Apr 26 2010
I don’t know who came up….
…with the idea of riding hill repeats by shifting UP a gear on each successive trip up the climb. If I ever meet him, I may have some comments for him. If this is a good idea, I certainly hope it reveals itself to me soon. Today’s ride was only 1 hour and only about 12 miles. But, it was 4 climbs in gears from 34 x 23 to 34 x 21 to 34 x 19, and finally 34 x 17. The first climb is always pretty easy. I even passed a much younger and much smaller rider on it. I was skeptical about hitting a larger gear for the second ride, but it worked out pretty well. In fact, it was actually fairly easy also.
The third climb though in the next higher gear was another story. That guy was hard! About half way up, I decided that if I hadn’t already gone to the trouble of being half way, I’d just call the day a success and head home. By the time I made it to the top I was pretty pleased with myself. And, I wasn’t even that tired.
That made me think that making my pre-ride goal of 4 trips in successively higher gears might be possible. I enjoyed that third descent, made the turnaround, and went in for the fourth attack – this time in 34 x 17, a first attempt. That halfway thing got me again. You know, by the time you’ve invested in 50% of a climb, the thing to do is just go ahead and finish it.
The good news is that around here, the climbs are almost all short, power-type climbs. Maybe this will make me a better climber.
