A little ride out this afternoon

[ColinJ]

the inertia (of the bike and the rider) pushes the whole thing forward

Inertia is what resists you getting started. Momentum is what does the pushing!

I've only ever dared going up to Jubilee tower via Abbystead... but my friend Sian, who's also mid fifties and also more of a utility cyclist than a sporty one, always goes up the steep side via Quernmore.

I just remembered this...

I have experienced it [gearing snobbery] several times. One rather amusing example was when I was out doing the old Pendle Pedal sportive. I was riding down to the crossroads at Quernmore. I would be turning left at the crossroads and tackling a stiff climb up to the Jubilee Tower monument.

View attachment 125133

Just before my turn, I was overtaken by a fast-moving group of younger male riders. One of them spotted the gearing on my bike and started laughing. He called out "Ha ha - got yer triple ready have yer, granddad!"

They climbed away from me up round a RH bend where the road really starts to kick up. I engaged my 28/28 bottom gear and was twiddling my way up at a comfortable pace when I turned the bend and saw a slow-moving group of younger male WALKERS ahead of me, dripping sweat, and pushing their bikes.

I couldn't resist it ... I took my right hand off the bars, leaned down to extract a drinks bottle from its cage, and accelerated as I overtook them, riding one-handed. I took a long, casual drink and said them "Ha ha - looks like you need triples too, eh lads!"