(soft music)
- Ever heard the saying it doesn't have to be fun to be fun.
Well, I'm pretty sure they were talking about climbing
and in this case, our bikes,
however hard and grueling those big climbs might seem
while you're in the action.
They usually lead to pretty awesome descent.
So I guess in the end, it is fun.
Previously, we've talked about good body position
while climbing your bike.
And I hope you've been working on that,
either on the trails or on the indoor trainer,
because today we're digging in deeper.
We're gonna talk about really important stuff.
Like when to be in what gear,
how much power to push to make sure you actually finished
the whole ride
and line choices.
There's usually a ton of them.
It's really slippery single track behind me today.
So wish me luck.
We're gonna see what I made up.
It's a good idea not to go too easy
or too hard on the gears.
Obviously though, that's going to depend on you,
your fitness, your skills on the bike
and what line you're riding that day.
Plan ahead so that you're not jamming a bunch of gears
and right before a steep climb or vice versa,
you're not spinning like a hamster in a wheel,
but we're going to cover that a bit more in depth.
When we go into line choice shortly,
I just found this nice punchy section of climbing trail
just behind me here.
And I'm standing on a really good flat section of trail
to shift some gears,
but what gear should I be in for this particular section?
I'm going to go with a slightly harder gear
because I want to carry a momentum up this climb
right after it.
It's a bit of a flat traversing section of trail.
So the more momentum I can carry up,
the better I'm going to do in the long run.
All right. A little bit of a quick pitch here.
I'm gonna shift into my third gear.
And bring it up.
All right. Just made it through that techie
little punchy section of trail.
And I can see from here, it's a bit smoother
and a bit flatter.
So it's an awesome opportunity to go into that easier gear,
get the leg speed up
and think spin it to win it.
Longer climbs much like this one behind me
are where cyclists prefer to usually have an easier gear
and a higher cadence to prevent the buildup of lactic acid.
Try not to drop your cadence too low
at any point on the climb
to make sure your body is working aerobically.
This is going to be a huge help in building endurance
in the long run.
All right. Now the only way to get better at climbing
is to actually do it.
So ride in all the conditions
that way you're ready for anything that comes your way.
Slippery roots,
dry dusty forest, service roads or tight switchbacks.
Terrible fitness will not have you feeling like a champ
on those single track climbs.
So turn your one lap into three
with a little endurance practice.
So we've just gotten to the slightly wide bit
of climbing trail here.
And same with descending when you're climbing the trail.
It's super important to look where you're going.
Pick little points on the trail,
little markers that you want to get to,
kind of think of it as like a little carrot
that you're chasing maybe.
You get to that point,
pick the eyes back up and carry on.
All right, we're going mainline with confidence here.
I've got two little corners picked out as my markers,
eyes are up.
Found this perfect little example here
to talk about line choices on the trail.
Um, this one in particular,
I can already see I'm going to be following this main line
right here through the tunnel with my front wheel
so that I'm crossing the root perpendicular,
less chance of my front wheel sliding out
and my rear wheel as well.
I've got my line chosen here.
I'm gonna cross the root perpendicular
with a little wheelie motion just there.
And if you find yourself on a much steeper section of trail,
to be careful,
because if you throw yourself into a little wheelie,
could find yourself going way backwards down the trail.
So we've stumbled upon this series
of tight switchbacks here.
My pro tip on this one,
because it is quite tight is to take the trail
a little bit wider than you think you need to.
I'm actually going to climb riders left of this rock here,
which gives me just enough room to line the bike up
straight ahead.
I'm gonna be able to get over that little root ball,
no problems.
However, if that's too easy for you
and you want a little more excitement in your life,
you can actually do a little trials maneuver
as demonstrated by.
Where you literally hop on trail to create balance,
keep yourself upright.
And then you've actually got a nice straight line ahead.
Oh yeah.
Steeper and more technical sections of trail
like this little bad boy here
are times when you're probably going to want to use that
thrusting movement that we've talked about before.
I like to do that,
to bring my body weight forward on the bike,
especially as you're going up a steep bit of trail
and it also lets the rear wheel track up
and over all these yucky little obstacles.
This is an awesome reminder
of why you should practice pedaling while standing
and do some rear wheel lifts
because they make a huge difference.
Oh my God, I'm not even clipped in.
And then you dab.
All right, that last little impossible climb,
not gonna lie.
It was a bit tough for me,
but I found one that I think I can conquer
this little baby here.
Same rules apply though.
I'm probably gonna have to get out of the saddle
on this one to make that punchy maneuver,
up and over this rock here,
I'm gonna shift the body weight forward
and let the rear wheel track up
and over.
I can do this. You can do this
Well.
We made it to the top of something.
It only took all day to get here,
but hopefully the tips and reminders
that I shared along the way on gearing, cadence,
line choice,
they're going to help you turn climbing into a fun activity.
Maybe you'll even love it so much to nip down
to the bike shop
and grab a fresh liker kit for your cross-country bike.
I don't know, man.
You do you,
but hopefully you've got some legs
and lungs to spare for another lap out on your next big day.
And as for me,
I think it's time to drop in.
(upbeat music)