- A la danser, they call it in French.
Dancing on the pedals.
Some people just make it look so smooth and so elegant
and yet some people dread it.
Mostly because they find it pretty hard.
Well, I think riding out of the saddle
is 90% technique and only 50% effort.
So, here is a guide on how to ride out of the saddle
as smoothly as a gazelle.
(relaxing music)
Let's start from the beginning,
why ride out of the saddle anyway?
Mainly, it's to generate more torque
by adding body weight to the force you exert on the pedals.
That means you can generate more power
for short durations at least.
Not only does your body weight
help move the pedals when you stand,
you also recruit more muscles in your arms and back,
which contribute to the force you can exert.
That's why riding out of the saddle is helpful
when the going gets steep.
To generate more power for a short time,
to get you over that steep section.
It's also why riders often get out of the saddle to attack
or to sprint in races.
But in this video,
I'm just gonna talk about climbing.
Frankly, I think my attacking days are over
and I have never been able to sprint at all.
Another reason to ride out of the saddle
is that many people find it gives a bit of relief
to their back and bum.
Just standing up for short periods.
Now, I used to hate long, flat races.
Not just because I was rubbish at them,
but also just because
I found it really painful to stay sitting down
for hours and hours.
(relaxing music)
So, if riding out of the saddle is more powerful,
why not do it all the time?
Well, because it's harder work,
because you're supporting your own body weight
and you're using more muscles.
So, a lot of people find that their
heart rate is actually higher
when they're riding out of the saddle.
Therefore, use this technique judiciously,
especially if you're one of those people
that finds it very tiring.
You could for example,
do just short bursts of 30 to 60 seconds on a long climb
to relieve your back
and do bear in mind,
that it's very hard to eat and drink
while riding out of the saddle.
So, if you do it for the whole time,
you'll probably end up dehydrated and a bit hungry.
(relaxing music)
You should choose your moment to stand
based on the gradient and the road surface.
Now, standing to ride,
is most useful when you need most torque,
IE, when the road is steep.
But if the road surface is slippery,
for example, wet and greasy or mossy,
or there's a load of loose gravel.
Well, avoid that moment
because as your weight shifts forward to stand,
you'll momentarily have a bit less traction
under the rear tire.
So, there's a slightly higher chance of slipping out.
(relaxing music)
If you're out riding with a group,
be aware of the people around you before you stand.
Now, it goes without saying,
but if someone's right next to you,
you don't want to veer sideways into them when you stand up.
Similarly, don't suddenly put out so much power
that you ride into the back wheel
of the person in front of you.
And critically, because this happens a lot
and some people don't even realize they do it.
When you stand up,
try to avoid kicking the bike back like that.
So, when you do stand,
try to put down one harder pedal stroke
to conserve the momentum of your bike and body.
(relaxing music)
kickback is a problem in a group
because it means you might take out the front wheel
of the rider behind you.
So, before you start standing in the group,
practice on your own
and a lot of groups like it if you wave your hand
behind your bum as a little signal before you stand up.
(relaxing music)
It's hard to hold a high cadence standing, trust me.
Although is can be a fun training exercise.
So, if you want to ride out of the saddle
to relieve your back,
but the road hasn't got any steeper,
you'll want to change gears.
For example, two sprockets smaller at the back,
so that you have a slightly harder gear
when you stand up.
A higher gear will also provide a bit of extra resistance
to prevent your feet from
running away from you on the pedals.
Now, if on the other hand,
you're standing up just to get you up
a very viciously steep section of road,
well, you won't need to change gear,
because your cadence will already be low
and you'll need all that extra torque
just to keep turning the pedals.
Also, it's been said before,
but I'll say it again.
Choose the right gears.
Even standing won't get you up the
if you've opted for 42/23 as your smallest gear.
You should try to hold your weight as much as possible
over the saddle.
So, hold yourself backwards over the bike,
rather than standing over the handlebars.
This is because the more weight you have over the back wheel
the better traction you'll have.
So, it's especially important
if the road is wet and slippery
or you're on gravel.
Now, I might not be the best person to lecture about this
because when I was racing,
if I ever attacked on a steep, wet climb,
my back wheel would always skid out.
So, clearly I was doing it wrong.
Ow.
(relaxing music)
Right, now onto what I think is the key aspect
of technique for riding out of the saddle.
You should sway the bike
and not swing your body.
That's because even if you don't own
an amazing light super bike,
your bike will weigh less than you.
I mean, maybe not if you're touring
with a lot of luggage,
but apart from that,
your bike will be lighter.
It's simply more efficient
to move the bike than your body weight.
(relaxing music)
Practice it, keep your body as still as possible
when you're out of the saddle
and sway the bike.
Just remember to try to keep riding in a straight line.
When I was racing,
I would always do a bit of a slalom,
which was also not very efficient.
(relaxing music)
Now, if you find riding out of the saddle
really difficult and your arms and shoulders get tired,
and you find it hard to control
your body weight swinging around,
well, maybe you should consider some core stability training
because it's really hard to get away with a weak core
when you're riding out of the saddle.
Switching a small amount of time from your cycling
to your core exercises can lead to big gains.
(relaxing music)
As usual, practice makes perfect,
so if riding out of the saddle doesn't come naturally to you
well, make sure you practice regularly.
Why not put in some blocks of seating standing intervals
on one of your weekly rides?
(relaxing music)
Hopefully this video will help you
to tackle steep, long climbs by riding alla danser,
like a ballerina.
Give us a thumbs up if you liked it
and if you want to watch a video
showing you specifically how to train your core stability
for climbing, click down here.