Standing to pedal up hills

[lunacycles]

A long climb is anything that takes 45 minutes or more, so about 4 miles plus.

45 minutes?? Man, I must be getting old or out of shape..or both!

I consider a "long climb" to be more than a mile or so, or about 10 minutes. Also, long or short, I generally stay seated, and only get out of the saddle to stretch, or, as someone mentioned, to power through those gnarly steep switchbacks. I find I simply exert too much energy when I am riding out of the saddle for longer than a minute or two.

When I get out of the saddle, I also tend to immediately shift up a gear (bigger gear) so as not to lose speed--as your cadence instantly goes down when you get out of the saddle. The invention of brifters has made this effortless (I am again revealing my age!).

I think to define "long climb" is very dependent on your fitness level. If you are wondering "whether to," just do it and notice how you feel, how it feels. If it is a new skill, it is well worth practicing. You will learn over time what works best for your bod and your terrain.

[maillotpois]

I think to define "long climb" is very dependent on your fitness level.

I think it's also very dependent on your terrain.

We don't have many "long" climbs here in No CA under my definition (really just the big 3, Tam, Diablo and Hamilton and a handful of others), but we routinely ride other places where you can climb 8 - 10 miles without much of a break. So that's "long". I don't really consider a mile or so climb (think Marshall wall) as "long" - but when you get to about 3 - 4 miles (Stinson to Pantoll, Ink Grade) you're getting longer. The Geysers, Pine Flat, Tam, Sierra, are LONG.

It is COMPLETELY subjective. I really just base it on time. How long does it take? Can I compose an entire closing argument in my head before I get to the top? Ok, it's long.

[OakLeaf]

I think it's also very dependent on your terrain.

+1

I thought the same thing when I saw lunacycles's post. If you're climbing at 6 mph on a road bike, that's pretty steep, probably over 10% grade. A mile at 10% is a very different animal from, say, four miles at 5%. I'm not going to say one's harder than the other, they're just very different in terms of body mechanics and strength demands.

In Ohio, a mile and a half is about as long as they get, but there are plenty of hills that are just so steep you'd have to have both super strength AND teeny gears to get over them without standing up. I'm told "the Wall" in Pittsburgh is 32%. Don't know if that's true or not, but you get the idea.

Edit: Pittsburgh's Canton Street is a verified 37%, according to the local paper. And cobblestone. I don't know how the bricks even stay in.