cadence, gearing and climbing

[psychling]

I train almost exclusively on mountainous terrain. On inclines I typically stay in the big (50) ring up front and the 26 in back. My cadence is rarely higher than 60 rpm when I climb. Good training.

Today was 34.5 miles in 3 hours with about 4,700 feet of climbing.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/161094871

I'm working on weight loss over the past 7 or 8 months so that the power to weight ratio works in my favor. Having lost about 30 lbs over that time I've found that the mountains have gotten less steep and flatter (tongue in cheek).

So far (66 years) I have no leg, hip or knee problems.

But Gatorade gives me gas -- which I haven't used for propulsion. Wind is your friend

 

[charlesw]

Dan, maybe I could gleen it

Dan, maybe I could gleen it from past posts, but what is your drivetrain? If you big ring is 50t, you maybe have a compact double? What cassette are you running?

Thanks!

 

[psychling]

Gearing ...

Charles ...

Different gearing for different terrain or events.

Typically I run a compact double (50/34) with an 11/32 ten speed cassette on all my bikes. This addresses two things: my weight and the terrain. As I'm losing weight I'm moving toward a 53/39 upfront and an 11/34 in back. The 34 will help me with grades greater than 12 percent.

For flatland events I currently run a 53/39 with an 11/28 ten speed cassette in the back.

I'm investigating a 56/42 up front and keeping the 11/34 in back for flat and rollers. The 56 may be too challenging, though, for the mountainous terrain, so I'd only use it for competition purposes (flat and rollers).

 

[mspector60]

Traction

Dan,
How do you manage loss of traction or do you experience this when the grade of the road becomes very steep over a short distance?

 

[psychling]

traction ...

mspector ...

The only time I have a problem with traction at grades greater than 13-14% is when there is sand or ash on the road. (Or snow, or ice, or oil, or ...)

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,
On a particularly steep

Hi,

On a particularly steep hills on my Sofrider, I can get some wheel slippage until I pull myself off the back of the seat and leaned forward. John's post has useful tips about how to avoid these problems. The biggest problem I have on the really steep hills is starting up again if I stop. I have never had any problems where the wheel slipping has caused me to lose control of the bike or anything like that (even on a relatively steep hill with loose gravel).

Cheers,
Charles