Another very tough climb (video & pics)

[luv2climb]

Hi,

Just wanted to say i love seeing the pictures and vids from your rides.
I'm sooooo jealous, cycling in California looks amazing!

The elevation chart on your Garmin scares me

I hope I'll be able to climb like that one day. I've been trying to practice 'hills', I'm getting a little better but I can't imagine myself ever getting up a mountain.

Thank you. I don't know where in the UK you live, but there are some good steep climbs there. Here's the list. There's even a book.

Hardknott Pass is one of the steepest mountains, with grades over 30%. Here's a video by one of my subscribers of him climbing it in this year's Fred Whitton Challenge. It's raw footage like all my videos, so you get the full experience of the effort it takes to climb this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzNfufUHh9Q

Keep at it, and before you know it you'll be climbing those mountains.

[Mako]

Hey thanks for links!

My brother has that book - it sits on his coffee table and mocks me
I'll have to take a closer look at it the next time I'm round and try and pick out a climb to aim for.

That list is really useful, I'm in the midlands so I can check out the ones that are closest to me by car first.

Hardknott Pass looks like a killer You can really get a sense of how tough it is by the blokes upfront struggling out of the saddle, and not to mention all the people pushing their bikes up

I still think California looks prettier than England tho!

[luv2climb]

Hey thanks for links!

My brother has that book - it sits on his coffee table and mocks me
I'll have to take a closer look at it the next time I'm round and try and pick out a climb to aim for.

That list is really useful, I'm in the midlands so I can check out the ones that are closest to me by car first.

You're welcome. Have fun with that list. I know I would if I lived there!

Hardknott Pass looks like a killer You can really get a sense of how tough it is by the blokes upfront struggling out of the saddle, and not to mention all the people pushing their bikes up

Also, his gasping for air on the steepest parts. I've taken a bit of heat on male-dominated cycling forums for my "uncontrolled breathing" on steep climbs, and I always have to remind these skinny people that they are blessed with the increased lung capacity, strength, and faster metabolism that men get without additional training. Us women have to work and breathe harder to get up these climbs.

The guy in the video is in much better shape than I am, so if he has to gasp for air, imagine what I would have to do to make it up that climb!

Of course, those doing the criticizing don't have the balls to post a raw sufferfest video, so the more they whine about heavy breathing, the more I seek out hard climbs to post video of. Some people are waaay too uptight!

[Mako]

Also, his gasping for air on the steepest parts. I've taken a bit of heat on male-dominated cycling forums for my "uncontrolled breathing" on steep climbs,

That seems a bit petty really At least there are people here that appreciate your pictures and videos

I've read a few other forums and I've noticed the tone on some of them to be a little 'nitpicky'

[luv2climb]

That seems a bit petty really At least there are people here that appreciate your pictures and videos

I've read a few other forums and I've noticed the tone on some of them to be a little 'nitpicky'

I agree. I have the feeling many of these people on other forums have never struggled with weight loss either. Hauling 20 extra pounds of useless blubber up every hill just makes the climb harder than it should be.

The nitpickiness of some boards is why I mostly lurk on them. If I do post anything I have to walk on eggshells and watch what I say to avoid problems. That's why I like posting here, where the level of intelligence seems quite a bit higher and people aren't all holier-than-thou.