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#1
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
Am I just a wimp and need to suck it up and practice, practice, practice. I've been riding my muni on a local mountain bike loop for a little over a month. Avoiding the steep stuff, just mild, rolling single and double track cross country. The learning curve for downhill has been pretty good, but riding up what I consider to be minor grades stops me dead. I have been able to go up a few sections that I couldn't last month but they are very minor slopes and it is discouraging. Do you never see muni vidios of riders going up because it is not any fun to watch or because they walk up? -- mtnjeffe ------------------------------------------------------------------------ mtnjeffe's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/16807 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
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#2
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
What size are your cranks and wheel? I've been out on muni trips with my 20" (because that was my only uni) and it was tiring. And I couldn't go uphill. -- fluxusmaximus ------------------------------- http://www.thecollectiveus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ fluxusmaximus's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12582 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#3
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
I am on a 26 with 165's -- mtnjeffe ------------------------------------------------------------------------ mtnjeffe's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/16807 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#4
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
It's fun to conquer a hill. There are quite a few around here that I'm still working on. I actually get more excited about making it up a steep hill than riding down one. When I first started muni, I bought some longer cranks (165s on my 29er) so I would have some more leverage when stomping on the pedals. After about a year I was able to retire the 165s and am back down to 150s. -- capuni ------------------------------------------------------------------------ capuni's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/15514 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#5
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
Uphill is hard, but with practice you can climb most things that you could climb on a bike. The exception is short very steep slopes, where on a bike you'd need a massive run up to get speed up, whilst on a unicycle you can't get the speed required. The bike still has a bit of an edge on really steep stuff, but not massively. Learning to ride uphill will help you on the downhill too with increased fitness, better strength for control, some riders do always walk the uphills, but every really good rider I've met will ride as much uphill as they possibly can. I know when I started, I used to attempt to ride a long uphill stretch, about 1km and 150m of ascent in total, on a ride I did most weeks. To start with it was completely impossible, and it took me about a year before I rode it the first time. Last time I was back there, after a few years gap, during which I've ridden quite a bit in other places, it was easy. Joe -- joemarshall my pics http://gallery.unicyclist.com/albuq44 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ joemarshall's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1545 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#6
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
The stronger hill climbers I've seen always seem to use shorter cranks and a constant "zippy" cadence for the ups. Or at least just a "zippy" aggressive cadence, the terrain probably dictates the crank size. Edit: Also "standing" on the pedals and pulling up on the seat seems to leverage a little extra power on the uphills. -- BluntRM ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BluntRM's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12994 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#7
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
Are you more used to shorter cranks? I know that when I got my 29" with 170s, I didn't know how to ride it at all after being too used to my 20", 125mm configuration. I agree with BluntRM - standing on the pedals helps because you're forcing your weight on the pedals. Another reason might be that you're too afraid to fall off to lean forward enough. -- fluxusmaximus ------------------------------- http://www.thecollectiveus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ fluxusmaximus's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12582 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#8
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
mtnjeffe wrote: Do you never see muni vidios of riders going up because it is not any fun to watch or because they walk up? We ride as much up as down here in the northern part of California. Most of us prefer 150s, but some on these boards will argue that 165s or 170s are better because of increased leverage. Climbing uphill is definitely a unique technique to be learned. Try to relax. Hold onto the handle with one hand. Stand up or sit down, which ever is most comfortable at the moment. On steeper stuff, your pedal strokes will be half a revolution at a time. When you get better, you can actually take mini breaks by still-standing if the grade isn't too steep. -- phlegm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ phlegm's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8382 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#9
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
Riding uphill is a combination of technique and fitness. Technique being the more important part. No amount of fitness will get you up challenging climbs if you don't have the technique. It is also about learning to pace yourself so you don't blow up during the climb. If the climb is steep enough that you need to stand on the pedals you need to switch over to a technique that is more efficient for that style of climbing. If you're standing on the pedals you need to smooth out the pedaling so you don't get stuck at the bottom of the pedal stroke. I do a little bounce technique where I flex my foot to point the toes down at the bottom of the pedal stroke. That gives a little bounce at the bottom of the pedal stroke and keeps you from losing momentum at the bottom of the pedal stroke and wasting energy. You want to dance on the pedals and not mash them with Frankenstein style steps. For longer climbs you can also learn to pause briefly while the pedals are horizontal so you can pace yourself and catch your breath. -- john_childs john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com Team Never Wash Your Muni 'My Gallery' (http://tinyurl.com/3d57bn) :: 'Unicycling Bookmark List' (http://backcountry.unicyclist.com/) :: 'World Clock' (http://tinyurl.com/2blym3) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#10
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Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just
I feel that it is almost easier to climb the steep hills on my usual route with 125mm cranks compared to 170mm. As BluntRM says the shorter cranks allows more of a flow uphill. With the 170s the larger movement counteracts the increased leverage, breaking the "flow" and hurting my knees (I'm 170cm/5'7"). I am going to mount the 150mm cranks again some day soon. Hopefully they will get me up the last few hills. Technique and fitness improve with practice so just keep at it! -- minkuni ------------------------------------------------------------------------ minkuni's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/16623 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/69224 Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
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