Steep climbs! Do they make or break you?
I believe the key to crushing steep climbs is all in your standing technique.
Most riders struggle on climbs, steep and shallow, because of inefficient technique.
Poor technique leads to supporting the body weight with the legs while trying to put power on the pedals, robbing the ability to control and attack the climb.
Poor technique feels like doing a wall sit hold and jumping from it and back into it every few seconds while climbing. It feels inefficient and bad because it is!
So how do you become efficient and powerful at the same time riding out of the saddle on climbs?
It’s simple, a CINCH, when you go ALL IN on these three tips:
1. Shift two gears harder before getting out of the saddle. This will give your more chain tension to push against making it easier for you to get into your optimal standing position.
2. Bring your chest over your handlebars, with your chin just in front of your front hub when you look down. This takes your weight off of your legs and places it onto your triceps. Now the triceps have the only job of managing your weight, freeing up your legs to focus on the pedaling.
3. Bring your elbow in on the side of the down stroke leg at the start of each downstroke. By doing this, you are locking your core and optimally transferring the majority of your body weight into your downstroke. This allows you to increase your overall force in each pedal stroke (more watts) using less leg muscles. The result? More speed with less effort!!!!
Then try them out on the road or on the trainer to start to improve your overall cycling performance through more efficient (and powerful) standing. Be patient, mastering this technique takes time and a lot of practice.