Tom Sisk asked how to climb hills on a mountain bike, and Fred Schuldt gave an excellent answer.
The first thing, and most important IMHO, is to believe you can do this. The mountain bike is an amazing piece of machinery, capable of climbing incredible grades as long as it has traction.
You noted that the initial problem was a loss of traction, leading to cessation of momentum, which is held in a tenuous balance on the steepest climbs.
I have learned from years of riding MTB's around here that if at first you don't succeed, you'll have the chance to try again. I've also learned that for just so long as you have energy and the bike has traction, you can climb just about anything.
First thing to do is sit down. Don't believe you have to stand to keep the front wheel down. Standing merely removes needed weight from the rear. You were in the correct gear - you need to be in a low enough gear to keep your legs spinning.
Next time, stay on the seat. As soon as the hill starts to get steep, lean waaay forward, from your hips. The best way to learn this is by pointing your elbows at the ground. You can keep stretching forward and down until your knees start to hit your ribcage. The benefit of this is twofold:
If the hill is so steep that you're still lifting your front wheel, then scoot up on the seat, and sit on the nose; but don't stop leaning forward. The best way to describe this is: Put the nose of your seat right on your pubic bone -- that area that seems to get most raw on long rides. It's not real comfortable, but it's only for so long as you need to simultaneously maintain traction and keep the front wheel on the ground.
Try it! I've found that by using this technique, you can maintain traction until it's so steep your legs just won't spin the cranks! Next: bigger lungs and bionic parts!
Fred Schuldt
Pro Bikes
Asheville, NC 28806
NBDA IMBA USAC MADHRA
www.pro-bikes.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Sisk"
To: "brbc" brbc@topica.com;
"tarwheels-chat" tarwheels-chat@tarwheels.org
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2003 4:31 PM
Subject: BRBC: MB question about hills
Steep hills.
Ok, there I was, minding my own business, having ridden through the woods to the huge electric transmission line right o' way. For the first time I thought, hmmm, I can do that steep hill there. Yep, says I, I think I can get down and, more importantly, right back up it.
Now, mind you, I'm a novice at this. What I know about mountain biking has come from riding our own sorta private single track through two miles of woods, dealing with creeks and treefall and such.
So I make it to the bottom of this pretty steep hill, riding down the rut from the maintenance pig path. Then I turn around and go back up. I'm in my granny gear and things are going well enough. I'm standing, 'cause I have to and 'cause if I sit or even stand too far back, the front wheel rises up like Silver helping the Lone Ranger with his profiling. Then my back wheel loses traction. Now this thing is steep enough that when the wheel slips, the bike stops dead immediately, with NO forward momentum. And then, of course, I put my foot down and there I am, halfway up the thing. This is a two-rutted overgrown path, occasional red clay showing, but mostly some sort of meadow grass.
I tried just starting back up again, but no go -- I would get the pedal started but not have enough momentum to get the other pedal past top dead center. I tried getting off to the side and riding perpendicular then turning up the path, but I couldn't get enough momentum there, either. I was in my lowest gear. I tried a higher gear, but that did not work well either. Maybe I should have experimented with gears a bit more, but I was at the turnaround point, pooped, and still had to get home (I'm old, so . . .).
Input? Suggestions? Going up steep grassy bumpy rutted hills, how do you do that? If you get stopped, how do you get started again?
If y'all give me some good info, I'll let you help me with that pesky double log question!! How's that for incentive? ;)
Thanks,
Tom Sisk
© Blue Ridge Bicycle Club Inc. 2004