...get out of the saddle to really push?

I've pretty much all but stopped getting out of the saddle unless it's a pretty hefty hill and/or I really want to maintain my speed or push like a crazy MF.

I realised this morning while at a red light that I still manage to take off fairly quickly when I have to, but rarely ever lean forward/stand up to do so. More often than not, I'm out of the saddle to get slightly lower in a draft or bad wind. It's obvious that when I stand on the roadie, I'm even a little wobbly because I'm just not used to it especially on that bike.

I stand and pedal when the situation calls for......and usually occurs naturally without giving much thought.

All the time. If it weren't for stoplights, I wouldn't get any interval training.

Taking off when the light turns green, and then only if it's a wide, busy intersection. Otherwise I keep my butt in the saddle.

Every 15 minutes or so.
-helps my back from tightening up
-it is a bit hard to sprint from the saddle
-it occurred to me sometime ago that working out in this manner helps whith climbing hills.
-it is fun.
-quick way to accelerate from the lights.

I get off and push/drag the bike along when the mud clogs up the bike so much it won't roll any more.

It happened to me this morning. My commute is mixed MUP, trail, grass, and street. The construction areas were really muddy this morning.


Oh you mean stand up and Pedal? 6 times in 12 miles. (stop ligts and getting some speed up.)

Every day for the last 100 yards up the hill to my house.
I give the cars the look, click up a couple gears, then pound up the rest of the hill until my legs are on fire.

It makes me feel like I've done something on the way home from work.

I stand to climb a hill immediately after leaving my house.

I stand briefly after leaving a stop light.

I stand for the uphill sections of my mostly downhill (slightly) 2-mile section from the beginning of the neighborhood to my house - if I'm really pushing. "Pushing" is the difference between averaging 25 and averaging 30.


For the most part, I try to ride hard, but stay in control. If I get too aggressive my form goes and my age starts to show... meaning the pain changes from good to something I'll feel the next day.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it takes MORE work to get out of saddle to push. I usually just sit and mash it out. Whenever I try standing, my thighs start burning.

Starting from a stop, accellerating out of a turn or from slowing down for traffic/obstacles, climbing a small hill that ain't worth downshifting for, to break up a long climb, to get over a climb that's steeper than my gearing, probably a few other cases I don't even think about.

I think I've gotten out of the saddle maybe a few times to push in the last year. Then again, I am a giant with redwoods for legs so I don't always feel that the extra effort is needed.

I get out of my saddle all the time because the seat that came with my bike is a butt-butcher, and I haven't ordered a Brooks yet. My ass is so bruised now, I wince as soon as I get on the bike. I must be a masochist, I still ride it everyday.

Now that I think about it, I'm almost always standing when I pedal away from a light because I'm almost always trackstanding.

So you haven't mastered the trackstand while seated, legs propped up on the bars, reading the paper, yet either, eh.

It does take more work. Hence the reason one should do it more. Plus I have a very difficult time pacing myself. I tend to ride faster and faster until I blow up.

I'll stand up and stretch every now and then on a long ride, but I can't remember the last time I stood up to pedal ... I'd guess it's been close to 10,000 miles. Over the years I've been spinning more and more, and if you spin, you don't need to stand. In fact, I don't even know how to stand while spinning.

I never used to stand, but I've taken to doing it lately just for exercise purposes. I did like a total reset of pedalling style a couple yrs ago, rebuilt from the ground up, only spinning the lowest gears I could stand, and eventually got to going pretty fast in pretty big gears, and finally added standing, esp. while climbing, mostly just to keep throwing my lazy body curves so it doesn't get too complacent.

I did yesterday just for the novelty of it for the first time in a couple years. Now that I've got that out of my system it should be a while.

I have a couple spots in my commute (other than taking off from the lights) where I have to stand as I need to turn up a steep hill while I am already going uphill and I invariably have to wait for a few cars first.
Other than that I just do it once in awhile to help with my BMX racing, it doesn't seem to help much though as I am always in the dust.

Climbs, starting from lights, if my butt is bugging me (I have a horrible saddle on my rain bike), sometimes accelerating, or if I just feel like it. All the time. I love being out of the saddle, way forward on the bike, pulling on the pedals. It's fun. Hard work, but fun.

Out of saddle = lower? How does that work?

Bingo.

When I can't seem to stay on top of the gear sitting down. Sometimes when I am trying to impress a pretty girl.

Other than "stop", "walk", and "pedal", "get up and push" is the only other option on my singlespeed! Other than that, pretty much what Chipcom said, edited to remove mentions of "gearing":

Almost never. Even when I was living on Okinawa and mashing the hills there, I almost never got out of the saddle. But that's just me.