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Question about hill climbing technique
Peter S wrote:
Forgive this novice question ;o) Most of my cycling is just for exercise and I ride the same one or two fairly flat routes before work in the mornings. On the weekend I did a much longer ride than normal which put a few hills into my ride. I noticed that if i stayed on the seat I naturally had to gear down a lot to cope with the incline while sliding back in the saddle and pushing harder. I tried standing a couple of times but found the gearing too low, pedals turning too fast. Is it the 'normal' thing to either gear down a notch and stay seated, or alternatively gear up a notch and get off the seat? My legs soon ached if I tried standing for too long but i think maybe that's just because I'm not used to hills and don't have any practice at it at all. Do all you hill climbers 'gear up' and then stand up?? Pete I'm no hill climber, but from what I've read there are lots of different studies that have been done on the best way to approach this. You can go for the Lance Armstrong approach and go for a high candence (rpm) climb, or the Jan Ullrich approach where you stay in a bigger gear and grind your way to the top. Standing out of your seat increases the power to the pedals, but requires more energy, so you won't be able to do that for long. I usually try to maintain a constant cadence up the hill to reduce fatigue, so this involves changing gears. I also lean back a little and some say you should pull slightly on your handlebars. Practice will definately help you maintain bigger gears up the hill. You can also "pull" yourself up if you use clipless pedals which utilises different muscle groups. -- |
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#2
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Question about hill climbing technique
Forgive this novice question ;o)
Most of my cycling is just for exercise and I ride the same one or two fairly flat routes before work in the mornings. On the weekend I did a much longer ride than normal which put a few hills into my ride. I noticed that if i stayed on the seat I naturally had to gear down a lot to cope with the incline while sliding back in the saddle and pushing harder. I tried standing a couple of times but found the gearing too low, pedals turning too fast. Is it the 'normal' thing to either gear down a notch and stay seated, or alternatively gear up a notch and get off the seat? My legs soon ached if I tried standing for too long but i think maybe that's just because I'm not used to hills and don't have any practice at it at all. Do all you hill climbers 'gear up' and then stand up?? Pete |
#3
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Question about hill climbing technique
"Peter S" wrote in message ... Forgive this novice question ;o) Most of my cycling is just for exercise and I ride the same one or two fairly flat routes before work in the mornings. On the weekend I did a much longer ride than normal which put a few hills into my ride. I noticed that if i stayed on the seat I naturally had to gear down a lot to cope with the incline while sliding back in the saddle and pushing harder. I tried standing a couple of times but found the gearing too low, pedals turning too fast. Is it the 'normal' thing to either gear down a notch and stay seated, or alternatively gear up a notch and get off the seat? My legs soon ached if I tried standing for too long but i think maybe that's just because I'm not used to hills and don't have any practice at it at all. Do all you hill climbers 'gear up' and then stand up?? Pete Pete, I usually sit and spin for longer hills, concentrating on a smooth circular action. However, when I stand eg switchback corner or when aburst is required I gear up and then stand. It is good to practice both techniques Kevin |
#4
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Question about hill climbing technique
Sit back , dont pull on bars to much , heels down......repeat this
phrase..."the hills are my friends".........enjoy Stand & gear up if getting to hard to give muscles a rest.....try to sit as long as possible...... "Peter S" wrote in message ... Forgive this novice question ;o) Most of my cycling is just for exercise and I ride the same one or two fairly flat routes before work in the mornings. On the weekend I did a much longer ride than normal which put a few hills into my ride. I noticed that if i stayed on the seat I naturally had to gear down a lot to cope with the incline while sliding back in the saddle and pushing harder. I tried standing a couple of times but found the gearing too low, pedals turning too fast. Is it the 'normal' thing to either gear down a notch and stay seated, or alternatively gear up a notch and get off the seat? My legs soon ached if I tried standing for too long but i think maybe that's just because I'm not used to hills and don't have any practice at it at all. Do all you hill climbers 'gear up' and then stand up?? Pete |
#5
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Question about hill climbing technique
"Peter S" wrote in message ... Forgive this novice question ;o) Most of my cycling is just for exercise and I ride the same one or two fairly flat routes before work in the mornings. On the weekend I did a much longer ride than normal which put a few hills into my ride. I noticed that if i stayed on the seat I naturally had to gear down a lot to cope with the incline while sliding back in the saddle and pushing harder. I tried standing a couple of times but found the gearing too low, pedals turning too fast. Is it the 'normal' thing to either gear down a notch and stay seated, or alternatively gear up a notch and get off the seat? My legs soon ached if I tried standing for too long but i think maybe that's just because I'm not used to hills and don't have any practice at it at all. Do all you hill climbers 'gear up' and then stand up?? Pete I usually go to my lowest gear and grind.... Unfortunately I seem unable to spin when goign up hill/ Must be the extra weight I've been carrying this year. Karl aka Stomper |
#6
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Question about hill climbing technique
Peter S wrote:
Thanks for all the responses - I knew after a few hills that there must be a right and wrong technique - seems to me that those riders that like hills are a rare breed. I'm not one of them! But it sounds like practice, determination and mixing it between grinding up low and standing for a while in a higher gear is the way to do it. And being fit probably helps too. I used to have a bad habit of a very low cadence. Nothing more than personal preference, and not knowing any better. I loved hills, simply because I was good at them. After several years and various knee problems/pain, I found that a high cadece is better. Several years after that, I can definately state that my aerobic stamina is much better, and my cruising speed is much higher than its ever been. But since I no longer cadence slowly anymore, as a consequence, I'm lacking in the raw strength department, and can no longer climb hills like I used to. In the meantime, I'm doing short stints of higher gear/harder pedalling to try to build up my strength, without staying at a low cadence for extended periods. As for your standing/sitting question, as already metioned in this thread, if you stand, you can apply more force, but at a cost of efficiency, so it's only good for the short term. -- Linux Registered User # 302622 http://counter.li.org |
#7
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Question about hill climbing technique
On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 20:47:47 -0700, Peter S wrote:
Most of my cycling is just for exercise and I ride the same one or two fairly flat routes before work in the mornings. On the weekend I did a much longer ride than normal which put a few hills into my ride. I noticed that if i stayed on the seat I naturally had to gear down a lot to cope with the incline while sliding back in the saddle and pushing harder. I tried standing a couple of times but found the gearing too low, pedals turning too fast. Is it the 'normal' thing to either gear down a notch and stay seated, or alternatively gear up a notch and get off the seat? My legs soon ached if I tried standing for too long but i think maybe that's just because I'm not used to hills and don't have any practice at it at all. Do all you hill climbers 'gear up' and then stand up?? I've found that I do best when I alternate sitting in my lowest couple of gears and standing in third to fifth, usually sitting on the flatter stretches. They seem to load muscles differently, providing some relief from each other, and I guess there's some mental diversion, too :-) When sitting, try to sit well back on the saddle, holding the tops of the bars, sitting as upright as possible to help your breathing. Pull on the bars a little if you like, but don't overdo it. It takes some practice to stand and feel relaxed without wobbling around, and your legs won't take much of it until they toughen up a bit. Make a point of standing rather than changing down when you take off quickly from lights and go up short slopes around town, even if it means changing up instead, and soon you'll feel comfortable doing it on real hills. Lean on the brake hoods and wrap your fingers around them lightly, but don't pull on them - find the gear that offers the best resistance to your body weight, and let the bike rock a little from side to side. -- bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo |
#8
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Question about hill climbing technique
BG wrote:
Sit back , dont pull on bars to much , heels down......repeat this phrase..."the hills are my friends".........enjoy Stand & gear up if getting to hard to give muscles a rest.....try to sit as long as possible...... "Peter S" wrote in message ... Forgive this novice question ;o) Most of my cycling is just for exercise and I ride the same one or two fairly flat routes before work in the mornings. On the weekend I did a much longer ride than normal which put a few hills into my ride. I noticed that if i stayed on the seat I naturally had to gear down a lot to cope with the incline while sliding back in the saddle and pushing harder. I tried standing a couple of times but found the gearing too low, pedals turning too fast. Is it the 'normal' thing to either gear down a notch and stay seated, or alternatively gear up a notch and get off the seat? My legs soon ached if I tried standing for too long but i think maybe that's just because I'm not used to hills and don't have any practice at it at all. Do all you hill climbers 'gear up' and then stand up?? Pete Everyone has something different to say on the hill climbing. Here's my contribution. Attach an occy strap to the faster cyclist in front. Gradually ease off your workload until you're just coasting up the hill behind them and see how long before they notice. Tamyka |
#9
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Question about hill climbing technique
Peter S wrote:
Michael Warner wrote: It takes some practice to stand and feel relaxed without wobbling around, and your legs won't take much of it until they toughen up a bit. Make a point of standing rather than changing down when you take off quickly from lights and go up short slopes around town, even if it means changing up instead, and soon you'll feel comfortable doing it on real hills. Lean on the brake hoods and wrap your fingers around them lightly, but don't pull on them - find the gear that offers the best resistance to your body weight, and let the bike rock a little from side to side. I'd never have thought of practicing to stand when moving off from lights etc. Excellent - I'll use this practice technique on future rides. I was watching my tape of the live stage SBS broadcast of the Tour for the first time tonight, and after reading the responses to my question to this group and it's clear to see that once the proper technique is learned it looks really fluid and natural, albeit still needing strength and fitness. It looks to me that when the pros stand they stand pretty well straight up and move the bike from side to side to balance out their pedalling action. I'm looking forward to tomorrow mornings ride already! - and the forecast is fine and dry :0) Pete I used to do the standing take off thing at traffic lights, but after snapping a few cranks and nearly getting run over (see earlier posts) I gave up doing it on the commuter bike. Mark |
#10
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Question about hill climbing technique
"Stomper" I usually go to my lowest gear and grind.... Unfortunately I seem unable to spin when goign up hill/ Must be the extra weight I've been carrying this year. Karl aka Stomper Thanks for all the responses - I knew after a few hills that there must be a right and wrong technique - seems to me that those riders that like hills are a rare breed. I'm not one of them! But it sounds like practice, determination and mixing it between grinding up low and standing for a while in a higher gear is the way to do it. And being fit probably helps too. Pete |
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