You seem to be improving. And you seem happy.Uawadall said:
My racing weight back in the 90's was around 143lbs - venturing down to 140 for a few weeks or 145 on the 'fat' side for winter. At 5'11, 143lb and a threshold at 345 watts I wasn't too bad on the hills but I hated the flats, especially crits. I did manage a long 20 minute 10 mile TT on a 531 frame with tri bars on but fark, I about chucked up a years worth of lunches after that. That was an exception rather than the norm. On trips to the Alps and Pyrenees, I can't say I ever wanted for gearing less than 39x25 but that wasn't at a Froomey 90+rpm, more like a mash-it-like-Millar rpm, Robert not David. My big hero's when I started were Robert Millar, Luis Herrera and Bernard Hinault, so my pedaling cadence wasn't what today's guys go after...limerickman said:150lbs, I wish.
My racing weight was between 175-180lbs.
If memory serves I did get down to 165lbs but that was the exception.
I'd have the same frame as Ullrich and Indurain but that's where all similarities end
When I raced I loved hills because I could climb. Now I'm no longer thin or fit but I still love the sense of accomplishment of climbing a big hill despite having a power meter than tells me how hard to go and gearing that allows me to almost climb a vertical wall.Uawadall said:
Basic rules of descending:Susimi said:
All it takes it to move your body a little to the outside of the turn (if you're turning left, then put your weight a little bit more on the right side of the bike) and less than a centimeter of movement in the handlebars in the opposite direction of the turn, smoothly but quickly, to get the bike to want to lean into the corner. Once the bike starts to "drop", turn the wheel in the direction of the inside of the corner. As with everything on the bike, start slow and gain confidence before progressing.I've noticed I can power through smaller hills much easier after tackling this big one. I'll try to do those smaller hills even faster! I don't intend on losing weight, but how much do climbers want to weigh typically?I thought I was super skinny at 6'4" and 165 pounds, but it seems like some cyclist are even skinnier. I think I read somewhere that an elite climber aims for 2 pounds per inch of height. that means if I was aiming to be "elite" id be a mere 152 pounds...(76"x2)swampy1970 said:When I raced I loved hills because I could climb. Now I'm no longer thin or fit but I still love the sense of accomplishment of climbing a big hill despite having a power meter than tells me how hard to go and gearing that allows me to almost climb a vertical wall.
Have fun, keep riding and enjoy every minute of it. Enjoy the thrill of getting to the top of a hill and enjoy the ride down. Congrats on your improvement!!!
Once you get fit enough to semi-reasonably get to the top of that big hill, find some smaller hills and on a few days of the week, ride up them at a faster pace than you would the big hill. It'll hurt but that extra effort will do you a world of good.
The big thing though is weight. Ride often and just be a little careful on what you eat. The weight will come off slowly. Even if you lose a 1lb a week for a couple of months, that'll make a very big difference to the way you climb.
On a 7% hill, each pound of weight saves a watt of power. Lose 20lbs and that's about a 20 watt saving. Gaining 20 watts is tough - losing 20 watts of you're on the big side, isn't so hard.
BobCochran said:
I know a lot of guys that avoid hills because they consider themselves heavy as a cyclist. As long as one builds the endurance to climb, it's no problem. The timed events I posted above I did at 230 lbs no problem. So really being a little bigger rider shouldn't stop one from having fun on the climbs! B)
This has been the first sport I've done where my body type actually seems beneficial. Do all cyclist want to be as skinny as possible? If I really wanted to, I could drop upwards of 5 pounds. Maybe I should have started this sport sooner,lol...The segment is on starva and I'm currently 8th place out of 33,68 attempted it, but not all could make it to the top.I need to stop playing around and get road bike shorts, train more and somehow beat the guy at the top that did it 2 minutes 21 seconds faster than me. Second place beat my time by 55 seconds.CAMPYBOB said:
Climbing adds so much more to the cycling experience. Our local climbs and mountains have been raced a few times over the years by the pro TDF racers so no KOM's here. But I will say that climbing mountains exposes one to some great supportive riders. While climbing the mountain roads, even the super fit fast guys will ride by and shout words of encouragement to my wife and me at times. Riders are so much more supportive I think maybe cause they know what an effort it takes to make it up!BobCochran said:
Thanks for the tipsswampy1970 said:Basic rules of descending:
The hard braking MUST be done before the corner. I cannot emphasize that enough. It's faster on a descent, and safer, to brake a bit too hard on the way into a corner and take a good line though the corner, than it is to hope you can make it around the corner because you went into the turn too fast. If you're on the brakes fairly hard half way around a bend then you went in too fast.
Always look way, way up the road - not just at the point where you're going to be. This requires practice over time. The more you do it the more you gain confidence. Vision is everything. Example: You're coming down a hill and approaching what looks like a hairpin bend that turns to the left. You apply the brakes, look at the bend and then look down the hill across you left shoulder to see where the road goes after the bend. That look only needs to take a second but provides a lot of information. It may be that what looks to be a hairpin bend really isn't - it might be that what looks like an easy corner is really a very, very tight corner. Vision is everything. Just like with a car, don't go faster than you can stay safe.
Bikes don't turn well when they're pretty much upright. You need me make the bike lean. The easiest way to make a bike lean into a corner when you start to turn, it to turn the bars ever so slightly the opposite way for a brief moment. This is a bit of an 'advanced' technique and it's one that motorcycle guys embrace as "rear wheel steering" - the difference is they can stay on the power during the corner, keep that opposite turn and steer with the throttle, whereas on a bicycle you can only do it for a fraction of a second or you'll fall on your ass.
The best way of going fast downhill: Follow someone fast. Bike clubs are a good place for this. Ride with others that are better than you.
I will be sure to think of them next time I do that trip.I have never experienced riding in mostly flat terrain. In my area, its typical +/-800 feet or so for every 10 miles. The 6% doesn't really do this hill justice, I thought it was relatively even, but there are parts that go lower than 6% and spots that go up to as much as 23%.Also, plenty of potholes....Since I've posted this, I've improved substantially and have done this hill at least once a week.Meds said:
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