Shifting and hills and falling over oh my!

[ColoKate]

I'm still working on shifting and getting up hills - had to walk up the same two hills yesterday as I did last weekend

Glad you didn't hurt yourself too much!

[Catrin]

I'm still working on shifting and getting up hills - had to walk up the same two hills yesterday as I did last weekend

Glad you didn't hurt yourself too much!

The elbow will be beautiful before it is over, but nothing serious. and my shoulder a little sore. It was worth it At least I finally figureed out what I've been doing wrong when shifting my Trek. Basically I've been teaching myself, and that can be interesting.

My personal trainer thought it interesting that the person I hired to give me a couple of riding lessons early on never really focused on how to shift. She gave me a very complex diagram from Sheldon Brown's site, but we didn't go over the basics and I didn't know enough to know what to ask. My trainer rectified that yesterday and he focused on my shifting and basics of riding in traffic. It was fun, and very needed.

I have been surprised at the amount of vibration that reaches the handlebars from rough roads though - yesterday I hit a patch so rough that my feet came off the pedals I know my LHT would have handled that patch differently, but it isn't fair to compare a fitness/flat-bar road bike with a steel touring bike.

[Possegal]

Yep, I've done it too. I call it my "controlled fall". As opposed to my "whoa, how did I end up down here" falls. I was able to find a nice pile of leaves to fall over in. I'm much better at unclipping when going slowly now, but figure there will probably still be another controlled fall or two in my future.

[kg32]

My husband rides with a crew of about 6 buys... they're all 6 foot and taller (I'm 5' 4"). So.. the hills that are encountered are always a bit easier for them than me but I've learned what I need to do to get up them and keep up with the men. I've found that I have to count a cadence in my head to keep me pedaling and not falling over (ie, 1-2-3-1-2-3). It helps. Sounds weird, I know... but it keeps my breathing controlled and my feet from slowing down.

I hope your elbow is better. Those "eggs" always hurt so much.