Rolling

Slow and steady is not a bad thing.

Still not quite alive after that last hill? Here are some more tips that your legs and lungs may thank you for.

Remain seated. Standing uses approx. 8-10% more energy per pedal stroke than sitting. You’ll apply more force (in direct body weight dropped into the pedal), but you’ll also use more energy to do it. For long climbs, stay seated when possible and use a lower gear / faster cadence to reduce the power required per stroke.

If you have to stand, position your weight correctly. When standing, we tend to lean forward, which can removes weight from the rear wheel. This reduces traction and will cause the wheel to slip/spin under the added pressure of standing. Don’t lean forward. And don’t pull hard on the handle bars while standing and leaning too far back… that’s a nice way to do a wheelie.

When group riding, announce your intentions. In a group, you’ll get lots of riders with lots of different climbing abilities. If you’re going to stand, call “Standing” to avoid hitting a bike directly behind you (bikes tend to shift backwards when you stand on a climb). Use “Slowing” if the climb comes up suddenly. And use “Passing left/right” or “On your left/right” to get around fellow riders.

Also when group riding, add some space on the sides. The steeper the climb, the lower the gearing, and the more bikes will tend to drift left and right. Allow more side-to-side space to prevent clipping.

It’s a long climb; don’t burn yourself out.

Here are some things to help get you over that next big climb. NOTE: This won’t make the hill any shorter or the road shallower. But you might not fall over when you’re done.

Study the terrain. If you have a route map, check out the terrain profile before the ride. By knowing how far into a ride your the climbs are, they won’t take you by surprise.

Conserve energy. If you’ve got a climb coming up, ease back on the pace a little to avoid early burn-out on the climb.

Ease into it. You’ll be tempted to hit a hill hard. That works fine for short, punchy hills and rollers. But if you’ve gotta grind it out on a really long climb, you’ll be spent way before you crest. Better to go easy into the climb and if you find you have more to give further in, go for it.

Don’t downshift too far. Some people see big climbs and will immediately shift down to their granny gear. Problem is, you’ll lose most of your momentum because your cadence will be too high. Instead, shift down as your cadence begins to drop. Just remember that each time you downshift, apply a little more pressure to the pedal to up the cadence a bit. If you downshift and keep the same cadence, you’re just bleeding speed and momentum.