W K wrote:
> "Velvet" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
>
news:[email protected]...
>
>>Ok, quick question.
>>
>>I've had both of these (and sometimes both together). But I'm curious as to when I get just one or
>>the other and what the root cause is...
>>
>>Hills around here (north downs), I've been getting burning legs before running out of puff.
>>
>>Hills around cambridge, I seem to run out of puff before getting burning legs.
>>
>>Why the difference? I know burning is the lactic acid, but I would have expected to run out of
>>puff before getting that?
>
>
> From what I see on the HRM, you can make yours legs go anearobic without your HR going up much.
> Obviously the HR catches up later, but there is a lag. To try to keep a constant HR means
> slowing down a lot, and avoiding temptation (the lag could catch you out.). [And on the
> manc->blackpool it was really tempting, I kept on getting overtaken by keen MTBers as I was
> easing myself up the hills]
>
> Perhaps cambridge hills (??!!!??) are longer and you are gradually get up to being out of puff,
> but steeper, shorter hills are likely to get the "lag" above.
>
>
Heh, perhaps - they're definitely not quite as steep (I wasn't in the lowest gear till probably 2/3
the way up the one I tried recently) but probably no longer than the one here (which is steeper, I
think, but unless I compare those red squiggles on maps I can't tell for sure). The hill here I was
in lowest gear after about a minute
And yes, despite your amazement, there *are* hills to be found around cambridge. I might add here
that I call the hills around me 'mountains', which makes the cambridge undulations/mild hills
'reasonable hills' and flat roads 'mostly flat'. You might notice a lack of 'gentle undulations'.
There's no such thing at the moment, according to my body. It's either flat, or reasonable hills
Having seen quite an improvement in stops needed on my local mountainside I've tried this week
though, I'm mentally a lot more positive about the hills, though I doubt the same can be said for
cycling down steeper hills ;-)
Oh. Going back to the 'scary' thread. I drove back down that hill slowly last night, and counted the
bricks in a convenient wall built along one side. At the steepest (scariest) part of it, it would
seem to be roughly a 1 in 4 gradient. There's no signs to this effect though - so I might be wrong -
but it IS speed humped, so maybe they feel the 'low gear now' and gradient signs aren't necessary?
Velvet
