Hill Speed

[north woods gal]

Had a similar thread going awhile back, but it's always a good topic to discuss.

On another thread, I mentioned that I do stand in the pedals, sometimes, even though I wasn't sure if it was considered the "correct" thing to do on a road bike. I was happy to hear that it was accepted practice. There is a knack to it and you do have to practice it a bit to gain strength, but if it hurts your knees, do NOT do it. It can put a huge amount of stress on the joint. (I mostly lock my knees and pedal with my thighs and hips.) Most of the time, I just work the gears and spin up hills, anyway. I mostly stand when I'm at the crest or taking on a small hill and don't want to mess with working the gears.


I don't worry about speed, either. Even when I'm down to 4 mph or so, it's still a lot faster than walking. (I am a slow walker.)