Becoming a master hill climber

[Sky Fly]

"How do I become good a climbing hills?"

"Practice, my son. Lots of practice."

"I find it's a hard grind climbing hills in my normal gear."

"Then change down, my son. Go slowly but easily. As a wise man once said, 'Gears are replaceable -
knees aren't'"

"But I want to be able to zoom up hills, and I'm never going to do that if I stick to low gears!"

"You could always increase your cadence..."

"But there's a limit to how fast I can spin... I don't see professional cyclists spinning like crazy
when they are climbing hills, so they must be using the big rings! Are their knees made of steel?
How do they make the transition from climbing in low gears to climbing in high?"

"Hmm, my son... you've got me there. I'll have to turn this one over to the members of u.r.c...."

[Wafflycathcsdir]

>"But there's a limit to how fast I can spin... I don't see professional cyclists spinning like
>crazy when they are climbing hills, so they must be using the big rings! Are their knees made of
>steel? How do they make the transition from climbing in low gears to climbing in high?"

They are fit and practice *a lot* *regularly* with supervision of doctors and phyisotherapists ..

unlike, in all kindness, many a member of u.r.c. ;-)

Cheers, helen s

~~~~~~~~~~
Flush out that intestinal parasite and/or the waste product before sending a reply!

Any speeliong mistake$ aR the resiult of my cats sitting on the keyboaRRRDdd
~~~~~~~~~~

[Rob]

Sky Fly wrote:
>
> "But there's a limit to how fast I can spin... I don't see professional cyclists spinning like
> crazy when they are climbing hills,

You want to watch this Lance feller. Spins like crazy. And seems quite good too.

[Pete Biggs]

Sky Fly wrote:
> "But there's a limit to how fast I can spin... I don't see professional cyclists spinning like
> crazy when they are climbing hills, so they must be using the big rings! Are their knees made
> of steel?

No, they take 'W' :-( Just say $hitmaNO, kids :-)

~PB

[Dave]

Try riding fixed for a while. Did wonders for my hillclimbing.

Regards Dave

"Pete Biggs" <pLime{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote in message
news:b6c6gr$3p64e$1@ID-144931.news.dfncis.de...
> Sky Fly wrote:
> > "But there's a limit to how fast I can spin... I don't see professional cyclists spinning like
> > crazy when they are climbing hills, so they must be using the big rings! Are their knees made of
> > steel?
>
> No, they take 'W' :-( Just say $hitmaNO, kids :-)
>
> ~PB

[Sky Fly]

"wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter" <wafflycathcs@aol.comtapeworm> wrote in message
news:20030401084933.28448.00000171@mb-fl.aol.com...
> >"But there's a limit to how fast I can spin... I don't see professional cyclists spinning like
> >crazy when they are climbing hills, so they must be using the big rings! Are their knees made of
> >steel? How do they make the transition from climbing in low gears to climbing in high?"
>
> They are fit and practice *a lot* *regularly* with supervision of doctors and phyisotherapists ..
>
> unlike, in all kindness, many a member of u.r.c. ;-)

Hmm... Helen, I see a chicken-and-egg scenario developing here.

"What gear do they practice in?"

"A high gear, of course - that's why they are professional. What sense would it make to practice in
a low gear if you want to be able to race up hills in a high gear?"

"But how do they become good enough to ride in in a high gear in the first place?"

"Practice!"

Or have I got it all wrong?

--
Akin

aknak at aksoto dot idps dot co dot uk

[Steve McGinty]

On Tue, 1 Apr 2003 19:14:54 +0100, "Sky Fly" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:

>
>"wafflycathcsdirtycatlitter" <wafflycathcs@aol.comtapeworm> wrote in message
>news:20030401084933.28448.00000171@mb-fl.aol.com...
>> >"But there's a limit to how fast I can spin... I don't see professional cyclists spinning like
>> >crazy when they are climbing hills, so they must be using the big rings! Are their knees made of
>> >steel? How do they make the transition from climbing in low gears to climbing in high?"
>>
>> They are fit and practice *a lot* *regularly* with supervision of doctors and phyisotherapists ..
>>
>> unlike, in all kindness, many a member of u.r.c. ;-)
>
>Hmm... Helen, I see a chicken-and-egg scenario developing here.
>
>"What gear do they practice in?"
>
>"A high gear, of course - that's why they are professional. What sense would it make to practice in
>a low gear if you want to be able to race up hills in a high gear?"
>
>"But how do they become good enough to ride in in a high gear in the first place?"
>
>"Practice!"
>
>Or have I got it all wrong?

IME urc isn't that up on the in depth detail of pro cycling. You'd be better asking on the likes of
www.veloriders.co.uk or (feeling guilty about offering the lamb up to the slaughter, but hey it's 1
April) rec.bicycles.racing

Cheers! Stephen

[Alex Graham]

Dave wrote:
> Try riding fixed for a while. Did wonders for my hillclimbing.

Tis true. Even a crapster fixed. Once you get the idea of spinning (I didnt have it before, and
didnt really notice as being 62kg or so I could get by, you will be more comfortable when
hillclimbing.

--

-Alex

----------------------------------
alexpg@btinternet.com

http://alexpg.ath.cx:3353/cycling.php http://www.westerleycycling.org.uk (http://www.westerleycycling.org.uk/)
----------------------------------

[Farmer Alfalfa]

"Sky Fly" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message news:b6cl45$429i8$1@ID-18325.news.dfncis.de...
>
> Hmm... Helen, I see a chicken-and-egg scenario developing here.
>
> "What gear do they practice in?"
>
> "A high gear, of course - that's why they are professional. What sense would it make to practice
> in a low gear if you want to be able to race up hills in a high gear?"
>
> "But how do they become good enough to ride in in a high gear in the first place?"

Gym work?

F A