Do you sit or stand going up hills?

[OakLeaf]

smile when climbing....(Plus, people see you and think you are nuts - and that's always good for an internal giggle or two )

Speaking of people thinking you're nuts. I was watching the pros stick out their tongues in the TdF during hard climbs and sprints, and decided to try it, and it really helps open the airway! You have to stick it out hard enough to feel the pull at the back of your throat, try to touch your chin with your tongue.

[cyclinnewbie]

I sit until my thighs/butt burns so bad I can't stand it, then I stand until my legs burn so bad I can't stand it, then I sit, then I stand (we have some big hills here). I'm not dedicated to either, just whatever will get me up the darned hill without dying.

[CarbonCandy]

Im deff a sitter! Most of the time I don't find the need to climb/stand. Plus, the feeling of the lactic acid build up is unpleasant LOL

[jesvetmed]

Word of advice though- even though it uses up a little more oxygen- if your lungs are in good enough shape singing always gets me up hills faster.

Ha! I sing to myself on hills (or running)-- usually "99 bottles of beer" for cadence. Sometimes outloud if I'm feeling the need.

As for sit vs. stand, I do both -- I guess kind of a cadence, how hard is it getting? sort of thing. If I'm slowing significantly and need the boost, I will stand. I'll often stand at the steeper areas, then sit to spin the rest .

[HoosierGiant]

Ha! I sing to myself on hills (or running)-- usually "99 bottles of beer" for cadence. Sometimes outloud if I'm feeling the need.

OMG! That's the same song I use!! In my case though, I'm generally chanting it when facing a stiff headwind. Force myself to not look ahead to the next crossroad until I've gotten through the song.

As for hills, I prefer to sit and spin a high cadence, although I do stand occasionally just to reassure myself that I haven't forgotten how.

[CarbonCandy]

Ha! I sing to myself on hills (or running)-- usually "99 bottles of beer" for cadence. Sometimes outloud if I'm feeling the need.
.

I amm soooo going to try this on my next ride!

[ima_bleeder]

I find standing to be much less efficient for me. It makes my legs burn and my HR spike. So if it's a very long climb it's a bad strategy for me.

But, if it's a pretty short duration, standing can give your butt and your back a break on a long ride.

Mixing it up is good.

[xeney]

For me it depends on the bike. I am more likely to stand on my mountain bike and on either of my mixtes (they are single speeds so I don't really have any other option). On my road bike I gear down and spin, partly because I read that Sheldon Brown article and I am very impressionable, and partly because I feel really unstable standing on my road bike. Which is one of the things I don't like about it -- I think it is the short stem that makes standing feel sort of terrifying.

[2Gowans]

It never occurred to me to sit going uphill. Mind you, the most gears I've had is 5 and a lot of the hills have been short & steep.

[kelownagirl]

I almost always sit unless they are VERY short and I'm not too tired.

[Dogmama]

If you stand, be sure that you still have one more gear "in the hole." If you need to sit again, you'll probably want an easier gear.

Here is something that really helps me: I don't "fight the hill." I mentally "work with the hill". So, I hit the hills as fast as I can so I have some momentum. I'll sit until my cadence slows to ~60, depending on how my legs feel that day. Usually that gets me over the hill - or close to it.

[cyclinnewbie]

We have so many hills here in my area I usually have trouble getting the right gears from hill to hill (easy enough to get me up one side, but hard enough to get some speed at the bottom in preparation for the next hill .....no rolling hills around here. They're steep and one right after another). But then again, I'm quite the hill-slug....

[violette]

LOL So the long and short of it answer is: "Whatever gets you up that hill!"

Ha! Ha! Never thought about it that way, but I second that...

[Dogmama]

Part of this depends on the predominant muscle fiber makeup in your glutes/thighs. If you're more slow twitch, you'll find that higher cadences are easier. Fast twitch needs lower cadences.

The best way to tell is trial and error. On a flat road, if you can maintain a high cadence for many miles, you're probably slow twitch. If you're more comfortable at a lower cadence (70-80 mph) on the flats, you probably have more fast twitch.

The point of this is that what works for one TE'er may not work for her sister!

[Trigress]

I sit as much as possible, this seems to exhaust my legs less, and being the worst hill slug ever seen, I go for the easiest version...