cadence

[Kano]

attacking hills -- for me, that doesn't work well yet. It's a sure fire recipe for "blowing up" my legs -- and lungs -- as someone else mentioned. I've found that my sure-fire method of getting up, at least for now, is to gear down to granny, and yeah, I'm out of places to shift down to, right at the beginning of a hill, and not look too far ahead.

Now, this has been working, and what I'm calling a hill now is a lot more challenging than what I used to call hills! Those other ones, I'm finding I don't have to gear down like I used to, and maybe someday, I'll be looking at my current challenges with the same sort of strength I now have for my previous demon hills!

(went whizzing up one of those old demons the other day, and when DH caught up, I grinned at him and said, remember when I could barely make it up that one at 4mph? He said he remembered when I walked it. I never had quite THAT much trouble with it!)

Karen in Boise

[RolliePollie]

I never really gave much thought to cadence, but after reading this thread last night, I decided to pay a little more attention on today's ride. Looks like I spin at around 80. I guess I'm pretty content with that. It's what's comfortable for me at this point, and it will be interesting to see if it goes up with time. I was trying to count rpm's on hills too, but I was kind of all over the place. On one nice long steady hill, I was in my granny gear spinning at about 65-70. I definitely try to always gear down on hills...no mashing for me! Well, except when the hill is steep and I've run out of gears!

[indysteel]

Hills are still my nemesis, but I'm happy to report that I've gotten better at them. There are still a few, however, that make my palms sweat just thinking about them. And I've had to walk up more than one.

IMO, there's a big learning and fitness curve for them. I had been riding about three months when I did the Hilly Hundred last year. I thought I was going to die. I knew nothing about gearing and my heart rate went through the roof. I've learned a lot since then and have, thank goodness, gotten a better aerobic base. I've gotten better at the mind game, too. This hill will not beat me, this hill will not beat me!

I went on a hillly ride this June called JAWS and was lucky enough to have a very experienced friend with me. His input was invaluable. From his observations, I realized that I wasn't pacing myself very well. By hitting the hill in too easy a gear, I was basically spinning out and blowing up. Now I hit the base of the hill (these are hills, not rollers) a little more slowly in a slightly harder gear and try maintain a steady and controlled pace. He was chiding me the other day about not keeping up with him and I finally had to remind him that I was taking his advice and doing the hills at my pace.

[ginny]

So, today I focused on increasing my cadence (went on a pretty flat ride). I rode with five or six other friends, and tried to pace myself at how fast their legs were turning over. I didn't have any 'blow up' issues. Maybe getting used to spinning those legs faster on the flat will translate to the hills for me... Anyway, it was fun (forgot the metronome - there's always next time ), and it's fun to ride with a group and realize I don't truly suck!