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!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

...even though I already have a triple, I'm seriously considering a 12-27 cassette when my 12-25 is due for replacement

Mine is a 12-34. Spin Dry SpeedQueen.
Then again, I do some harder climbs than Mr. Silver's Boltinghouse Horror. I need all the help I can get.

[indysteel]

As Mr. Silver suggested, I do indeed love my triple. I used my middle ring for much of the Horsey, but it became very clear on Saturday that I needed my granny gear more and more as my quads got more and more fatigued. Same thing with Sunday. There were a few hills where I announced to Mr. Silver that I was going to spin up them in an effort to save my quads from further misery. Worked like a charm.

And then there are those hills that I need the granny gear for no matter how fresh my legs otherwise are.

[Flybye]

Shiraz and others tried to kill me on Friday with 20 miles of hills. I have a double and was cursing and mashing up till the summit. Then I was smiling and praising on the coast down. It was a 34 mile ride all told, but the climb was LONG - I survived with a big old smile at the end.

Mr. - as far as I am concerned, it is like running - even tho' you may be jogging at 4.crawl miles per hour, they still call you a runner. You, my friend, are indeed a masher.

As an aside, why in the world would we have a granny gear on a bike? I think that applies only to a car. Historians? I'd google the history of the term right now, but I need to get to work if I want a paycheck. Pretty sure that there aren't many grannys mashing their way up the summit .

[Geonz]

When I can grab a cadence and keep my stroke powerful full circle, I can get up hills well. If I lose that I end up shoving the pedals down as hard as I can and hoping I get to the top. Fortunately most of the hills I do are gradual.

[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

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

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

Not too many flats around here. Lots of beautiful rolling hills everywhere, and some good hard climbs. Maybe that's 'one' of the reasons my average speed is so low....