With riders all around you it's easy to let the adrenaline kick in and start these mountains too
hard so at the bottom of the climbs throttle back and take a moment to remind yourself
how long it's going to take, use subjective feelings a heart rate monitor or a power metre
to pace yourself, if you do things right you'll be passing a lot of riders as they fade towards
the top. Why? It's the most efficient way to the top, sitting back in the saddle will
recruit your glutes giving the large muscles at the back of your thighs more leverage to
pedal. Reduce the risk of going anaerobic or in other words into oxygen dept, standing
up or riding out of the saddle is more powerful but will use vital glycogen stores faster.
That said some riders, think Alberto Contador and myself are simply more comfortable climbing
out of the saddle so if you're a bit more experienced and you don't feel like you can
get all of your power out in the saddle then do what feels comfortable, vary it, it will
ease the pain. When you're out of the saddle change up to a bigger gear because you'll
want a lower cadence change back into an easier gear when you sit down. A steady cadence
of about 90rpm is considered normal, however it is very much self selected so you shouldn't
try and ride at a specific cadence just because someone's told you that's the best way to
do it. Practice this it's not easy whilst you're climbing, the effort is high, your
breathing rate and heart rate soar and the concentration of actually getting up the mountain
can make you simply forget to take on calories and fluids compensate for this on the flat
sections. You don't need to have an extra special bike to be able to climb a mountain
but you do need to choose the right gears. A compact front chain set with smaller than
standard chain rings will be needed by most amateur riders to get up European climbs,
on some of the Italian climbs which are painfully steep as well as long you may also need to
get a bigger rear cassette to give you an even lower easiest gear. If you do happen
to have an unlimited budget the lighter your bike is the easier the fight against gravity
will be. Pro riders are governed by the UCI's minimum weight rule of 6.8kg but these days
it's feasible to build a perfectly safe bike which is well under that weight. It's a waste
of energy to grip the bars too tightly, don't tense your upper body, relax your shoulders, keep
you back straight, shoulders down, hands resting on the bar tops, this will open up your diaphragm
making more space for your lungs to expand and improve your aerobic efficiency. Setting
out at the bottom of the Tourmalet and thinking you've got 19km to the top can be so daunting
that you feel defeated before you've even begun. Break the climbs down into smaller
chunks in your head ticking them off as you go, if it's a famous climb do some research
beforehand identify the landmarks think about these as your next marker and goal its 60%
mental attitude, take the first third of the climb slowly saving enough energy so that
you can push through the last third, this is when you should be exerting yourself, not
before.