diphthong

so...used to do a decent amount of high-altitude (10k+) hiking. would set a "steps" number in my head and try to match/exceed it before stopping to rest and then continuing. found it helped me to summit/carry on better. switched over to cycling around the turn of the century.
yet, on some hills/steep grades, still find myself estimating how many pedal strokes it will take to get to a fixed point. usually within -5/+5 strokes. helps to somewhat divert my small mind from the task at hand. anyone else this nutty? mixed/muddled english in the title...can't wait for the yelp reviews...

rumrunn6

oh that's fun, ever lose count?

when I was a kid & read my Schwinn bike owners manual, it suggested setting intermediate goals for long hills. but this idea of estimating pedal strokes, can certainly distract someone from the misery. it doesn't make you MORE miserable apparently

Dean51 

I routinely estimate pedal strokes to get to the top of a long climb. 'Helps take my mind off the grind. I rarely get it right.

Dean

RChung

I used to count pedal strokes back when I was a Boy Scout. This was before electronic speedometers and odometers, so we calculated a little table of numbers for the chainring and cog combo, wrote it down on a small slip of paper, and taped it to the stem of the bike. This was back when we all had 10 speeds, so there were only 2 rings and 5 cogs. Depending on what you were doing, the table would be the distance for 10 pedal strokes in each ring-cog combo, or else the number of pedal strokes in a fixed time interval that would tell you your speed.

Iride01 

If you use the Garmin app on your phone, then it has the pedal strokes listed on it for each cycling activity if cadence can be collected. I just don't know if that is both left and right "strokes" or whether it's just how many full turns of the crank there was. Perhaps there is even a data field you can add to a screen on a Garmin Edge or watch device.

It's not been my thing, so I'll let someone else dig for the correct details on that.

terrymorse 

I sometimes count pedal strokes when blasting up a short roller, as I have a fair idea of how long I can go at that level of effort.

Anything under a minute or so. Any longer than that, and it's time to climb at a steady pace.

rumrunn6

to torch the legs & deal w/ recovery or not torch the legs. the past cpl of years, when I explode w/ power (not really) I need more time w/ soft pedaling to recover. rollers are indeed an interesting challenge. I dislike having to shift a lot, so varying my power & staying in gear is sometimes the right way to handle them. also dislike slow, then fast, then slow, then fast again. there's a road near me with pretty good traffic. I try to stay conscious of my "predictability"

rumrunn6

cool, I'll bet they had a badge for cycling? I was never a scout. after getting my older brothers into it, I think by time I came along, my Dad was done w/ scouting. he passed at 95 & was a scout when he was a kid too. he did give me manuals & pocket knives & some wilderness training, on his own. lashing poles & building towers was most interesting to me

pdlamb

When I find myself counting pedal strokes, it's usually an indication I need to chill out and enjoy the ride more.

But one thing I do enjoy is guessing how big that next hill is. I'm rarely even close; either that long road with the steady climb barely clears 10 feet, or the 20 foot rise is closer to 45 feet. Obviously you can only do that with straight roads with clear views, or you need to be able to see the road after a switchback.

Camilo

When I'm in a pace like with friends just for fun, we usually talk about length of pulls. Usually 1-2 minutes depending on the group size and/or if we're trying to go really fast or what. Say it's a minute. I know that my cadence is about 80-90 usually. So I just count 80-100 pedal strokes and pull off. Easier than trying to look at a handlebar computer, etc or doing pulls by distance, and plenty accurate.

retswerb

I've often counted steps while running as well, it tends to occupy my mind enough to stop me from thinking about how much I would like to no longer be running. For whatever reason I don't seem to need the same distraction technique on my bike in order to want to keep going.

rumrunn6

what happens if you lose or win the bet? what is the reward or consequence?

GhostRider62

What I used to do. I knew 100 inch gear (53 x 14) at 100 rpm was 30 mph and would scale off that.

So. a 93 inch gear (53 x 15) would be 93% at 100 rpm or about 28 mph. Lugging along at 80 rph would be just over 22 mph.

At the other end, a 32 inch gear (39 x 32) would be 10 mph at 100 rpm and 5 mph at 50 rpm

Similar tables can be constructed for power to make a quick estimate of the gradient. Gives the brain something to do when the lungs are begging for mercy although the extra energy for the calculations is probably keeping me from going pro

RChung

It helps, slightly, if you still have enough brainpower to convert your power into watts/kg. Then if you measure speed in km/h, divide watts/kg by 3*km/h; if you measure speed in mph, divide watts/kg by 5*mph. That will get you close to the gradient if it's steepish or you're going relatively slowly (i.e., if the aero component is relatively low).

GhostRider62

Awesome.

My bent and me are heavy. 250W is 5 mph on a 10% grade. 50 Watts per MPH on 10%, the rest can be figured out. For Crr, it is about 2.5 Watt per MPH per percent until air starts to win. (Yes, my bike is fat and road surface not so good.....0.005)

big john

I've only counted pedal strokes as part of "breathplay" which is a sort of breathing exercise. You can count pedal strokes per breath or try to finish each breath with a certain foot down or even count a certain number of breaths to a point on the road. I read about this years ago and it can help calm your breathing if you find yourself gasping on a climb.

big john

What kind of bent?

GhostRider62

M5 CHR with tailbox, lights, bell, heavy aero wheels, lots of seatpads, 18 degrees, and Etap. Slow on hills due to low W/Kg and fast on flat or rolling terrain due to high W/m^2

big john

Oh I know they're fast on flats. The guy who took over Carbent from the founder was a member of our road club and he built a 17 pound bent for another member. That guy would come on our shorter rides and on flats or slight downhills nobody would bother chasing him. He climbed ok on it but he was not a great climber to begin with.

A few times those guys brought out a pair of Lowracers and they were impressive but so low they were hard to see.

Pretty sure Carbent is out of production but he would still probably make a frame if asked. He still runs a store near here and sells Bacchetta and Terratrike.

CAT7RDR

My over/under on a steep slope pedaling out of the saddle = 100.
I rarely bet the over.