On Jul 7, 2009, at 9:30 PM, GeorgeS wrote:
> I should preface this question by saying that most of my bike riding > has been in pretty flat and/or rolling hill sort of country. I have > little experience on steep, long climbs. In Vermont I'm seeing quite > a few challenging (for me) hills. On the road I'm doing OK so long as > I don't talk myself into trying to "crush" the hill. Usually I can > get on my middle chain ring and one of the big sprockets and get off > the saddle after a bit and I'm getting to the top though I doubt that > Rabobank is going to be calling me anytime soon. The problem is on > gravel roads where I'm, out of necessity, riding substantially slower > so that I usually lack much momentum when I approach the hills. This > means I'm sometimes in the granny gear from the word go. But when I > try to break things up and rest my back a little by getting out of the > seat, I can't do it. My pedals are just falling away from me and I > immediately loose even more speed and have to unclip in a hurry to > save a ignominious fall. I'm afraid to try to upshift to the middle > chain ring while I'm climbing. What am I doing wrong? I guess I > should also say that I'm on the wrong side of 65. Davis Phinney teaches the "magic shift" at his seminars to help people who aren't great climbers do better. Basically it involves alternating sitting and spinning in a low gear with a high cadence, then shifting up a gear or two and standing for a short while, then sitting down and spinning again. You seem to have already figured out the basic idea. It's usually best to do this shift with the rear derailleur. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
