Other Side of Chalk Hill Road

[Bianchi Babe]

aka_Kim:

My husband just informed me that I've probably given you the wrong impression. He says I go the easy way on Chalk Hill Road and that coming up the other side of Chalk Hill Road is the difficult part. He says the Wine Country Classic comes up Chalk Hill from the other side. So I guess that pretty much tells me how out of shape I am if I can't even do the easy part without great difficulty. Anyway, just wanted to let you know because I didn't want you to have a better opinion of my athletic prowess than is justified.

[DoubleLori]

When I first started, I remember having to walk up 3-4% grades! Even getting over the freeway overpasses seemed hard. Later on I LIVED on a 22% grade and I would ride home up it. It does get way easier. Clipless pedals are a must.

[Grasshopper]

Biance Babe:

I'm right there with you! I'll be so glad when I don't have that panic that sets in when you realize you've already shifted to your easiest gear and you have no more left! At least not on the tiny hills it's happening on now!!

Sounds like this sport rewards time - with time we'll get it!

[Bianchi Babe]

Grasshopper:

You said it! How long have you been cycling? Do you find when you shift into your lowest gear that you pedal real fast but don't seem to get up the hill any faster and you just seem to be almost standing still? It seems like that is what happens to me.

DoubleLori:

I too, have been finding the overpasses difficult and I am glad to hear they will improve. Actually, there is one overpass that I have to go on to ride into the next town to visit my sister and I have noticed that that one has gotten a little easier.

[aka_kim]

Bianchi Babe - Hey, easy side of the hill, hard side, who cares. When I started riding about 10 years ago I couldn't ride even little bumps in the bike path without gasping for air, now I gasp for air on Mt. Diablo. It does get easier. And I'm impressed with anyone who makes the decision and the effort to get fit, so don't worry, I don't think I have the wrong impression.

[DoubleLori]

You don't necessarily want to shift into your LOWEST gear on every hill. (That's why you have so many gears on the bike.) Find the gear that enables you to keep your cadence (pedal revolutions per minute) similar to what you ride on flatland (should be at least 80rpm and preferably higher), and that allows you to keep your heart rate from going too high. A cycle computer with cadence attachment and a heart rate monitor can help you get the feel for it.

[Bianchi Babe]

aka_Kim:

You've given me hope. I can see a future ahead even if it isn't right away.

[Bianchi Babe]

DoubleLori:

I hear what your saying and it actually makes sense to me. My husband was complaining that I hadn't shifted into the lowest gear going uphill last weekend and the reason was the very one you mentioned! Do you think the cadence/heart monitor device is necessary at a beginning stage? Because I was kind of thinking that first I would get used to riding. Then try the straps on the pedals and then graduate to the cadence/heart rate monitor. I'm still trying to learn how to get on and off the bike without clobbering myself. My husband just looks at me and shakes his head. I don't why its so hard to get on and off the bike. Maybe because this is the first speed bike I've ever had. If they gave out clutz awards I'd win it for sure for the way I stop and get off.

[Grasshopper]

Bianche Babe,

sorry I didn't reply to this sooner, somehow I missed it! I've only been riding for a month. All of this is completely new to me!!!! We're learning together - ha!

This weekend I had to ride in the gym both days - it was POURING rain!! I think I watched too many wet road falls on the tour this year - I'm scared of wet roads!

Good luck with the hills and happy riding!!!

[DoubleLori]

I've ridden many miles in the rain and I've never fallen, but then I wasn't trying to go 35-50mph to win a race. Just go easy on the turns and you will be fine. Make sure you have good rain gear, and having a rain bike with fenders really helps! (You get far more spray from the wheels of an un-fendered bike that you get actually falling from the sky.) An old clunker with fenders from a thrift shop will help you stay fit in the rainy season.

[hibiscus09]

I was caught in a monsoon like rain storm at Kiawah Island for the last 2 miles of one of my long rides. I just got tickled! I had to look out of the top of my sunglasses (it was sunny when I left) to see anything. I did play with my brakes to get used to how they feel in the rain -- once I pumped them a few times they seemed to catch. I'm sure you just shouldn't go too fast & give yourself plenty of time to stop in advance if possible.

I've had that same feeling going up hills before. I hate when I get the gears so easy, I'm like a hamster in a wheel. LOL I just switch back to a slightly more difficult gear if I have the energy -- sometimes at the end of my long rides, I'd rather spin than push.

[Bianchi Babe]

Grasshopper:

After watching the tour this year I decided I wouldn't ride in the rain either. Or at least not until I can handle my bike good enough in fair weather and I think I have a long ways to go yet. We've been cycling for the same amount of time. when I was a kid my parents got me a bike for my birthday but they didn't know bikes were supposed to be fitted to you and neither did I so it was to big and I rode down a hill and fell flat on my face because I wasn't strong enough to put on the brakes. It was a manual bike with brakes that worked by pedaling backwards. Although I never really grew into the bike I did manage to learn how to work it so that by the time I was 12 I was riding for miles and up hills that would intimidate me now. I was known as the bike girl back then because I was the only person who rode a bike so much. Most people had horses. But once I got into high school I gave up cycling and now that I'm trying to get back into it, its turned into a whole scientific thing! It just amazes me and makes me wish that I had kept up with it.

[Bianchi Babe]

DoubleLori:

I'm glad you mentioned having a fender bike for the rain. Don't know when I'll be riding in the rain but if and when I do I shall certainly remember what you said.

[Bianchi Babe]

Hibiscus09:

I liked your analogy about a hamster in a wheel. It really hits home. I feel like when the cycling is that easy on the hill though that I am actually getting more tired than if I go up a gear. I'm not sure which is the best way. My husband says the lowest gear but I think I will reserve judgement until I read the women's cycling book. I have been reading some really old books that my husband had from high school and part of it made sense but my husband said the part that made sense to me was no longer true and it was outdated material. So I guess when my book comes today I'll really start learning things the right way.

[hibiscus09]

Let me know how you like your book. I have "The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling" and another training book by Lance Armstrong. I've really learned a lot by reading them but I wouldn't mind having one written by a woman.