Funny, but you still learn stuff around here.

[Tom]

I've been trying to go up hill better, and two things got said in Sandy's thread that I thought about and, dang it all, they work.

I've gotten hung up on too small a gear for a while... drop to the 39-25, sit down and grind up. I think it was RPS that said a 53-17 is not so impressive, it's just a 39-23 in disguise. That and Ti Designs talking about finding your best rotation that works everything right got me thinking to try something a little different.

Since I had been working a little bit on standing climbing more this year, I tried out just leaving it in the big ring, standing up and finding the right gear where I can put enough but not too much pressure on. I relax and it's amazing. You can go up things in a whole lot bigger gear than you think.

Last week I did enough hills that my legs hurt to the touch. I took Saturday off to do gardening. Sunday I went about 90 miles, started with Crawford and included Lake Desolation. I came home, and while watering the new grass in my front yard I sprayed cold water on my legs. Boy, that felt great. This morning I completed an easy river loop up Route 146 at the Aqueduct hill, 15mph at the bottom 21mph at the top. Of the hill, not the flat.

Thanks for the new knowledge. Very cool.

[RPS]

I think it was RPS that said a 53-17 is not so impressive, it's just a 39-23 in disguise.Tom, my reference was regarding comparable big gearing versus lower grade so as to result in equal effort -- basically to simulate steeper grades when they are not available for training. From previous thread:

Davids, it sounds tougher than it really is. With a rise of 200 feet in a mile, the slope is only about 3.8 percent. Granted a 53/12 is tough, but from a torque-to-cranks standpoint, it's no different than climbing a 10 percent grade in a 39/23, which doesn't sound all that tough. I'd guess most who read this forum have done it.

To me it's more strength training, not a knee killer.A few years back some from our club would go up to a USCF road race course with rolling hills that is about an hours drive north of us, and we would practice climbing the 7 to 8 percent ¼-mile-long grades in our 53/15 in order to simulate much steeper grades. It was not the most efficient gearing for speed, but a good strength workout. Since we live in a very flat area, it was a good way to get ready to climb 16-18 percent grades in the Texas Hill Country.

Now that gasoline has gotten so expensive, I stay closer to home and simulate hill climbing by standing into strong winds (20+ MPH) in my 52/11. It’s not quite the same, but it’s better than nothing.

I also picked up a couple of good ideas I hope to test as soon as I head to the hills -- hopefully next month.