Does it qualify as mashing if...

[Mr. Bloom]

...you are climbing in granny gear? Or, is it simply spinning in a press?

At the Horsey Hundred, Indysteel and I were wondering this on a tough climb yesterday (as we regularly thanked our creator for triples!)

[kelownagirl]

That's what I always wonder Mr. Silver. People keep telling me to shift down and spin up. Um, yeah, that's what I'm doing. Yeah, I know my cadence is only 50 rpm. Yeah, I know that technically, I'm mashing not spinning. Our steepest hill on our metric yesterday was 2km of 10-15%. Ugh.

[Tri Girl]

Oh, it all counts! Mashing, spinning, crying, screaming; whatever you call it, getting up some hills is just plain torture.
For what it's worth, I think "mashing" in granny gear is still mashing! I was cursing my compact double Sat. when we rode some killer hills. I was wishing I'd had my trusty triple.

[SouthernBelle]

There comes a point on some hills where you are out of gears and out of spin and all you can do is mash.

On the other hand, I think there is a technique to this. One which I have not mastered.

Last fall I was trying to crank up a long, steep, miserable hill. A girl came spinning past me. I don't think it was merely that she was stronger than me. I think she had increased her cadence early on and was able to maintain it longer. Perhaps a momentum thing. I have noticed if I try to establish a higher cadence before or early in a climb, I can maintain it longer.

Unfortunately I do not have a naturallly high cadence.

I would be interested to hear other takes on this.

[bmccasland]

There's this infamous hill, just before the lunch stop on the local MS Tour. Someone told me to gear down and spin, yeah, right. How can you gear down and spin when you've run out of gears?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Last fall I was trying to crank up a long, steep, miserable hill. A girl came spinning past me. I don't think it was merely that she was stronger than me. I think she had increased her cadence early on and was able to maintain it longer. Perhaps a momentum thing.

She had a couple lower gears than you most likely.

[silver]

Wait! you both have triples? No wonder you two maade the hills look so easy!

[OakLeaf]

+1 on increasing cadence to at least 100-105 (or 10 rpm over your natural cadence if it's already that high) just as the incline starts.

That said, I'm not near as strong as I used to be, and even though I already have a triple, I'm seriously considering a 12-27 cassette when my 12-25 is due for replacement

[short cut sally]

I have a triple and all I can say is thank god for granny gear!!! I don't care if I mash, spin, mash some more, pray, contemplate vomiting, sweat or swear going up those hills..as long as I have enough in me to get up them, I consider that a good job!

[Mr. Bloom]

Wait! you both have triples? No wonder you two maade the hills look so easy!

Yea, but who has the Silver Madone????

I don't care if I mash, spin, mash some more, pray, contemplate vomiting, sweat or swear going up those hills..

I don't sweat, but this weekend, I did all the others. I didn't sing American Pie though...didn't want Silver or Indysteel to do more than contemplate vomiting...

Then again, I do some harder climbs than Mr. Silver's Boltinghouse Horror. I need all the help I can get.

Silver, we're going to visit Lisa! Lisa, I had no idea that your part of the world was like that!

You, my friend, are indeed a masher.

Yep, my name is Mr. Silver and I'm a masher. While I couldn't find the origin of "granny gear", BleekerSt_Girl was quick to point out last year that there is another origin to "masher" though

[Melalvai]

She had a couple lower gears than you most likely.

Or even just a smaller granny gear. I was struggling up a hill and another guy chatting away at me because he'd just gotten his 12-tooth granny hill (for hauling a loaded trailer which he did not have at that time). I don't have a 12-tooth yet, but I did replace my chainrings recently and specifically requested mountain-bike-type so that my smallest chainring would be smaller than it had been. I don't care about the biggest one, I can always count on gravity to get me down a hill. I sure love that small one.