STANDING UP...Whats the secret??

[VeloVT]

I agree with what everyone is saying about gearing. One other thing... if you have come from a background of lots of spin classes... I have only taken a few spin classes, so I don't know if this is universal, but the way the instructor suggested we should stand and pedal was completely unlike how you ACTUALLY stand and pedal on a real bike -- she instructed everyone to stand over the saddle, keeping their butts as far back over the saddle as possible. This seemed really strange to me, because it's completely different than what you do on a bike... and if you tried this on a bike I think the balance would feel pretty strange. When you stand to pedal on a real bike, you do want to shift your weight forward -- which means shifting your pelvis up over the bottom bracket -- not "hovering" your hips over your saddle. I'm sure this spinning technique is helpful for building quad strength/endurance, it burns, but it doesn't really approximate how it feels to stand and pedal on a real bike. (If you "hover" on a real bike, you might as well just sit, because you're not really getting the extra leverage that you are looking for from standing in the first place, but it's more fatiguing than just sitting...).

Hope this helps.

Good luck!!!