General Cycling Discussion - Climbing standing-up technique that works for me

I just find out that when climbing standing up, on high gear, my legs need about 1/2 a second to recover. So every 3 or 4 pedal strokes (before reaching the burning point) I stop pedaling for about 1/2 a second to recover. I also alternate the leg that will start the next cycle.

With this technique I can climb standing-up for a long period of time without burning my legs. Do you guys do the same thing?

For me, it depends on the climb. On long, fairly steep climbs, I try to take my time. I try not to worry about speed, and let my body weight do most of the work. As soon as I try to go fast, I burn out very quickly.

If the hill is short and steep, I will attempt to get over it quick, and risk the burnout. Sometimes I judge my stamina/distance correctly, and sometimes I fail.

I sit and spin. Ocasionally alternating from front of saddle to rear of saddle and concentrating on the hamstrings as I pull up, it gives the quads a nice little break. I only stand when I can crest a short steep hill quickly or without loosing speed. The North Ga. mountains offer numerous climbs of several miles with fairly steep grades.

BTW, I don't know exactly whether I am actually going faster when pedaling standing up all the way up (I don't use computer). But the fact that I can do that all the way to the top really make my day :)

Is there a particular hill you are thinking of?

My regular "road" hills are Bailey road and Almaden/Alamitos road, both in Almaden valley.

My regular "mountain" hill is in Quicksilver park.

BTW, standing up only works in road hills. On mountain trail, the rear tire looses traction. I think the next hill I am going to try "standing up" is Bernal rd.

I sit in spin....on a really low gear

I find mashing gears tires me out very quickly

Kenneth, nice ride, um yeah you shouldnt have that bike as a Canadian, give it to me ok?

:D

I spun (well mashed) all the way up Old La Honda rd. I didn't have the gearset to spin. So often I have to stand just to get the power I need. I haven't been up any of those hills yet. Going up the Rd. to Ulvas Resevoir I sat and mashed and stood up most of the way. The road around gilroy Hot Springs I stood up the whole way.

Now that I have a touring bike with some gears, I find myself spinning up the steeper hills now.