It is okay to walk up steep hills
09-09-23, 07:33 AM
#151
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This. I hate walking in cleats and I hate pushing a bike (though when I ride heavily loaded I use two-bolt recessed cleats so that doesn't apply) but I Really hate having heart attacks. When I even start to feel like my death might be approaching, I will walk ... or even sit. Laugh away at how weak I am ... I'd rather live and be laughed at.
09-11-23, 11:33 AM
#152
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If a hill gets the better of me, I usually stop for 3-4 minutes and then go again, a bit more refreshed. My bike has fairly low gears (28 front, 31 rear).
I'm not a natural climber. My bike, myself and the gear weighs more than 100KG sometimes, and I'm a recreational cyclist on a hybrid doing less than 1,000 miles a year. I have quite a few short but sometimes steep hills around where I live. Just for fun one day, I decided to go to one of the worst hills in my region, a 650ft climb in one mile (avg. 12%, 15%+ for half a mile, with the middle reaching 20%). By the second half I was gasping and wheezing like crazy, practically falling over the handlebars, mashing the pedals around at barely 35RPM with severe tunnel vision. I think some of the people around me thought I was about to fall off and die any second. Somehow, I completed the hill, but I felt like simply falling off into the verge would be far more pleasant than riding to the top. Don't think anyone should feel ashamed if they had to walk up that hill.
I'm not a natural climber. My bike, myself and the gear weighs more than 100KG sometimes, and I'm a recreational cyclist on a hybrid doing less than 1,000 miles a year. I have quite a few short but sometimes steep hills around where I live. Just for fun one day, I decided to go to one of the worst hills in my region, a 650ft climb in one mile (avg. 12%, 15%+ for half a mile, with the middle reaching 20%). By the second half I was gasping and wheezing like crazy, practically falling over the handlebars, mashing the pedals around at barely 35RPM with severe tunnel vision. I think some of the people around me thought I was about to fall off and die any second. Somehow, I completed the hill, but I felt like simply falling off into the verge would be far more pleasant than riding to the top. Don't think anyone should feel ashamed if they had to walk up that hill.
09-11-23, 11:41 AM
#153
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09-11-23, 11:42 AM
#154
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So true. So much of training is about going easier, not harder. It sounds counter intuitive, but it's how it's done. Depending on your local terrain, you can end up walking up hills and attacking the downhills to keep yourself in that target range. Having the terrain determine your HR isn't always the most beneficial if you're trying to improve conditioning, But that's
09-11-23, 12:11 PM
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09-12-23, 07:05 AM
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09-12-23, 08:51 AM
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It is ok to walk DOWN steep hills, too! I have horrible visions of my cables snapping and riding downhill at sportscar type speeds while I am frozen with fear, can't even steer properly, and end up going over the side because I can't make it at a haripin!
