Agree with these tips on climbing?

Ripped this from a bike shop web site and I sure as heck hope these tips
refer to mild long hills. If they are for steep climbs, I'd have to
disagree with all of them.

here's how to conquer climbs:

# Sit tall: If you remain upright, rather than crouched over the bars,
you'll find it easier to breathe. And, if you can get more oxygen,
you'll feel stronger and you won't tire too quickly.

# Learn to stand: One of the best ways to scale hills is occasionally
standing to pedal. Although this takes a little practice to perfect, it
lets you use body weight to turn the pedals, which is easier than
pushing them with muscle power alone. To do it, simply stand up
(remaining crouched slightly) and lean forward a bit. As each pedal
reaches the top of the stroke, rest your weight on it and push down to
pedal. With practice this becomes fluid and the bike rocks slightly as
you shift side to side with each push. Let the slope dictate where you
stand. Rather than shifting to an easier gear, stand up on steeper
sections. You'll use different muscles and your crotch will thank you, too.

# Use an easy gear: It's always best to start hills in an easy gear and
then shift into a slightly harder one, if you feel up to it. That way,
you won't burn too much energy starting the climb and you'll be able to
pace yourself to the top.

On Tue, 26 Aug 2003 19:38:28 -0500, Destroy wrote:
Ripped this from a bike shop web site and I sure as heck hope these tips
refer to mild long hills. If they are for steep climbs, I'd have to
disagree with all of them.

I agree that starting in a lower gear is a good idea, particularly on
long, steep hills. I read this once somewhere from a pro rider (a female,
if it matters), and tried it. It works. Climbing a long hill at a
manageable pace is actually faster than blasting up the first half and
walking up the second. Just make sure you give those riders who insist on
blasting up the first half enough time to get out of your way.

It depends on the hill, of course. Around here, "hills" are at least a
half-mile in distance and several hundred feet elevation gain. On small
hills, you can get away with a lot more.

--
-BB-
To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

"Destroy" wrote in message
...
Ripped this from a bike shop web site and I sure as heck hope these tips
refer to mild long hills. If they are for steep climbs, I'd have to
disagree with all of them.

here's how to conquer climbs:

# Sit tall: If you remain upright, rather than crouched over the bars,
you'll find it easier to breathe. And, if you can get more oxygen,
you'll feel stronger and you won't tire too quickly.

# Learn to stand: One of the best ways to scale hills is occasionally
standing to pedal. Although this takes a little practice to perfect, it
lets you use body weight to turn the pedals, which is easier than
pushing them with muscle power alone. To do it, simply stand up
(remaining crouched slightly) and lean forward a bit. As each pedal
reaches the top of the stroke, rest your weight on it and push down to
pedal. With practice this becomes fluid and the bike rocks slightly as
you shift side to side with each push. Let the slope dictate where you
stand. Rather than shifting to an easier gear, stand up on steeper
sections. You'll use different muscles and your crotch will thank you,
too.

# Use an easy gear: It's always best to start hills in an easy gear and
then shift into a slightly harder one, if you feel up to it. That way,
you won't burn too much energy starting the climb and you'll be able to
pace yourself to the top.


Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

#1 Give bike to lift operator.

#2 Follow lift operators instructions on where to stand.

#3 Wait for chair to come around and sit down and quickly pick feet up.

#4 Reverse for dismounting at the top.

Mike ;^)

Destroy wrote:
Ripped this from a bike shop web site and I sure as heck hope these tips
refer to mild long hills. If they are for steep climbs, I'd have to
disagree with all of them.

here's how to conquer climbs:

# Sit tall: If you remain upright, rather than crouched over the bars,
you'll find it easier to breathe. And, if you can get more oxygen,
you'll feel stronger and you won't tire too quickly.

I can't remember how long it took me, but I've learned to breathe quite
well while sitting and stretched out. You've got to stay seated on
steep trails because you need to keep pressure on both wheels and the
tipping point is too small to manage while standing. Just relax your
belly muscles and sag your gut out to give your diaphragm room to move.
At 9000', it's kind of cool to feel your lungs expand and contract
completely 120 times per minute, once you get over the burning in your
throat and lungs.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect
our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security."
--Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 16:48:46 +0100, Shaun Rimmer wrote:

It all (OP) sounded like roadie advice to me mate.

Ah, now it makes sense. I sometimes forget about their fruity little
world.

--
-BB-
To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

Destroy wrote:

here's how to conquer climbs:

# Sit tall: If you remain upright, rather than crouched over the bars,
you'll find it easier to breathe. And, if you can get more oxygen,
you'll feel stronger and you won't tire too quickly.

What oxygen? My last ride topped at 11,000 (or so) MSL. Seriously,
traction wins over staying aerobic-stay low.

# Learn to stand: One of the best ways to scale hills is occasionally
standing to pedal. Although this takes a little practice to perfect, it
lets you use body weight to turn the pedals, which is easier than
pushing them with muscle power alone. To do it, simply stand up
(remaining crouched slightly) and lean forward a bit. As each pedal
reaches the top of the stroke, rest your weight on it and push down to
pedal. With practice this becomes fluid and the bike rocks slightly as
you shift side to side with each push. Let the slope dictate where you
stand. Rather than shifting to an easier gear, stand up on steeper
sections. You'll use different muscles and your crotch will thank you, too.

How long are these hills? I do stand occasionaly on all but the
steepest climbs to stretch, but not for long.

# Use an easy gear: It's always best to start hills in an easy gear and
then shift into a slightly harder one, if you feel up to it. That way,
you won't burn too much energy starting the climb and you'll be able to
pace yourself to the top.

If you feel up to it? Pansy. Hammer it. ;-)

Rimmer's right. Not only roadie advice, but tourist advice.

Cheers,
Shawn

It all (OP) sounded like roadie advice to me mate.


Shaun aRe


Dittos. And too general to be of any use.

Now here's some real advice from a true stallion among ponies:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...ountain-bike.*

Indeed, good info, thanks. Quick question though, when standing should
one still pull up on the clips to try and maintain smooth continuos
power delivery?

Destroy wrote:
Indeed, good info, thanks. Quick question though, when standing should
one still pull up on the clips to try and maintain smooth continuos
power delivery?


Under normal conditions, pulling up just gets in the way of pushing down
(according to an actual study). Only if you're pushing a long gear for
the situation should you try to torque both sides.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect
our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security."
--Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

BB wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 16:48:46 +0100, Shaun Rimmer wrote:

It all (OP) sounded like roadie advice to me mate.

Ah, now it makes sense. I sometimes forget about their fruity little
world.

Huh - and there's me thinking it sounded like roadie crap cos it _didn't_
make sense. Takes all sorts I guess......





Shaun aRe

Paladin wrote in message
om...
"Shaun Rimmer" wrote in message
...
BB wrote in message

It depends on the hill, of course. Around here, "hills" are at least a
half-mile in distance and several hundred feet elevation gain. On
small
hills, you can get away with a lot more.

It all (OP) sounded like roadie advice to me mate.


Shaun aRe

Dittos. And too general to be of any use.

Indeed - you need to actually ride up hills to figure out how best to ride
up hills.

Now here's some real advice from a true stallion among ponies:


http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...e=off&selm=3AD
F6E32.B7A81475%40qwest.net&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%
3DUTF8%26safe%3Doff%26q%3DPaladin%2Bclimbing%2Bsin g%2Bgroup%253Aalt.mountain
-bike.*%26btnG%3DGoogle%2BSearch%26meta%3Dgroup%253 Dalt.mountain-bike.*


What's with you and all these mile long URL's recently?!?!?



Shaun aRe