Originally Posted by
rdtompki
This past several months I've been riding the single exclusively and doing more climbing. Most of the climbing is in the saddle with standing only on steep (13+% or so) pitches. My cadence will almost never drop below 60 on climbs and only then when I'm in my lowest gear (30-30) on steep pitches and depending on a combination of fatigue and the length of the ride.
Generally, I feel good after a ride, even one that might have 70 ft./mile of climbing, but I've notice that my glutes and hamstrings have been getting tight; twice I've crouched ... started to get a hamstring cramp. This tightness wasn't the case in 5 years of riding the tandem; I'd cramp on long, hard rides, but that would be due to extreme muscle overuse when climbing.
Any thoughts on what's bringing on this tightness? I don't think my position has changed, but the setback required on my Adamo saddle does give the impressing of sitting further forward; I don't believe this to be the case, however.
...
if you are climbing much more than with the tandem, then expect more workout of the glutes and hams. Especially if you're doing most of that climbing in-saddle and there are less 'breaks' in the uphill during the climb. Keeping a gear going, even at 60 rpm, requires a constant effort on anything above 2-3 %. More frequent changes to out of the saddle will help balance that.
Even riding rolling terrain in relatively big gears is not like climbing.
Keep it up, climbing consistent, longer grades is good for all of us cyclists.
Working flexibility and suppleness to those muscles will help a bunch. I'm a big believer in consistent/frequent self-massage ( if you can;t get some qualified therapist to do it) and, of course, yoga.
Being aware of on-bike posture, during climbs, can help to not rotate the pelvis backward.
its a good time of year to focus on posture during an entire ride and not worry so much about how hard/fast one rides...