blows up.
The principle. Calculate a target power based on climb duration and your FTP. For a 30-minute climb, that's typically 90–95% of FTP for trained cyclists. For a 60-minute climb, 85–90%. For a 90-minute climb, 80–85%. Hold the power steady. The first third of the climb should feel too easy; the middle third comfortable but working; the final third hurts but you can hold the number.
The Wiggins frame. Brad Wiggins famously rode climbs against the climb, not against his rivals. He set his target power based on what he could sustain, then held it regardless of what other riders did around him. If they surged ahead, he held his pace. Most of the time they came back; the surge cost them more than the steady pace cost him. This is the Feather approach and the lesson for amateur climbers.
The fix. Calculate target power for upcoming climbs. Practice steady-state pacing in training. Resist the urge to chase wheels at the bottom of climbs in group rides. The discipline is hard initially because it goes against every instinct, but the time gains are real.
Reason 2: Power-to-weight ratio
The second-biggest fixable reason, and the one most amateurs get wrong by trying to fix the wrong half of the ratio.
Power-to-weight (watts per kilogram) is the metric that predicts climbing performance. Higher number, faster climber. Two ways to improve it: more power, less weight. Most amateurs focus on less weight, often through crash dieting that compromises both halves of the ratio.
The right way to lose weight. Periodised body composition work across months, not weeks. Eat fully around training, run small caloric deficits on rest days only, protect muscle and power through the process. The detail is in the body composition for cyclists guide. The cyclist who runs a 12-week body composition block 3 months before a climbing event arrives lean and strong. The cyclist who crash diets 6 weeks before arrives weaker, undertrained, and underperforms despite the lower weight.
The right way to add power. Structured training that targets FTP and threshold development. The full periodisation cycle supports power gains across the year. Specific work on the systems that limit your sustained power — aerobic base for cyclists with low Zone 2 capacity, threshold work for those with high VO2max but low FTP, VO2max blocks for those with strong base and weak top end.
The W/kg math. Use the W/kg calculator to assess your current ratio. For male amateurs, 3.5–4.0 W/kg is reasonable for sustained climbing; 4.0–4.5 is good; 4.5+ is competitive for masters racing. For female amateurs, 3.0–3.5 is reasonable; 3.5–4.0 is good; 4.0+ is competitive.
The trade-off awareness. Going leaner past a certain point compromises performance. The performance body fat ranges (8–12% for male competitive cyclists, 14–20% for female) are the floors. Below these, hormonal disruption, immune function decline, and bone density issues kick in. The W/kg gain from going leaner can be wiped out by the performance cost.
Dr Tim Podlogar's work on this — covered in the how pro cyclists stay lean episode — is the cleanest framework for the body composition side of climbing improvement.
Reason 3: Climbing cadence
The cyclist grinding at 60–65 RPM up every climb is leaving time on the table. The cyclist spinning at 100 RPM up every climb is leaving time on the table. The right climbing cadence for most cyclists sits at 75–85 RPM, varying by climb duration and steepness.
Why cadence matters on climbs. Lower cadences require more force per pedal stroke, which recruits more fast-twitch muscle fibres and accumulates muscular fatigue faster. Higher cadences require more energy per stroke to maintain the rotation, which accumulates cardiovascular fatigue faster. The middle range balances both.
The right cadence for different climbs.
- Short steep climbs (under 5 minutes): 80–95 RPM. Can spin out of gears if needed; muscular fatigue isn't the limiter on a 5-minute effort.
- Sustained mid-length climbs (10–30 minutes): 75–85 RPM. The classic climbing cadence. Balances cardiovascular and muscular demand.
- Long climbs (45+ minutes): 80–90 RPM if you have the gears for it. Lower cadences on very long climbs accumulate too much muscular fatigue.
- Very steep climbs (above 10% gradient): often forced lower (65–75 RPM) by gear ratios. Use the lowest gear you have; standing periodically can help reduce cadence stress.
Gear selection. Modern cassettes go to 34T for racing or 36–46T for serious climbing setups. The cyclist who tries to climb 12% gradients with a 28T cassette ends up grinding at low cadence whether they want to or not. The right gear ratio for your local climbs matters; spending money on a wider cassette is often the highest-leverage equipment investment for climbers.
The fix. Pay attention to cadence during climbs. If you're below 70 RPM consistently, you need a lower gear or you're pushing too hard. If you're above 95 RPM on sustained climbs, consider higher cadence work; the bigger gear should be available. Aim for the 75–85 RPM range as the default.
Reason 4: Position on the bike
Most amateurs ride climbs the same way they ride the flats — same hand position, same saddle position, same body posture. The pros adjust deliberately for the gradient.
Saddle position on steep climbs. As gradient increases, your effective position on the bike rotates backward (relative to the road) because the bike is angled upward. To compensate, many climbers shift forward on the saddle, narrowing the hip angle and putting the body weight closer to the bottom bracket. This isn't a permanent bike fit change; it's an in-the-moment positional adjustment.
Hand position on climbs. Hood position with elbows bent is the working pattern for most sustained climbing. Drops are usually too aggressive for climbing because they restrict diaphragm function. Tops can work for very steep climbs in a relaxed seated position.
Standing vs sitting. Standing recruits different muscles and provides relief from the seated position. Most cyclists shift between seated and standing on longer climbs, with standing intervals of 15–30 seconds breaking up sustained seated efforts. Pure standing for very long efforts (over 2–3 minutes) is energy-inefficient.
Bike fit baseline. The deeper issue is whether your bike fit supports good climbing position. Saddle height, saddle setback, reach, and bar drop all affect climbing comfort and power. A bike fit optimised for flat-ground time trial position often costs you on climbs. The detail is in the bike fit one change amateurs should make.
The fix. Practice deliberate position adjustments on training climbs. Try shifting forward on the saddle on steep sections. Alternate seated and standing periods. Get a bike fit if your position has never been professionally adjusted — the single highest-leverage equipment intervention for most amateur cyclists.
Reason 5: The mental game
Often the fastest fixable reason because the change can happen in weeks rather than months. Three patterns dominate amateur mental climbing struggles.
Fear of suffering. The cyclist who anticipates the suffering of a climb and pre-emptively reduces effort to avoid it. The body has enormous tolerance for sustained effort; the brain quits first in most cases. The cyclist who reframes the suffering as expected and acceptable rides harder, faster, and longer.
Negative self-talk. "I'm bad at climbing." "I'll get dropped here." "I can't hold the wheels." Repeated internal narrative that becomes self-fulfilling. The fix is structured replacement of the narrative — specific phrases or cues that replace the negative pattern. "Smooth," "rhythm," "strong" are common ones.
Mental quitting before physical necessity. The cyclist who decides at minute 5 of a 15-minute climb that they can't make it, sits up, and limps to the top. The body wasn't done; the brain decided it was. Often based on a sensation that's uncomfortable but not actually a fitness limit.
The fix. Several approaches help, depending on the rider.
- Specific cue words rehearsed in training. "Hold" for steady pacing. "Smooth" for rhythm maintenance. Built across weeks until they become automatic.
- Mental rehearsal of difficult climbs. Visualise the climb section by section, including the difficult moments and the response to them. Builds expectation and preparation.
- Reframe the suffering. "This is what fitness feels like." "This is the work." "This is supposed to hurt." Specific phrases that normalize the discomfort.
- External focus. Looking ahead at landmarks rather than down at the head unit. Counting pedal strokes. Music in one ear (where legal/safe). Anything that breaks the internal negative loop.
- Practice under controlled discomfort. Indoor sessions designed to push the mental threshold deliberately — long sweet spot blocks, repeated VO2max efforts — build mental tolerance that transfers to climbs.
The mental game is the fastest fixable reason because it doesn't require months of physical adaptation. The cyclist who recognises and changes the mental pattern can produce immediate gains in climbing performance.
Jack Burke's approach
When Jack Burke — UK Hill Climb record holder — was on the podcast, his protocol for climbing fast was specific and slightly different from general climbing advice. The detail is in the secrets of the world's fastest hill climber episode.
Specific training for the event. Hill climb specificity matters. Burke trains on the climbs he races, in the conditions he races, with the specific pacing strategy he plans to use. The transfer from generic climbing fitness to specific climbing performance requires this specificity.
Equipment optimisation. Lightweight kit, optimised bike setup, no unnecessary components. For elite hill climb racing, the equipment margins matter. For amateur sportive climbing, the equipment matters less than the rider — but going light still helps.
Pacing precision. Hill climbs are pacing exercises with intensity. Burke holds prescribed power numbers across the entire effort regardless of competitors or course conditions. The discipline is what produces record-setting times.
Mental preparation. Specific protocols leading into events. Visualisation, breathing exercises, controlled state management. The elite hill climbers treat the mental side as part of the training, not an afterthought.
Most of Burke's approach scales down to amateur climbing — specificity in training, precision in pacing, deliberate mental preparation. The amateurs who treat climbing as just "ride the bike up the hill" leave the gains on the table.
Training for climbing
Specific training that improves climbing performance:
Hill repeats. 4–6 reps of 3–5 minutes climbing efforts on a target gradient (4–7%), with full recovery between. Builds climbing-specific power and pacing discipline. Run as a block of 4–6 weeks during build phase.
Sustained threshold climbs. 20–30 minute efforts at threshold on long climbs. Specific to longer climbing events. Particularly relevant for sportive and gran fondo preparation.
Low cadence work. As described in the low cadence training guide. Develops muscular endurance for the slightly-lower cadences needed on steep climbs.
Strength training. Heavy compound lifts twice per week — the strength training guide covers the protocol. The leg strength supports the high-force pedal strokes needed on steep climbs.
Group rides with climbs. Practice in race conditions. Climbing in a group with surge dynamics builds race-specific pacing discipline.
Long aerobic rides with climbs in the back half. Tests durability — can you produce the same climbing power at hour 3 of a ride as at hour 1? Often the limiter on long sportive climbs.
What to do next
Start with the Plateau Diagnostic — four minutes, free, returns the one change most likely to move your numbers. The audit identifies which of the five climbing limiters is your primary one. If you blow up early on climbs, pacing is the issue. If your W/kg sits below the range for your goals, body composition and power development. If you're grinding at 60 RPM consistently, cadence and gearing. If your bike position has never been professionally fitted, position. If you're mentally quitting before your body is done, the mental game.
Use the W/kg calculator to assess your power-to-weight numbers. Use the race weight calculator to set realistic body composition targets. For climbing-specific event preparation, the event planner tools cover Etape, Marmotte, and other major climbing events.
For specific coaching support, the event prep coaching pathway is the direct route for cyclists targeting climbing events. The Roadman Method at $297-397/month is the structured 12-month programme that takes a rider through full periodisation including climbing-focused blocks. The Not Done Yet community at $195/month handles climbing-specific questions in the weekly coaching call.
Andrew Feather beat Pogacar by pacing better, not by being a faster cyclist. The amateur who fixes the same things — pacing, power-to-weight, cadence, position, the mental game — usually finds they're faster than they thought they could be. Pick the one that hits closest to home. Fix it. The climbs get easier.