What can a pro cyclist teach us mere mortals about climbing hills? On a chilly Monday morning, I find myself at the foot of Box Hill with Team Sky's Ben Swift and a clutch of cycling journalists to find out.
Ben is an ambassador for the London Cycle Sportive, an Olympics-themed sportive in May that finishes with a lap of the Herne Hill Velodrome in south London. Herne Hill hosted the cycling events at London's 1948 Olympic Games, and the London Cycle Sportive also takes in sections of the 2012 Olympics road race, including Box Hill - which is why we are here today.
Box Hill is a climb that most cyclists in London and the south east will know well. With its immaculate road surface, mild gradient and hairpin bends, it's basically a bonsai Alpe d'Huez and one of Surrey's most celebrated Strava scalps. I've only ridden it once before today, and while I'm slightly sceptical about how much it's possible to teach the technique of riding up hills ridiculously fast, I have high hopes of beating my time of 7:34...
To add a little extra spice to the occasion, after Ben has presented his tips we're to be given a chance to race each other up the hill before interviews. Sportive's very honour is on the line: the stakes couldn't be higher.
Without further ado then, here are Ben Swift's hill-climbing tips.
1) Don't panic
Hills can provide a mental challenge as much as a physical one. Ben Swift advises cyclists to stay calm when the road points up, and do their own thing: "Don't worry about following a wheel, just find your own rhythm," he says.
2) Focus on your breathing
"The thing I try to do is focus on my breathing," Ben says. "A lot of people forget to keep their breathing smooth, but by concentrating on that you can ride the climb a bit smoother."
3) Stay (mostly) seated
Advice varies on whether to stay seated or stand out of the saddle when climbing - and you'll see pros adopting both approaches, depending on the severity of the incline. But for a climb like Box Hill, Ben's advice to sportive riders is to stay seated and spin up it - although you can switch it up with out-of-the-saddle efforts if you want a change of pace.
4) Use the bends as a catapult
Ever thought of using hairpins as a platform to accelerate on a climb? It's a new one on me, but Ben suggests using the corners on Box Hill as "a catapult" to speed out of. It might take a bit of practice, but worth a try...
5) Combine distance trainining with hill repeats
So you're training for a sportive: should you focus on getting the miles in, or hit the hills for some strenuous climbing efforts?
"I think you need a combination of both," Ben says. "Hills break up your training ride, and make it a bit more exciting. They're good for doing your efforts because they allow a change of rhythm and a change of pace."
Descend like a pro
So now you know how to get up a hill. What about getting down it again? Ben has the answer to that too. As we straggle one by one into the car park at the cafe atop Box Hill, we get a few minutes to collect ourselves while Swifty, cool as the proverbial, muses on the art of going down.
1) Brake ahead of the curve
"Roads can be super, super-slippy," Ben notes, nodding at the damp surface around us, "so you almost want to be slowed down before you hit the corner. You never really want to be braking mid-corner because that's when you crash a lot. Do your braking before you get to the corner. You want to be exiting the corner with a bit of speed, not braking mid corner and then having to go again."
2) Stay relaxed
When it comes to descendng, says Ben, "Most of it's about just staying smooth, having a good position on the bike and not being too stiff in the upper body. A lot of people can kind of grip and focus too much and be a bit nervous and it's almost like you go round like a fifty-pence piece. So if you can take the corner in one fluid motion it makes it a lot easier.
3) Use the full road
Use as much of the road as you can when going downhill, in order to get the best line into a bend. "Obviously," says Ben, "it's a lot easier when we do it when the roads are closed and you get the full width." Most sportives don't have the luxury of closed roads, so take care and look out for oncoming traffic when reaching high speeds on downhills.
4) Use the drops for speed
Ben says that in a race, he doesn't necessarily use the drops for every descent. "It depends how it's going," he says. "Whether you're trying to catch back up... it depends on the race situation." However, he adds: "normally I descend in the drops." Most pros will tuck into the drops on long descents, as this position offers a lower centre of gravity for rapid cornering as well as a more aerodynamic profile. It's a technique worth practising if you want to go faster. (And if you're really keen, you can always try the Team Sky "superman" position...)
5) Woohoo!
Ben's final word on going downhill is to "just enjoy it. You've worked hard getting up there, so, enjoy it going down!"
Interview time
I mentioned there was a press race; you may be wondering who won. Well, I'd love to tell you but I don't know; I started the climb still stuck in my highest gear from the descent (rookie error) and by the time I got myself sorted two of the bunch were out of sight around the first bend. However I am thrilled to reveal that I finished in front of Swifty, who was taking the chance to have a leisurely chat on the way up...full gas? I guess it was a rest day.
Cycling done for the day, we head back to The Tree pub at the top of Box Hill for coffee and interviews. The deal is we each have a chance to interrogate Ben one-to-one, presumably to winkle out the real secret-squirrel-classified hill climbing tips that he didn't want to reveal to the group en masse. I didn't quite manage that, but I did find out about Ben's targets for the year and the French training camps he attended as a child...
Sportive: So you're just back from Dubai - how was the journey?
Ben Swift: Yeah, it was all right actually. It was on that new double decker bus...
Sportive: Oh yeah, is that your new team bus?
BS: No, you know...the big air bus thing.
Sportive: Oh, a plane.
BS: Yeah. It was nice. Actually get a good bit of leg room there so it's all right...
Sportive: What are your targets for this season, your goals?
BS: The first is Milan-San Remo, which is coming up towards the end of March. I performed well in that last year finishing 3rd, behind Alexander Kristoff and Fabian Cancellara and it gave me the confidence and belief in myself that I can target races like that and try and get a good result there.
Sportive: Do you know who the team is?
BS: Not just yet. And then it's Tour of Yorkshire will be the next big focus. It's brand new, first one this year, following up on the legacy of the Tour de France. It's going to be great. I'm originally from Yorkshire, Rotherham, so it'll be nice to race there in front of a home crowd.
Sportive: So are the classics your main focus this year?
BS: Well, only Milan-San Remo, not so much the cobbled classics. Just because, at the moment still with my shoulder injury, I still need to give that a bit of time to strengthen up. And just around the classics sort of time there's more races that are suited to my style with, like, familiar sort of stage races. And that's kind of where Milan-San Remo fits in with that, it's got good hills that suit my style of riding.
Sportive: Are they tougher than Box Hill?
BS: Yeah a little bit. Just a little bit.
Sportive: So our website is mainly for sportive riders. I was wondering have you any advice for our readers about Box Hill. Like, do you have any psychological tips? What goes through your head when you're approaching a climb?
BS: Hills are the focal point of the race, whether it's a race or a sportive, you know what's coming up on the profile. So it just depends how you are in that situation. Like for me, I tend to try and give myself a bit of sliding room so I get to the front, or nearer the front, and then it lets you slip down the peloton a little bit if you need to. Where in a sportive you've got a lot of people out there of all different abilities, so it's just good to set your own rhythm. There's always going to be someone to ride with along the way.
Sportive changing subject at random: You went over to Europe when you first started racing?
BS: Yeah I've been going to europe. I think the first time I went over was in 96 or something, or maybe even before that. I was about 8. I was in a group that went over and the following year my parents came and helped with the group.
Sportive: Was that BMX stuff or road racing?
BS: No it was like a kids' sort of race. A week long, you had a race in the morning, but you were separated into teams, so one from each category was in a team, and the team got named after a professional rider at the time...
Sportive: Do you remember what rider your team was?
BS: Oh I had quite a few different ones, I can't remember which one. And then so the racing counted to points towards the team, but each day you also had a team activity, like a sports day...
Sportive: So it wasn't just cycling?
BS: No, no...it was really good actually...I think it's still going at the moment but I'm not sure...
Sportive: Can you remember what it was called?
BS: First, eh, it changed location but it was the incomprehensible; sounds like something-Euro/railroad Tour.
Sportive: And do you think that aspiring British road cyclists these days need to go over to Europe for experience?
BS: I think that, it's just another level. Britain's good, I think Britain's changing now because we're getting so much more successful, so you can see it... But when I was a kid we only had one or two British professionals, so you had to go over to the continent. And I think the style of racing from when I was younger is a lot different on the continent.
Sportive: So we have a tradition of time trials here, and I know there are criteriums, but have we many road races over here?
BS: Yeah, there is. There's all the premier calendar sort of stuff. To be honest though, the only races I do in the UK are the National Championships, or the Tour of Britain or Tour of Yorkshire.
Sportive: So how are the new guys Team Sky's new signings for 2015 include Andrew Fenn, Leopold König, Lars Petter Nordhaug, Wout Poels and Nicolas Roche settling into the team?
BS: Yeah, good. We knew most of the guys already, we knew Nico Roche. I think they've really settled a lot into the team. Everybody's welcomed them really well.
Now I think Team Sky's got one of the strongest teams we've had since we've started. We've signed some very good riders, so it'll be interesting to see how we perform this year.
Sportive: What's the idea behind the new signings - now you've had the Grand Tour success, is the team looking to strengthen in other areas?
BS: There's always a natural cycle where some guys move on and want to pursue their own goals a little bit... so you're always looking to strengthen your team a little bit and I think the guys that we've brought in are going to do a brilliant job in the roles that they get given.
Sportive when in doubt: Wiggo: Will you miss Wiggins?
BS: Yeah, it is going to be quite sad to see him leave. He's become such an iconic rider and he's so professional in what he does. He'll be missed, yeah...
***
At this point Gillian from Human Race rescues us both, just as I was about to ask Ben his favourite colour. There is still time for further shame though, as I whip out a Team Sky jersey that I happen to have with me and ask if he'll sign it "for a friend".
I can't stress enough what a thoroughly decent, down to earth guy Ben is - having endured my demented interview technique, he now shows me how to hold a jersey properly so he can get a proper purchase on it. Sadly the pen I've given him is a fluorescent yellow marker, so his autograph is pretty much invisible on the black jersey. He exhibits concern. I assure him it's fine, thank him, wish him the best of luck for the season...and run back to the safety of the herd.
Ride the London Cycle Sportive
Ben Swift is ambassador for the London Cycle Sportive organised by Human Race. Taking place on Sunday 10 May, the route includes many landmarks from London's Olympic cycling history. Uniquely, the course finishes with a lap of Herne Hill Velodrome, used in London's 1948 Olympics, and riders will also sample sections of the 2012 Olympics road race route including, of course, Box Hill.
Three routes are on offer ranging in length from 48km to 166km, and participants are invited to fundraise for the event's two official grass roots sports charities: the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust and Access Sport. All the usual sportive goodies will be provided, including chip timing, feed stations, mechanical and medical support, and arrows so you don't get lost and cycle into the sea.
For more info, and to sign up for a chance to put Ben Swift's tips into practice, visit the event website at: http://humanrace.co.uk/events/cycling/london-cycle-sportive
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