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After a steep draining hill, do you coast or pedal ?

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After a steep draining hill, do you coast or pedal ?

Old 08-25-21, 03:58 PM
  #1  
CheGiantForLife
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After a steep draining hill, do you coast or pedal ?

Rode a 10% hill for .2 miles.
After, my legs were burnt out.

I thought to myself, what is ideal here?
coasting with no pedalling at all
or
very light pedal for continuity (Not really propulsion)
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Old 08-25-21, 04:00 PM
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I get off the bike and drink a cold beer.
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Old 08-25-21, 04:05 PM
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Depends on how fast I want to go down the other side. Also how hard I worked going up.
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Old 08-25-21, 04:24 PM
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If you're trying to maximize performance over a longer effort, it's best to pedal through the top so that you're at least getting quickly to the descent. A small amount of extra effort can save a lot of time, compared with coasting as early as possible and sllloooowwww-accelerating your way into the descent.
If I'm going for the Strava KOM on the ascent, or if it's a race with the finish line at the top... who cares.

If the reason you're asking the question is because you're bottoming out your gearing on the climb, and if this happens frequently, consider lower gearing.
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Old 08-25-21, 04:26 PM
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I spin my legs until the burn is gone then I coast to recover.
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Old 08-25-21, 04:29 PM
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You have too much upper body mass, those little pencil legs can't do it. All athletic pursuits are specific. Keep working at it and your legs or more specifically the mitochondria and associated enzymes will get better
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Old 08-25-21, 04:31 PM
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do whatever i got to do to keep with the group.
or drop the group. i guess it depends on the hill and the group! ha!
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Old 08-25-21, 05:40 PM
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After a steep hill climb, I get off the bike, do 30 pushups, then 3 reps of 25 squats, then finish my five minute bike ride.
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Old 08-25-21, 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by CheGiantForLife
Rode a 10% hill for .2 miles.
After, my legs were burnt out.

I thought to myself, what is ideal here?
coasting with no pedalling at all
or
very light pedal for continuity (Not really propulsion)

Well, after riding a 10% hill for only 0.2 miles, I tend to keep pedalling hard and ride up the rest of the hill...

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Old 08-25-21, 06:26 PM
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I take a dump!

Nah, just kidding. I'm a coaster.
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Old 08-25-21, 06:26 PM
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Originally Posted by phughes
After a steep hill climb, I get off the bike, do 30 pushups, then 3 reps of 25 squats, then finish my five minute bike ride.
Yes, that is exactly how I workout.
Except I also do many wind sprints and lunges across the soccer field I ride to.
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Old 08-25-21, 07:13 PM
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Why not just run to the field, don't bother with the bike?
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Old 08-25-21, 07:43 PM
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usually just maintain a fast cadence, hands off the bars, & craft up a text to the stravbros about the KOM.
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Old 08-25-21, 07:49 PM
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1/5 of a mile. I think you cheated yourself.
Do four more hill repeats to get at least a mile then report back.
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Old 08-25-21, 08:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Koyote
I get off the bike and drink a cold beer.
I’m a serious rider, so I drink a warm beer.
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Old 08-25-21, 09:20 PM
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I go find another hill and crush that or just keep doing hill repeats on this hill till I start puking and then I pound two Red Bulls and do it again. Coasting is for the weak. Fixed gear 60x15 like a boss. Don't get off till I have done permanent lasting damage to myself.
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Old 08-25-21, 10:13 PM
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I only pedal uphill, but then again my short bike routes are all Up and Down...

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Old 08-25-21, 10:43 PM
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I pedal down hill after the climb. Try to build up as much speed as I can. The rush from going so fast is my reward. Love the wind blasting me on the way down.
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Old 08-25-21, 11:12 PM
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I thought the OP liked to coast to save wear & tear on his sperm tubes.
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Old 08-26-21, 12:53 AM
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I always pedal down hill up to about 25 mph. If the hill is so steep than I can coast faster than 25mph without pedaling I just coast then.
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Old 08-26-21, 01:20 AM
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Originally Posted by phughes
After a steep hill climb, I get off the bike, do 30 pushups, then 3 reps of 25 squats, then finish my five minute bike ride.

I do all that, then spend 20 minutes starting a BF thread about my 5 minute ride.
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Old 08-26-21, 01:30 AM
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Originally Posted by CheGiantForLife
Rode a 10% hill for .2 miles.
After, my legs were burnt out.

I thought to myself, what is ideal here?
coasting with no pedalling at all
or
very light pedal for continuity (Not really propulsion)

Depends on the steepness and length of the downhill.

Now my question for you: why do you care so much about what we do? None of us are biking as little as you do and it doesn't sound like it's an important part of your workouts.
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Old 08-26-21, 07:03 AM
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I pedaled up a hill today and now I want my participation trophy.
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Old 08-26-21, 07:19 AM
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Old 08-26-21, 07:43 AM
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I will generally keep pedalling so my muscles don't get tight. I usually don't put a lot of power down, just enough to keep tension in the chain. Rarely I find a climb where the descent leads directly to another climb and putting a few more watts into the downhill might give me a bit of a run at the next climb.
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