You could always ride harder or go up a hill, in a similar way to running up one, actually.:
And you can buy a used, light, good quality road bike for little over $1000.
But I suspect you'd just prefer to keep posting how you don't get it...
Cycling
- Thread starter Gagger
- Start date
And you can buy a used, light, good quality road bike for little over $1000.
But I suspect you'd just prefer to keep posting how you don't get it...
With great fucken difficulty - fwd rugby frames don't generally lend themselves to hill climbs!
Advice I've been given and try to adhere to:
1) Always change down a gear, just before you think you need to coming into a hill, so that you keep your cadence about the same until you hit your bottom gear
2) Vary position from sitting to standing (mostly sitting) to alter the muscle groups you use and moderate heart rate
3) With clip ins (a must) pull up as much as you push down, otherwise you're only using half your muscle groups
4) The bit to blast is just at the crest of the hill, so that you get your speed up as quickly as possible as you flatten out. This is where the better cyclists all seem to pull away from me!
+1 what cyclo said, but what I find is that the beauty of cycling is you can easily keep a bonza heart rate going for 2-3 hours without exploding. This actually allows you to burn far more calories and train your cardio, rather than blowing your wad in 20 mins
All good points on hill climbing Gagger.
I vary sitting and standing, but find I prefer a bigger gear if standing on the pedals than when sitting. Helps just to vary it too, as you say. Worst feeling on a bike? Getting three-quarters of the way up the last of 5 decent hills and suddenly (and I mean really suddenly) "bonking" as they call it - complete loss of any energy and motor power and impending falling over sideways with feet firmly clipped to the pedals.
Being properly set up on the bike really matters. I was initially not well set up - ended up with big quads, big calves, and relatively weak glutes and hammies (although I got by as I was always a "sprinter" so they were big enough to begin with). After being "fixed", I suddenly was using the upstroke much more and got about 10% faster quite quickly. I also found I got much less upper back / neck pain on longer rides.
I vary sitting and standing, but find I prefer a bigger gear if standing on the pedals than when sitting. Helps just to vary it too, as you say. Worst feeling on a bike? Getting three-quarters of the way up the last of 5 decent hills and suddenly (and I mean really suddenly) "bonking" as they call it - complete loss of any energy and motor power and impending falling over sideways with feet firmly clipped to the pedals.
Being properly set up on the bike really matters. I was initially not well set up - ended up with big quads, big calves, and relatively weak glutes and hammies (although I got by as I was always a "sprinter" so they were big enough to begin with). After being "fixed", I suddenly was using the upstroke much more and got about 10% faster quite quickly. I also found I got much less upper back / neck pain on longer rides.
Good to see a couple of experienced posters having a serious conversation about technique. Some of the younger lads here probably need some guidance on the finer points of one's body position when physical exhaustion kicks in.
I had my hands too low - I have relatively long legs / short torso and was too high in the seat and reaching a bit. He says it's a common scenario - a lot of people search for the best "looking" riding position without looking at the mechanics of it. Had a longer headpiece for the bars fitted with a couple of spacers, which have now been removed as I got "better" positionally. Seat was lowered a bit. I am more upright, but I don't care how it looks, I go better.
Nusadan
Chilla Wilson (44)
A bicycle wheel was used instead of a handbag...
OK I ride once or twice a week. I found my bike in my driveway one Saturday morning. I advertised in the local paper. No one came so now I ride it. It was worth about $400 dollars new. I ride in the same gear I run in. $8000 for a bike NO WAY. Bike pants maybe if I was chaffing or something. Paying a fortune to Advertise some companies logo for them on a special bike riding shirt. Not going to happen. Shave my legs. Same as shirt. Sit around Cavil Avenue in my bike gear sipping Lattes. Wankers!
Must be why my eyesight's going
In prep for French holiday have bought Garmin 705 and just discovered the truly awesome http://ridewithgps.com
I can feel my life about to change
Anything else I need GPS related?
Oh yeah, just picked up some white Schwalbe Utremo's to finish off the bike pimpdom
Also found this blog, which I would aspire to if I were running a cycling blog and not this esteemed organ http://www.velominati.com/blog/
I can feel my life about to change
Anything else I need GPS related?
Oh yeah, just picked up some white Schwalbe Utremo's to finish off the bike pimpdom
Also found this blog, which I would aspire to if I were running a cycling blog and not this esteemed organ http://www.velominati.com/blog/
The_Brown_Hornet
John Eales (66)
Count me as an amateur cyclist too. I recently got back into it after moving much closer into town (making riding to work feasible). I went out and bought an Apollo Allegro flat bar bike. I love it and ride to work at least a couple of times a week (38km round trip) and generally both days on the weekend. I have slimmed down quite a bit without killing my legs, like running used to (I get shocking shin-splints) and generally feel fantastic health wise after taking up riding again. I have a couple of jerseys, but nothing else that's too fancy yet. The bike itself is quite nice and has carbon-fibre forks and seat post. I got a bike computer because I'm geeky and am all about the whole philosophy of "you can't manage what you can't measure". I need to get some toe-clips though, as I don't feel I'm getting the most out of every rotation of the pedals.
Got a bit of fright on Tuesday when I was riding home. I heard an almighty crack and then looked down at my back wheel. It was wobbling about rather badly. Being a naturally cautious person I jumped straight off and decided to walk the bike home. The only problem was that I still had 8km's to go, which shat me quite a bit. Turns out its a busted spoke, which will get fixed over the weekend.
Got a bit of fright on Tuesday when I was riding home. I heard an almighty crack and then looked down at my back wheel. It was wobbling about rather badly. Being a naturally cautious person I jumped straight off and decided to walk the bike home. The only problem was that I still had 8km's to go, which shat me quite a bit. Turns out its a busted spoke, which will get fixed over the weekend.
P
PhD96
Guest
Track rider in my teen years, road racing really not my go but managed to fudge my way through 3 Goulburn - Liverpools and the greatest test of torture known to man, the Grafton-Inverell. Raced Heffron/Homebush regularly as a vet. Raced a little in Italy/UK. No longer licenced, but have some good 40-50km loops that I now ride locally.
Have an Eddie Merckx MX Leader (steel is real) with a ridiculous array of retro bits, including Suntour Superbe Pro Cranks, Ambrosio Durex Rims with Phil Woods Hubs, Campagnolo Super Record Brake Calipers with Mavic Levers, Selle Italia Turbo Seat, Time Seatpost, 3TTT Stem and Bars, as well as the poor man's STI, Shimano 7 Speed Bar End Shifters
The_Brown_Hornet
John Eales (66)
Went and got the bike fixed yesterday and got a new set of pedals with toe clips fitted at the same time. I reckon it makes a difference even at this early stage, especially going up hills. Flogged myself yesterday and today out there, especially into a typically strong SW wind and feel pretty good for it.