Do they even know it’s uphill?
As I have recorded here before, I am a poor climber. Even in the lowest gear of my triple-crank road bike, I find nearby hills like Edgewood and Arastradero challenging to climb, and have to use my leg strength (such as it is), rather than cadence, to ascend the hill.
I have been trying not to use this space to discuss my annoyance with other people, but I would hereby like to register annoyance with every cyclist who thinks it’s cute to tell me that I should 1) use a higher cadence because it’s bad to go anaerobic, or 2) go climb La Honda/Kings Mountain/whatever road they think I should be able to climb.
I am pretty bad at climbing. I cannot shoot up Edgewood at 12mph like the guys who passed us on the Tour de Menlo, about whom my riding partner eloquently expressed our collective thoughts: “Do they even know this is uphill?”
Please, all you people who can do that: for the love of Pete, just shut up, and don’t tell me what I should climb and how I should climb it.
Do you ever try climbing out of the saddle?
Comment by justin — August 18, 2008 @ 6:21 pm
When I went biking with my coworker, he looped back as I forced my way uphill and said, “Are you serious? Are you really going that slow?”
It pissed me off.
I know what you mean. I have a double-crank, and I do the best I can, but sometimes a cadence of 80 rpm is just not possible for me. I am a slooooow hill climber.
Comment by Carol — August 18, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Yep, I can climb out of saddle and do sometimes. It’s something I’ve been practicing lately. But I find I prefer to climb seated.
Comment by Alexis — August 19, 2008 @ 10:02 am