Originally Posted by bocobiking

I read interesting advice from Jens Voigt who said, begin a long climb at a much slower pace in a lower gear than you feel you need to. As you begin to regulate your breathing, begin to pick up the pace as much as you’re comfortable with. As you continue to climb, you can continue to pick up the pace until you near the top when you can begin to hammer. I believe Jens used the metaphor that such a technique is like “rolling out a large carpet,” which goes very slowly at first but then gradually picks up greater and greater speed.