mustang1
Guru
- Location
- London, UK
Mood dependent. Suit and spin our stand and grind. I'm fine with both.
The best 'technique' for any hill is improved fitnessIs it best to hit a steep climb in your granny gear and work through to a higher gear as you progress up the hill or hit it in a higher gear and work through to lower gears as the effort increases?
Good advice. There are some stretches of tarmac that I have studied in intimate detail.We all do it differently but one thing I never do is to look up for the top as it never seem to get closer. I just look down and raise my head every now and again.
Have you been on some MI5 course on how to resist torture or something????I am pretty much as @Racing roadkill states, two posts up.
Definitely need to be in the Small Ring. Best advice is to be ready before the climb starts, so you start off with a good rhythm.
I tend to push hard when on flat, or descending, prior to the climb and then drop to the Small Ring. There's a brief period of spinning faster than you would normally do, but then the gradient hits and you ease into the constant rhythm. You are also partially up the climb using mostly momentum.
I too try and hold back a few gears, so you don't blow your mind finding no lower gears early on. Most people crack mentally, before physically, so the "spare" gears are great at combatting this.
Another tool I use, is lying to myself about how long is left. I just tell myself there's only a quarter of a mile left, even if there's ten times that amount, then repeat it when that distance passes. On real steep ones, I think about random things like the list of things I need to get done, what I will buy next for the bike, or what family members may think if I gave up. The last one is always the final tool to be used, irrespective of knowing that family members wouldn't ever criticise. It's a pride thing!
Try it. It will prove to you that the brain is a complex thing and that it can often work against you subconsciously.
EDIT: I find the biggest issue for me, is running hot, so I try to not be the overdressed, especially on climbs!
Lol. No, unfortunately, but it could work I guess. Don't fancy finding out though!Have you been on some MI5 course on how to resist torture or something????
I've always had a lower cadence than the majority of cyclists (or it seems that way to me, anyway), and I've felt the same way as you. I've had partial success in increasing the cadence, but it's taken years and small increments.I outsource gear changing to my legs. They send requests for gear changes direct to my hands. I tend not to get involved much.
I did once read that lower gears are more efficient, or some such rot, and decided to try a New Regime. My legs were most unimpressed by the boss meddling in things he doesn't understand, and were relieved when I lost interest and started following another daft fad.