So today I did my first ever "proper" hill climbing, somewhere in the area leading out from Tama in the direction of Hachioji. And boy was it painful. Having almost all my prior cycling experience on relatively flat ground with the occasional short hill, a succession of lengthly hills was a real shock to the system and my legs fatigued pretty quickly.
Of course, number one solution will be to climb more hills and get fitter, but I also have some questions about climbing technique. The guy I was riding with (or in other words the guy who hung back and encouraged me while the rest of the group shot up the hills) was telling me I needed to shift my weight slightly forward on my seat, to keep my center of gravity over the middle point of the bike. However I had previously read elsewhere that shifting weight back in the seat was a better idea (at least for women? It was advice for female cyclists), as this apparently enables you to engage more of your glutes for generating power.
From a comfort perspective I found pedalling more awkward sitting slightly further forward, but from the way some of the guys in our group powered up those hills I'm guessing there must be something to it.
So if any of the well informed minds on here have any advice on this, it would be much appreciated. Then at least when I next crawl up a hill I will know it is mainly my fitness to blame and not my technique!
Of course, number one solution will be to climb more hills and get fitter, but I also have some questions about climbing technique. The guy I was riding with (or in other words the guy who hung back and encouraged me while the rest of the group shot up the hills) was telling me I needed to shift my weight slightly forward on my seat, to keep my center of gravity over the middle point of the bike. However I had previously read elsewhere that shifting weight back in the seat was a better idea (at least for women? It was advice for female cyclists), as this apparently enables you to engage more of your glutes for generating power.
From a comfort perspective I found pedalling more awkward sitting slightly further forward, but from the way some of the guys in our group powered up those hills I'm guessing there must be something to it.
So if any of the well informed minds on here have any advice on this, it would be much appreciated. Then at least when I next crawl up a hill I will know it is mainly my fitness to blame and not my technique!