- Riding uphill is hard enough as it is,
so don't make it any more difficult than it needs to be.
(upbeat music)
No matter how long or short a climb may be,
the most efficient and comfortable way
of getting to the top is to pace yourself.
So avoid, at all costs, going flat out
at the beginning, and ending up in oxygen debt,
and then running the rest of the way up the climb
in a rather sorry state.
So don't blow, and end up slow.
Spin to win is all well and good,
but don't go too low.
Now Chris Froome somehow gets away with it,
with his amazing washing machine style,
but for us mere mortals, spinning at such a high cadence
not only looks silly, but it's simply not efficient.
Go too low, you'll only end up slow.
At the other end of the cadence spectrum is over-gearing.
In many ways, it's even worse than under-gearing.
Why? Well, firstly,
you may actually do some damage to your knees
due to the torque and the load
that you're putting through them.
And secondly, quite simply, you'll be
very mechanically inefficient.
And also, you may actually become in danger
of grinding to a halt,
and actually toppling off your bike.
Feel the burn, but let those pedals turn.
Know when to shift gear at the right time.
So, not on the steepest part of the climb,
when you are hardly moving at all.
The torque through the mech will only result in
your gears grinding and crunching,
and often result in the chain getting jammed.
Ideally, sit down and shift in advance
of any severe gradient change.
Also, try and avoid shifting from the big ring
into the small ring, when you're putting
a lot of torque through the bike,
as this can often result in a dropped chain.
Although on that occasion, I got away with it.
So shift smooth, don't lose your groove.
Really, I hear you ask.
Well yes, really, because I've seen it
for myself first hand.
Incredibly, some people do actually try
to climb out of the saddle whilst holding
onto the tops of the bars.
Just don't do it.
You're in hardly any control of the bike at all,
and you might end up taking somebody else out,
as well as looking like a complete and utter plonker.
And that's English for idiot, in whatever
your respective territory is.
Don't climb on the tops, it's better on the drops, or hoods.
Avoid, at all costs, stuffing food, i.e. a cake
or an energy bar, into your mouth
when you're riding hard on a climb,
especially a steep one.
Doing this will leave you trying in inhale
through a filter of soggy, mashed-up food,
likely causing you to inhale, or vomit,
or choke on what you're supposed to be eating.
Don't do it, it looks horrible as well.
Give yourself time to chew, that way you won't hurl or spew.
Now, I'm sure you'll agree that avoiding those
climbing mistakes will make for a far better
climbing experience.
And we'd also like to hear about your climbing errors.
Leave them down in the comments section below.
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Now for our top ten cycling mistakes,
click just up here.
And for our top ten cycling excuses for climbing,
click just up here.
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