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Thread: Today's Bike Ride

  1. #7551
    Quote Originally Posted by Gambatte View Post
    Cycling climbing questions here:

    *) why do we want to stand, rather than sit, on steep climbs?

    *) I have the impression that, the fitter I am (for climbing), the better I can remain seated. Do you guys share this? What is the reason?

    I like this thread!
    Sitting is more efficient.

    But pedalling on steep climbs requires good muscles.

    By "standing" you are enhancing your pedalling power by the weight of your body.

    Having said this some riders are famous for "dancing" on pedals and others for grinding out a steady rhythmn.

    Coincidentally I was passed yesterday on a long steep climb by a seated woman and who seemed to be pushing a higher gear than I was (obviously she was much younger than I am).

    I felt emasculated and "danced" to the top behind her (being gallant) while she never got out of the saddle. I know I could have passed her but sensed I was using up more energy than she was.
    Last edited by Graham Breeze; 26-07-2021 at 10:33 AM.
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  2. #7552
    On my last bicycle race (which was also my first ever), I had about 2000 participants overall faster than me. But on each of the 7 climbs, the numbers of cyclists faster than me was only 130 !!!
    Read it as you want. I knew already I'm the worstest descender ever.

  3. #7553
    Lizzie Deignan has never been short of excuses for not winning in her career and this time it was everyone else being motorpaced by motor bikes,the heat,being marked,the agendas within teams...

    Still, GB can claim credit that the Austrian winner, who now works in Switzerland and obtained her Masters and lived and raced in Spain got her PhD at Cambridge.

    I wonder how the newspapers in those countries will claim a piece of the glory?
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  4. #7554
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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham Breeze View Post
    Lizzie Deignan has never been short of excuses for not winning in her career and this time it was everyone else being motorpaced by motor bikes,the heat,being marked,the agendas within teams...

    Still, GB can claim credit that the Austrian winner, who now works in Switzerland and obtained her Masters and lived and raced in Spain got her PhD at Cambridge.

    I wonder how the newspapers in those countries will claim a piece of the glory?
    The winner was astride a Scott, Graham. That's wot dun it!
    Visibility good except in Hill Fog

  5. #7555
    Quote Originally Posted by Llani Boy View Post
    The winner was astride a Scott, Graham. That's wot dun it!
    So I noticed...and she was probably the only rider who had actually paid for her bike!
    "...as dry as the Atacama desert".

  6. #7556
    Master mr brightside's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham Breeze View Post
    Lizzie Deignan has never been short of excuses for not winning in her career and this time it was everyone else being motorpaced by motor bikes,the heat,being marked,the agendas within teams...

    Still, GB can claim credit that the Austrian winner, who now works in Switzerland and obtained her Masters and lived and raced in Spain got her PhD at Cambridge.

    I wonder how the newspapers in those countries will claim a piece of the glory?
    It was a shambles. They don't know their arses from their elbows without their teams to tell them which is which. Completely undone by a herculean effort from an underdog out to ride her bike as fast as she can to the finish.
    Luke Appleyard (Wharfedale)- quick on the dissent

  7. #7557
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    I agree, and the sooner the organisers of the Grand Tours remove team radios the better.
    Visibility good except in Hill Fog

  8. #7558
    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Because we're not fit enough, and we're over geared.




    I concur with this; as I've got stronger and faster in the last 12 months I've noticed I'm sitting all the way up the modest hills we have around here and using bigger gears
    Thanks but I don't think this answers it.
    No matter how (un)fit, and overgeared or not. The workload your muscles are required to do is always the same, regardless standing or sitting...

  9. #7559
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    So, if the Arenig Fawr fell race on Saturday was the "main course", then the "dessert" was cycling over two of Wales' 500-metre passes over the next two days. Sunday's ride, which was actually a loop enclosing the fell race course, included the Dol-y-moch road (531m) from Llanuwchllyn to Trawsfynydd. As I walked my bike up one of the steeper sections, I was passed by a group of about ten cyclists puffing their way up. But they were cheating: none of them had a pannier loaded with Sunday lunch; and I bet they all had bottom gears considerably lower than my 34 inches.

    I have never been to Trawsfynydd before; and I am not impressed. It's an industrial village with no industry; which is common enough in Wales; but far worse, it has no ice-cream shop! It's 3pm on a sweltering Sunday afternoon, and I can't get an ice-cream.

    Then on Monday, I had to get from Bala to Machynlleth to take the train home. There's a sensible route from Bala to Machynlleth; and there's the Bwlch-y-Groes (544m). Well, I wouldn't want to be accused of being sensible. The ascent from Llanuwchllyn was tough: except for two very short sections, it wasn't steep enough for me to get off and walk; and my panniers were loaded not just with lunch, but everything I needed for four days away, including fell running kit. The descent, on the much steeper south side, was terrifying; I stopped several times to let my wheel rims cool down. During one of these stops I was rewarded with the sight a large raptor, at first flying low over the valley, then finding a thermal and gaining height rapidly as it circled. It all looked so effortless; what a contrast to my cycling!
    Last edited by anthonykay; 26-07-2021 at 11:22 PM.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
    Jorge Luis Borges

  10. #7560
    Master molehill's Avatar
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    As a very amateur novice cyclist I cannot get to grips with the standing up off the saddle to peddle uphill. Possibly I have the wrong technique but it feels totally wrong to me and doesn't work. I wobble about and feel I am using twice the energy to go anywhere (uphill). I see plenty of other cyclists bouncing about off their saddles at the slightest incline, but about 10 revolutions of my peddles and I'm blowing up and grind to a halt!
    I sit all the way up, what works for me.

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