In rolling hills, you can use some of the energy spent climbing up one
hill to help you climb the next hill. When you top a hill, keep
turning the pedals, but don't push very hard. As you gain speed, tuck
down in aerodynamic position. When you are going so fast that it's
uncomfortable to pedal, coast. Watch for the moment when the next
hill slows you enough to start pedalling gently again. Shift a tad
sooner than needed, but not so soon that you spin uncomfortably. Odds
are that you'll be more than halfway up before you run out of
momentum.

Don't use the above method on bad or unpredictable pavement, or places
where visibility is poor.

----------------------

Riding is easier than walking, so most of the times that you get too
tired to continue climbing, it's better to rest for a while than to
walk up the hill. I was told to stand facing downhill while resting;
what I actually do is to stay in the saddle, leaning heavily on the
handlebars until I get my breath back.

Well, I usually get bored, move off too soon, and end up resting again
ten feet further along.

The best way to rest is, of course, flat on your back -- ideally with
your feet propped up on a wall or a tree. But places where you can do
that without attracting ambulances are vanishingly rare.

The top of one hill where I used to live featured a park with a wide
flat-topped wall that was very high on the parking side, and easy to
jump up on from the picnic-table side; I was never disturbed while
resting there.

For some reason, people don't bother you if you rest in a cemetery,
and cemeteries usually have shade trees. (Check for poison ivy.)

Passersby usually get the point when there is an entire racing team
sprawled on the lawn.


Continued next week

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.