Pushing v slogging

95rpm on a hill...how can you do that??!!

I suppose it depends on the hill...There are some gentle rollers I can keep a reasonable cadence on.
But the kind of hills the original poster (i assume) is talking about slows me down to a crawl. I'm
talking about 5-8 mph in the smallest chainring...where every revolution of the crank feels like a
leg press.

D.Putnam said:

95rpm on a hill...how can you do that??!!

Low gears and strong legs :-)

Quoted message said:

I suppose it depends on the hill...

Sure does.

Quoted message said:

the kind of hills the original poster (i assume) is talking about slows me down to a crawl.

I'm thinking an average kind of hill for a Wednesday club ride, where I'll be doing around 9-10mph
in bottom gear (31/25 on a 700x32c). Absolutely not mountain passes - but my aversion to standing
and grinding would almost certainly cause me to ride a Trice XL with extra-low gearing should I try
these kinds of slopes.

Now, the OP has a .sig in the Caledonian argot which indicates that his hills are much bigger than
mine. But I am quite fit; very few people pass me going up any hill on a bike. Or walking for that
matter - I've hiked from Llanberis to Snowdon Summit and back in under 3 hours; 16 miles round trip,
1000m climb. Not fell-running pace by any means, but very fast for walking.

OK, so now I have to work out how long and how steep those hills are. The link below is Sulham Hill,
it climbs about 55 metres in half a mile, which would be fairly typical of the kind of hill we like
to take in on a Wednesday ride. Quite modest, really, and absolutely not a Big Hill, certainly not
by Scottish standards.

<multimap.combrowse.cgiOpen ↗
&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&scale=10000&out.x=5&out.y=11>

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

Just zis Guy, you know? <[email hidden]> wrote:
: in just under 43 minutes - not bad for a 40-year-old asthmatic whose only training was riding
: to work!

I think that can be quite effective. Guess how I'm going to train for races in 2004? 😉

--
Risto Varanka | helsinki.fihpv.htmlOpen ↗ varis at no spam please iki fi

Mon said:

Given all that, my feeling is to keep cranking and don't give up easily. Bernie

Where you live, you'd be walking all the time if you gave up easily. That place has staircases
instead of sidewalks!
--
zk

I suppose my terrain is part of my ego (and climbing) problem. I routinely ride on all the roads on
the hyperlinked map below:

topozone.commap.aspOpen ↗

The roads around Morton and Signal knob are especially crushing.

Zoot Katz said:

Mon said:

Given all that, my feeling is to keep cranking and don't give up easily. Bernie

Where you live, you'd be walking all the time if you gave up easily. That place has staircases
instead of sidewalks!
--
zk

If we had more days per year that were icy, we'd need stairs! Because I want to sleep in my own bed,
I climb a little mountain every afternoon. Bernie

D.Putnam said:

I routinely ride on all the roads on the hyperlinked map below:

Definitely Trice territory :-/

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

Fabrizio Mazzoleni said:

"Jon Isaacs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message .com...

Quoted message said:

For a 260 lb. rider/bike combination climbing a 10% grade in a

How the heck do you ever come out with that much weight? You must have meant 160 lb. (rider = 144)
(bike = 16) nothing else is acceptable.

Anyway, here's a little eye opener for you guys.

Take the '98 TdF, Jan Ullrich had the team mechanic Dirk Tyleca put 54x44 chainrings on for the
stage 7 time trial. I remember it was quite a undulating course in the Correze region with one
climb of the Côte de Chavagnac at the 12 km point.

Now guys like Jan and me never got out of the saddle once on the
6.7 km climb of the Chavagnac!

In fact, the road kicked up sharply at the finish and we keep it in the 54 right to the line!

I know what you mean dude. I keep it in the granny and crank my way to the top. No need to get my
butt off the leather! Bernie

Bernie said:

Bicycles being ridden straight up steep hills are also stable. Slow, steady, and stable. As I
said, it is easier on the ego to ride slow and steady than to give in and walk.

Easier on the body too: much less chance of getting banged on the legs by pedals. I find bikes are
notably unkind to the body when they're being pushed up hill.

you know? said:

Robert Chung said:

This may be why you feel less pressure on your knees when standing -- it's the angle, not the
cadence.

First credible justification for standing I've heard. Thanks.

Don't mind me if I keep spinning, though :-)

Here's another: gives your butt a chance to get off the saddle from time to time, thereby increasing
blood flow as well as allowing a bit of evaporative cooling.

Steve Palincsar said:

Bernie said:

Bicycles being ridden straight up steep hills are also stable. Slow, steady, and stable. As I
said, it is easier on the ego to ride slow and steady than to give in and walk.

Easier on the body too: much less chance of getting banged on the legs by pedals. I find bikes are
notably unkind to the body when they're being pushed up hill.

The "body" thing is not an issue! I'm afraid someone who knows me will see me walking my bike! I
give in to no hill. It's an ego trip, but there ya go! Best regards, Bernie

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Steve Palincsar said:

Bernie said:

Bicycles being ridden straight up steep hills are also stable. Slow, steady, and stable. As I
said, it is easier on the ego to ride slow and steady than to give in and walk.

Easier on the body too: much less chance of getting banged on the legs by pedals. I find bikes
are notably unkind to the body when they're being pushed up hill.

The "body" thing is not an issue! I'm afraid someone who knows me will see me walking my bike! I
give in to no hill. It's an ego trip, but there ya go!

You think so? Then try the Mt. Washington Hill Climb: tinmtn.orgindex.cfmOpen ↗

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

"Kev C" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi all. If you are going up a steep hill, lowest granny gear and your cadence goes way down is it
actually "better/easier" to get off and push or should you just keep slogging away?

I find that walking uses different muscles, so I prefer to walk if I'm not going any faster
by riding.

I have knee problems, so would rather avoid further stress.

I also use the opportunity to refuel. Easier to peel and eat a banana while walking than
while riding.

ymmv

btw why DO some cyclists think it's OK to discard wrappers, empty plastic bottles, and remnants
of fruit in the middle of the road? (sound like question for Fabio)

"Bernie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I know what you mean dude. I keep it in the granny and crank my way to the

top. No need to get my butt off the leather!

Wait a minute Bernie, I meant we keep it on the 54, you know the big ring.

I really hope your 'granny' is a 21 cog at most, a lot of guys will check your cogset out before the
ride and scoff at you if you show up with a 23.