Low RPM's vs. standing on 10-12% pitches

Sheila Leard

I have a question about when is it ok (or never ok ) to stand when you hit a 10-12% pitch?

 I think I know what Coach Rich will say - just thought I would ask. I rode most of the  loop of the IMLT course as well as some of the Donner Lake Half IM course. When I hit the those steep pitches I could either slow my cadence to under 75rpm's  or get some quick relief with standing. It appears that to keep watts down and cadence up I may need to humbly  go to more than my 11-28 on the back.

I know that the EN way to climb is to keep your arse seated and cruise up the hills. I found that for the most part on the 2-3 mile climbs at 6% grade I could keep cadence around 75 but those pitches are killer. it does cause power spikes and I ended up with an IF of .85 - too high for IM.

 I also found that as the day and miles get longer the altitude starts to kick in with RPE going up. This is when a little caffiene helps  

I found that I needed to increase calories per hour. I kept sodium around 500 mg/hr and sipped constantly! Didn't see much cardiac drift. Keep the fat and fiber out of your fuel - too hard to digest when oxygen is a premium. I did liquid calories, Stinger chews and part of a Power Bar.  

Thanks Team !!

robin sarner

Imo, ok to stand whenever, for brief periods of time, to relieve discomfort and to work different muscles. Standing should not be a regular, sustained strategy for hill climbing in racing.

mgraffeo

Sheila, standing or sitting are OK within wattage targets. Standing and spiking watts dramatically is a problem. If you're talking 10% over goal watts for a minute or so, no big deal (that's what the wattage targets, or gears, are there for). But going at FTP, or even worse, 110%-120% of FTP, for a minute or two, is not advisable. Think about how hard it was to recover from VO2max intervals in the offseason, and now ask yourself how you feel about doing that during a race.

I've been known to hit cadences in the high 20's in order to keep my watts down on very steep sections of races. Then, it definitely helps to be standing, just to keep your balance.

Scott Alexander

I do several "hill" (what we call hills here in Dallas) repeats, about a minute long, staring at my PM to ensure I'm within wattage goals while doing so, like Mike said. Out of the saddle climbing is great for a change, but don't burn your matches by hammering - especially during a race.

Coach Rich

Standing isn't always "bad." Notes:

• If you feel you need to stand to get up the hill, in my experience that's probably a gearing issue = get more gears on your bike. 
• Nothing wrong with choosing to stand. IE, "I have enough gears on my bike to get up this hill at about 65-70rpm. But I choose to upshift a gear or two and then stand to change positions, use different muscles, etc. 

When you do stand:

• Look at the powermeter and learn the skill of standing and not spiking watts, and/or putting out the same watts as when seated, and/or learn what watts you can put out standing that are at the same RPE as when seated. That is...
• When I riding and standing on a disciplined ride, I found that I can be riding seated at 260w, 70rpm and RPE of 7, to give it a number. Or I can stand (I always upshift a gear or two first) and ride at 280-290w @ 60-65rpm and the same RPE. 

When standing and trying to keep the watts in control, my technique cues are:

• Loose hands and arms on the bars. I'll even open and close my hands, as the bike rocks naturally side to side, to ensure that I'm not aggressively pulling up on the bars with each pedal stroke = spiking watts. 
• I imagine myself pedaling more with my body weight vs leg muscles, quads, etc. That is, I imagine a straight line from my head, through my torso, hips, and the knee of my pedaling leg. I then imagine making this line go up and down on the pedals, pedaling the bike with my body weight, vs my legs. I'll even think about locking my knee out a bit so that, again, I'm pedaling with weight vs muscle. Now, of course I'm not perfectly straight, going up and down on the bike, but I've found that if I think about ^this^ plus my arms stuff above, I have the same RPE at about 20-30 higher watts. 

Coach Rich

Moving this thread to Power and Pace so we get more eyes on it.