Bridging

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,

I've been playing with bridging. The basic idea is that you plant your shoulders against the seat and lift up your butt.

The lower the seat angle (more horizontal), the easier it is to do. You need strong core muscles (which I don't really have), but when I can do it, I find I can transfer a lot more energy to the pedals. In this blog post, I've got more details as well as some links to BROL forum about this.

Has anybody else been doing this on a Cruzbike?

Cheers,
Charles

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,
When I was riding in this

Hi,

When I was riding in this morning and I was bridging to get up the last hill before work, I noticed that I was pushing quite hard against the handlebars to get my butt out of the seat (while my shoulders were planted against the seat back). I've never ridden another SWB besides the Sofrider. Can this be done on an RWD recumbent (pushing against the handle bars like that)? (I know bridging can be done, but usually on recumbents with much lower seat angle than a Sofrider)

Cheers,
Charles

 

[MrSteve]

-I thought of this as, "planking"... just before the planking
fad became more well known.
Planking is, of course, when you emulate a plank and sometimes
bridge a gap with your stiff, plank-like body.

I've used this method/trick for a while.

Here's another way to think of this technique:
You know how you engage different muscles on a diamond-frame bike
when you get out of the saddle and stand on the pedals while you lean
on the handlebar?
Like when D.F. riders climb.
Or when D.F. riders sprint, for example.

You don't necessarily have to be standing on the pedals with your
behind off of the saddle!
You can do almost as well if you pedal forcefully enough to make
your bottom "light" in the saddle.

My seat is reclined enough -33 degrees or more, depending on which seat I'm using-
that I'm able to bridge a little almost all the time.

By bridging a little, I mean that my bottom is very light on/in my seat.

----

My Sofrider is the only recumbent I've ever ridden and, frankly, not many other
bikes interest me enough to want to own them.

But, I have a lot of experience on my Sofrider and with varying degrees of recline in the seat.
Charles, you're right:
bridging is easier with more reclined seat backs.
Bridging is also easier when your arms are straighter -less bend in your elbows.

With a more upright seat back, I like to sit upright to make more power, up very
steep hills: this also puts more weight over the front (driven) wheel, minimising wheel slip.
Sitting upright is also easier to do with your arms straighter, with less bend in your elbows.

With our MBB FWD Cruzbikes, bridging is exactly like sprinting or climbing out-of-the-saddle is,
for DF bike riders.
Bridging helps RWD recumbents... probably by recruiting the riders' muscles differently... but it
is not like a either a DF or a Cruzbike.

-Steve

 

[David Callow]

Works on a RWD recumbent

But not for long! O.K. for a short term burst on a steep hill. The fitter cyclist (which excludes me) might benefit. On a long hill it doesn't work for me or I would quickly be kn*****ed! Spinning at around 70rpm in a low gear works for me. Also, if the hill is really steep and you're on an MBB FWD, wouldn't you want to go with John's suggestion and get your weight forward (i.e. lean forward) to improve traction?

 

[Bryanmcn]

I tried it on the Baron. Messed up my lower back!

 

[Charles.Plager]

I have a little experience on

I have a little experience on RWD LWB recumbents and absolutely no experience with RWD SWB bikes.

One difference that I believe between Cruzbikes and RWD bikes is the handlebars. When I bridge, I am pushing hard against the handlebars to get my butt out of the seat. After I rode the tour de Bronx with other recumbent riders, I came to the conclusion that bridging as I do it would not work on most RWD bikes.

As far as traction, I don't have issues on dry hills less than about 12%. If they are short enough, I love just bridging and zooming up them. But yes, this only works on relatively short hills. As far as pulling myself up to move my center of mass forward, I find that this also takes a lot more energy than just lying back and spinning (although a lot less than bridging). For long hills, I switch back and forth between fully reclined spinning and pulling myself up. The latter I almost use like DF use standing for climbing hills (meaning, more as a way to change which muscles I'm using to give other muscles a break).

Cheers,
Charles

 

[Eric Winn]

Curious - what constitutes a

Curious - what constitutes a short hill for most of you?

-Eric

 

[KiwiGuy]

Bridging on a RWD

Hi Charles

You're wrong in your assumption that bridging is unlikely to work on RWD recumbents. After a great deal of experimentation over the years I can assure you that it is the best climbing technique for RWD high-racers.

There is no need to put a lot of pressure on the handle bars - I'm guessing that you're doing that to control front wheel movement. On a RWD high-racer, I put minimal pressure on the handlebars. The main pressure is on your pedals (feet) and top back of your seat (shoulders).

One trick to making it easier to bridge is to put a couple of layers of closed cell foam under the small of your back and mid-back (under your seat foam). My seat is reclined at about 20 degrees and I have three layers under the seat.

The observation that bridging is only useful for a short burst is also incorrect. It depends how much power you put out while you're bridging. Coming up to events I practise bridging for up to 20 minutes while riding just below lactate threshold on a stationary trainer.

I imagine that you could hurt your back, but if you have a strong core I can't imagine doing that. Most weeks I do planks and swiss ball crunches (and sometimes kettle bell swings) at the gym up to three days a week. Definitely helps me to hold the bridging position for a long time.

Kind regards... Blair

 

[psychling]

Blair is correct.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Blair and Dan,
I never

Hi Blair and Dan,

I never said bridging didn't work on RWD bikes. I know it does and people who do (I didn't make up the term, I got it from RWD riders). What I said was "bridging as I do it." And I still think I'm right.

And I don't need to put pressure on the handlebars to control pedal steer. You learn to just avoid pedal steer by riding. I put pressure on the handlebars to help lift up my body.

On my Cruzigami Mantis, the seat angle is much lower than on my Sofrider and I find I don't need to push nearly as hard on the handlebars. It's been said on BROL that bridging works better with a low seat angle. On a MBB bike, you can get it to work with a much higher seat angle by using the handlebars as I do.

As far as short time periods, it depends highly on the seat angle. A higher seat angle makes it much harder to bridge. The lower the angle, the easier it is to do for a longer period of time.

Cheers,
Charles

Mantis seat angle:

 

[Charles.Plager]

(I really wish one could edit

(I really wish one could edit posts.. oh well...)

Hi Blair,

As far as being easier to bridge when one is in better shape, you're absolutely correct. I can tell that it's my core muscles that are letting me down when trying for long periods of time.

Cheers,
Charles

 

[KiwiGuy]

Ooops

Sorry Charles.

I misread your original post.

It is easier to bridge when your seat is more reclined and you have support under your lower back. In that situation your butt just pops of the seat.

Proviso - the better shape you're in the easier it is as you point out. As I've lost weight, bridging has become way easier. Yes, I also have a stronger core, but a lot of weight has dropped off my gut and butt so there is less to lift.

If you have to put weight on your handle bars to lift yourself off the seat, then bridging can't be easy.

Kind regards.... Blair

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi Blair,
No worries.
I

Hi Blair,

No worries.

I agree with all of your point here: Yes to the seat angle (as I've found with new lower angle). Yes to the better shape. I sit on a yoga ball at work and that has helped my core a lot, but I've still got a lot of work to do. And yes, the more I have to work to get my butt in the air by pushing on the handlebars, the shorter I can maintain it.

Cheers,
Charles