Claire Petersky said:I can climb hills endlessly as long as I'm doing it aerobically. I can
toodle along, albeit slowly, until I reach the top. The hellaciousness for
me is an anaerobic climb. These are so unpleasant. And spinning is not an
option, because there's just no gear low enough. It *has* to be a mash.
What is obvious to me, though, is that the only way to expand the capacity
for aerobic climbing is to do anaerobic climbing. When I'm on the tandem
with my 12 year old, on some hills, anaerobic is the only option. The bike
is too heavy and the hill is too steep. So, I'm doing more anaerobic riding
when I'm riding hills with her. We have to stop, sometimes repeatedly, just
to catch our breath and get the heart rate down to something other than
maxed out. But then, I find when I'm on the single, on the way to work, say,
I'll find climbing that much easier than before.
So, do I simply understand it as, you must go through the hell of anaerobic
hill climbing to increase your aerobic capacity? And the hell you pay now
means less hell later on?
With the my tour in the Canadian Rockies looming up in less than a month,
these questions are not necessarily academic in nature :-)
I don't know much about the science of training. But I do know about
hauling a 12 year old around on a tandem.
I rode tandem with my daughter from age 3 to about age 17, and
occasionally thereafter. About the time she was 12, I was in the best
biking shape of my life. Yes, climbing hills was sometimes agony. But
rather than kill me, it made me very strong. I think it would do the
same for you.
BTW, I clearly recall climging with my heart bursting out of my chest,
when my daughter would suddenly start singing from the back seat. I
panted/growled "No singing! Pedal!" Of course, she said "I am
pedaling!" (Hah!)
Nowadays, she's a good cyclist, but she's an absolutely awesome singer.
(And she just got married Saturday!)
- Frank Krygowski
