Quick question: Anyone else fallen off a bike going up hill?
It would make me feel better if someone else said yes
It would make me feel better if someone else said yes
The cycling thread • Page 152
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Psychotext 49,221 posts
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Registered 7 years agoSure, but I doubt the sort of hill you're talking about.
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Haha, oh well. Do you have any tips for hill climbling? Is there any techiniques with gears or styles, or is it just a case of building fitness and muscle strength?
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Salaman 16,602 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 9 years agoApostle wrote:
Here you go. Don't feel too bad.
Quick question: Anyone else fallen off a bike going up hill?
It would make me feel better if someone else said yes -
elstoof 4,440 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 8 years agoApostle wrote:
Lose as much weight as you can, on the bike and your gut. Have a look at interval training when on the turbo. Figure out what sort of cadence you tend to pedal in when climbing, try to settle into a rhythm 110rpm or so using whatever gear suits that pace. Alternatively wait for a bus going up to draft behind
Haha, oh well. Do you have any tips for hill climbling? Is there any techiniques with gears or styles, or is it just a case of building fitness and muscle strength?
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MikeP 1,240 posts
Seen 22 hours ago
Registered 10 years agoPistol will be able to give loads of advice, as he's quite content smashing his way around the Alps, but generally climbing comes down to power to weight ratio, and how much power you can sustain aerobically over a period of time.
Elstoof is right about settling into a rhythm, find a gear you can turn over easily, spin the cranks rather than grinding out the climb in a push-push motion. Also, on a sustained climb go easy at the bottom so you can judge your effort. If it's hurting at the bottom of the climb it'll hurt all the way up.
Also, try to spend most of the time sat down in the saddle. Standing up can help use other muscles, but for most people it'll really bumps up the heart rate for not a huge amount of extra progress.
If it's any comfort I used to dread climbing, and thought I was useless. But I found a good hill to practice on near me and went from struggling up it in my smallest gear once, to now being able to put in 5-6 laps in the middleish part of my gears over the space of about 6 weeks. With effort you can see big improvements quite quickly. -
Salaman wrote:Here you go. Don't feel too bad.
Haha, that's exactly what happened to me! Came to a stop, tried to put my foot down and buckled over. That hill looks a nightmare though, god those cobbles.
Thanks for the tips guys. Last night was the first time I stood trying to power up, I think I'd of got 3/4s up had my gears not been funny (my fault for not fixing though). Normally I sat but lost so much momentum it feels wrong going at 1mph with legs spinning in a high gear. Certainly feel like I've improved though. The hills earlier in my route I can do without much problem now. Also I finished the whole route last night, which is a first for me since starting about 3 weeks ago. Trying to work out how far I cycled at the moment.
Ok google can't go down all the different tracks/paths, but I estimate about 7-8miles in total. Wow. Didn't think it was that much at all.
Edited by Apostle at 10:19:24 19-09-2012 -
MikeP 1,240 posts
Seen 22 hours ago
Registered 10 years ago@Vortex808 I went to the launch event for this service last night.
http://www.pannier.cc/
They are doing accommodation mapping for some of the main UK cycle tours. Early days yet, but if I'd had that it would have saved loads of time on the planning.
Deffo worth a look. -
Psychotext 49,221 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 7 years agoSalaman wrote:
lol Roadies. That's not a hill. I appreciate that the fact they haven't sanded and levelled the surface probably isn't helping you though.
Here you go. Don't feel too bad. This post is sponsored by Apple and the iPhone 4S. Think different.
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Trafford 4,023 posts
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Registered 5 years agoThat's not Paris-Roubaix I gather. -
Salaman 16,602 posts
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Registered 9 years agoTrafford wrote:
Paris-Roubaix is flat but brutally cobbly.
That's not Paris-Roubaix I gather.
This is from the Tour of Flanders. There's a number of short/steep/cobbled hills in it. The day before the race, amateur riders can cycle along the race parcours and give it a go. It's more brutal than it looks. Especially the succession of long sloping bits/steep little hills and the complete lack of recuperation opportunity when they go flying over these in the race's final make it tricky.
Don't be deceived by the video. It's not a high hill (we don't really get those in Belgium) but the steepest part has a 22% incline. -
Trafford 4,023 posts
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Registered 5 years agoI'm not a fan of cobbles, especially the slimy ones. -
Psychotext 49,221 posts
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Registered 7 years agoIn fairness, I really wouldn't like to do that with those tyres either. Doesn't seem like it would be a great deal of fun.This post is sponsored by Apple and the iPhone 4S. Think different.
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MetalDog 23,448 posts
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Registered 11 years agoIn the absence of the ability to keep a motorcycle upright, I have gone the path of a hybrid bike. I look forward to skinning something for the first time in over a decade as soon as the lights and helmet turn up.-- boobs do nothing for me, I want moustaches and chest hair.
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Salaman 16,602 posts
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Registered 9 years agoWhat happened to the motorcycle plan then? Did you fall and end up pinned under your bike? -
MetalDog 23,448 posts
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Registered 11 years agoI broke a bit off one of the schools bikes and decided to re-familiarise myself with my sense of balance on something less expensive. I seem to have real trouble with the weight of motorbikes - once they go past a very early tipping point, I can't stop them from dropping. Noodle muscles.-- boobs do nothing for me, I want moustaches and chest hair.
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MikeP 1,240 posts
Seen 22 hours ago
Registered 10 years ago@Psychotext you have to keep up a decent lick to skim over the top of the cobbles/paviers on skinny tyres, but obviously on a 20% slope that's a wee bit tricky!
Moving up from a 23mm to a 25mm tyre makes a surprising difference, especially as you only run the latter at 95-100 psi, as opposed to about 125.
Are you exclusively a knuckle-dragging MTBer then?
/returns to his doppio espresso and copy of Rouleur -
Psychotext 49,221 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 7 years agoI am now, yeah. It's a completely different experience to dodging trucks, buses, car doors and things being thrown.
Put me in the middle of a woodland with my bike and I'm in heaven.This post is sponsored by Apple and the iPhone 4S. Think different.
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Psychotext 49,221 posts
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Registered 7 years agoExample, this was what I was up to on the weekend (same trail, but this isn't my vid): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zIbDhOulB5E
Those are the downhill bits, but there were some excellent slow sections following a stream. Pretty much unmatched if you have a thing for nature..gif)
Edited by Psychotext at 14:00:18 19-09-2012This post is sponsored by Apple and the iPhone 4S. Think different.
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pistol 12,855 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 11 years agoApostle wrote:
Just seen this..
Haha, oh well. Do you have any tips for hill climbling? Is there any techiniques with gears or styles, or is it just a case of building fitness and muscle strength?
MikeP has pretty much summed up how to improve your climbing, but it can depend on the type of climbs you're referring to. In the UK most tend to be short efforts and anything with a steep gradient, say 10-25% are in the most part short and sharp. For these climbs you can use a combo of seated and standing. Depending on what type of gear ratios you have, climbing a 20%er entirely seated can be a challenge, especially if you're not used to it.
A few tips below to help..
1. Practie practice practice. It's a cliche but climbing hills gets you better at climbing hills.
2. Ensure bike is set up properly, i.e. seat height, fore/after. If set up wrong, climbing will be harder than necessary.
3. Weight loss is key. The lighter you are, the quicker you'll climb. It is all about power to weight ratio, so lose the weight sensibly. Too fast or too much and you'll lose power too.
4. On the climb itself, try and use a cadence that doesn't require too much grinding, i.e. faster than you would on the flat if possible. The specific number of revs is personal. Do what you can sustain.
5. Approach the climb in the right gear so you don't have to shift down half way through, as you will lose rythum.
6. Seated for as much as possible with the occasional standing to get you over the really tricky parts. The more you're out the saddle the more you will get fatigued.
I used these techniques on the Marmotte Sportive in French Alps this year and it worked well. One of the climbs was 37km long.
Hope this helps -
pistol 12,855 posts
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Registered 11 years agoSalaman wrote:
Salaman is right, PB is a tough route, and some of the pro's have to take a week off the bike after the event due to the amount of vibration that goes througth their body from the cobbles.Trafford wrote:
Paris-Roubaix is flat but brutally cobbly.
That's not Paris-Roubaix I gather.
This is from the Tour of Flanders. There's a number of short/steep/cobbled hills in it. The day before the race, amateur riders can cycle along the race parcours and give it a go. It's more brutal than it looks. Especially the succession of long sloping bits/steep little hills and the complete lack of recuperation opportunity when they go flying over these in the race's final make it tricky.
Don't be deceived by the video. It's not a high hill (we don't really get those in Belgium) but the steepest part has a 22% incline. -
MikeP 1,240 posts
Seen 22 hours ago
Registered 10 years agoPsychotext wrote:
That looks lovely. If I lived anywhere remotely approaching countryside I'd get right back into mountain bikes, in my unending quest to own n+1 bikes
Example, this was what I was up to on the weekend (same trail, but this isn't my vid): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zIbDhOulB5E
Those are the downhill bits, but there were some excellent slow sections following a stream. Pretty much unmatched if you have a thing for nature. -
Psychotext 49,221 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 7 years agoWell, I drive an hour and a half to get there, so you might be surprised at where you're in range of. Strangely London (just as an example, I don't know where you are) was named one of the top 10 cities in the UK for mountain biking.This post is sponsored by Apple and the iPhone 4S. Think different.
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@pistol Crikey, 37km! Thanks for the advice, I will keep at it. I can imagine the pleasure at beating a hill can be worth all the effort.
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Salaman 16,602 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 9 years agopistol wrote:
This is a pretty good video of it.
Salaman is right, PB is a tough route, and some of the pro's have to take a week off the bike after the event due to the amount of vibration that goes througth their body from the cobbles. -
pistol 12,855 posts
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Registered 11 years agoApostle wrote:
The Marmotte is 4 long climbs back to back, and below is 2 of them.
@pistol Crikey, 37km! Thanks for the advice, I will keep at it. I can imagine the pleasure at beating a hill can be worth all the effort.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/10/gallery/2011-tour-de-france-route-profiles_146952/attachment/tdf11_eta-19_galibier_1 -
Psychotext 49,221 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 7 years agoSalaman wrote:
Must be a really odd feeling given how many bumps are normally encountered in road racing.
This is a pretty good video of it.This post is sponsored by Apple and the iPhone 4S. Think different.
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MikeP 1,240 posts
Seen 22 hours ago
Registered 10 years agoThere's a cracking film documentary from the 1970's about Paris Roubaix called A Sunday in Hell. It got removed from YouTube, but you can still view and download it here:
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v20924403zBshk7AE?h1=A+sunday+in+hell -
Dougs 59,167 posts
Seen 36 minutes ago
Registered 10 years agoTop tips, cheers pistol, gives me some pointers where I'm going wrong. Which is mainly being in too low a gear and cranking through a bit too much.
I need a gizmo so I can check cadence etc. Any recommendations? Not after GPS or anything, so something quite basic should work, but don't want a piece of shit that will fall over after a few months. -
Cateye cycle computer. Cheap, and pretty much bombproof.
I got a wireless one that works on my rear wheel so I can still use it on my turbo trainer.
Edit - Oh, apparently not. The one I bought isn't available any more, and the nearest equivalent really isn't that cheap.
Edited by Psychotext at 19:05:54 19-09-2012This post is sponsored by Apple and the iPhone 4S. Think different.
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