My Morning Commute

[PeteD]

Getting out of the saddle and climbing works a different muscle set than sitting and climbing. Advice from a former pro was that on long climbs get out of the saddle from time to time to give the muscle group worked by sitting and climbing some time to recover and let the other muscle group do more of the work (i.e. rotating the load through your quads / hamstrings / glutes). And then on real long climbs, its a way to get the blood flowing in your nether-regions. The thing that you get from standing that you don’t from sitting is that it’s much easier to pull up on the pedals (as hozn said, during sprinting) than it is when sitting.

–Pete

[Geoff]

@PeteD 81047 wrote:

Advice from a former pro was that on long climbs get out of the saddle from time to time to give the muscle group worked by sitting and climbing some time to recover and let the other muscle group do more of the work (i.e. rotating the load through your quads / hamstrings / glutes). And then on real long climbs, its a way to get the blood flowing in your nether-regions.

Understood. Sometimes on a long ride I’ll stand up on level ground just for a change. Similar to changing hand position.

[Greenbelt]

@cyclingfool 81032 wrote:

I see this all the time and it bugs the $#!T out of me.

The car service and uber drivers are even worse than taxis on this. They deliberately pull up double deep right at the restaurant or office entrance and block traffic, even though there’s plenty of room to pull to the curb 20 feet back or 20 feet up. Some sort of status-for-douchebags training I think that you have to block traffic to give the client an extra feeling of importance.

BTW, MPD cruiser rolled right past this scene without batting an eye. The driver only popped his trunk and opened the door when he saw me taking the picture.

[dkel]

@PeteD 81047 wrote:

Getting out of the saddle and climbing works a different muscle set than sitting and climbing. Advice from a former pro was that on long climbs get out of the saddle from time to time to give the muscle group worked by sitting and climbing some time to recover and let the other muscle group do more of the work (i.e. rotating the load through your quads / hamstrings / glutes). And then on real long climbs, its a way to get the blood flowing in your nether-regions. The thing that you get from standing that you don’t from sitting is that it’s much easier to pull up on the pedals (as hozn said, during sprinting) than it is when sitting.

Admitting (yet again) that I’m relatively new to cycling, I’ve been guessing about everything from standing/sitting to bike maintenance, and everything in between (one reason I dig this forum so much: info!). Despite not knowing what I’m doing, I’ve found out some things by trial and error: I can spin seated and get up the hills, but it takes a little longer, and doesn’t max my heart rate, though it does elevate it; standing and cranking it up the hills really gets my heart and breath going, and it’s much faster (and more fun, when I’m up to it); standing and using a higher gear/lower cadence is almost as easy as walking, and if I’m going to go slowly, I prefer this to spinning more while seated. I also find that I’ve gotten in the habit of starting seated, getting bored/tired, and going to standing; also that I’m in the top two-thirds of my gear range all the time, and never visit the small ring anymore. I’m curious as to whether the fact that I’m still using the platform side of my dual pedals has anything to do with all of this (haven’t gotten the shoes with the SPD cleats yet, because I’m still wearing my waterproof, insulated winter shoes, as of yesterday). Is there a best way to do all this? Something I’m missing?

[Geoff]

@dkel 81070 wrote:

I can spin seated and get up the hills, but it takes a little longer, and doesn’t max my heart rate

Staying seated doesn’t mean you can’t work. I usually stay seated but choose a gear where I am working very hard to maintain my normal cadence of 80-90. My thighs burn and my heart rate is maxed (I use a heart rate monitor regularly, but not on the commute.) As I said previously, I pass people on hills who pass me on level ground.

Aside from recruiting different muscles when standing vs. sitting, I suspect the physiology of slow cadence is different from that of fast cadence. Understand, I have no special training in medicine or physiology. But I expect that slow hard strokes are hard on the knees. Slow cadence is probably a “sprint” activity that produces a different training effect from high cadence, like weightlifting few reps with heavy weights as opposed to many reps with light weights.

[brendan]

My evening commute: heading eastward on the W&OD. I biked up the I-66 climb to Virginia Ave shifted about 3 or 4 cogs higher gear than usual. Something about the warm air/super-nice weather. And my very very rested (from a cycling perspective) legs. It was nice.

PS – where did all those people come from??? they weren’t commuting this morning…

[DismalScientist]

I doubt that the people that are standing in too high a gear are actually on the forum (except those lunatic FG types). No, doing a cadence of 30 and not shifting down is not good. It is worse if someone has the audacity to pass you. You might as well fake an equipment failure at that time.

[dkel]

@Geoff 81076 wrote:

I usually stay seated but choose a gear where I am working very hard to maintain my normal cadence of 80-90. My thighs burn and my heart rate is maxed.

When my thighs burn, I often give up on sitting, shift UP, and stand up; I don’t decrease my cadence, but work harder and get through faster. (I then try not to pass out from oxygen deprivation, typically. Perhaps this isn’t the best approach…)

@Geoff 81076 wrote:

I expect that slow hard strokes are hard on the knees.

Given that my left knee has been bothering me (mainly when I’m not riding, oddly enough), I’m going to take this week to stay on the saddle while climbing, not because my standing cadence is too slow, but because it may just shift my muscular focus, so to speak. We’ll see if that makes a difference.

@DismalScientist 81082 wrote:

I doubt that the people that are standing in too high a gear are actually on the forum (except those lunatic FG types). No, doing a cadence of 30 and not shifting down is not good. It is worse if someone has the audacity to pass you.

I don’t remember the last time anyone passed me on a hill. (I suspect this is because I am out at off-peak times and going the opposite direction from most, but I like to imagine it’s because I’m so fast!)

This topic has really got me thinking. Thanks, everyone, for all the great insights!

[Subby]

Driving is so bad. So so so so bad. Especially on days like this. Silver lining is I can feel the sun and warm air ACTUALLY HEALING my clavicle. It’s SCIENCE.

Doc says two more weeks, but everyone knows metric system conversion makes that really 4 days.

[cvcalhoun]

Sigh! How about actually giving yourself time to heal, so you don’t make this worse?

@Subby 81085 wrote:

Driving is so bad. So so so so bad. Especially on days like this. Silver lining is I can feel the sun and warm air ACTUALLY HEALING my clavicle. It’s SCIENCE.

Doc says two more weeks, but everyone knows metric system conversion makes that really 4 days.

[rcannon100]

I busted my shoulder mountain biking 30 years ago. It was the first leg of a huge trip through central america. I was young and stupid. We still went on the trip, me lugging packs all over the place. Needless to say, it didnt heal so good. 50 years later and you can hang a coat on my shoulder (sorry for the image).

Take the time and heal.

[vvill]

@Subby 81085 wrote:

Driving is so bad. So so so so bad. Especially on days like this.

You could always run to work from home, since you’re crazy/fit enough to have done that before! Or park somewhere in between, make it “just” a 3.5 mile run.

I agree though, heal up properly… don’t want to turn that 2 weeks into 4 weeks, and the weather is just going to get better and better.

[Dickie]

Sorry rpiretti (FKARG), didn’t expect our passing low 5 to be so painful! Good to see you though.

[dcv]

@Dickie 81097 wrote:

Sorry rpiretti (FKARG), didn’t expect our passing low 5 to be so painful! Good to see you though.

hilarious – you guys really tried the low five at closing speeds? need video

[83b]

The fair-weather riders are back out in FORCE. I was actually late in today due to traffic in the bike lanes (and missing several lights I usually make)!

Yesterday evening there were some shenanigans by inexperienced folks on Cabis, but this morning almost everyone was riding safely and courteously! No shoaling, stopping at lights behind the crosswalks, calling passes. It was great!

[Author]

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