Hi. For a few days ago I was on my SS at the road, and I decided to take a small roundabout where it is a small and steep hill, who I would see if I could manage to climb!

Well, it did go fine, my arms became fatigued and my back hurted a little, while
I was climbing, and I had a LOT of suffering!
The legs was fine, as I climbed slowly with my whole body, relaxed and pedalling round, using whole legs and gravity. (I love my SPD-pedals)

I have also climbed a more brutal hill (longer, becomes steeper at the end) at the road for few weeks ago, as I was crawling and drooling upwards at 8 km/t in the end
- it maked me think:

Could this be too harsh at my body so I would be injured permanently?

I did not feel any pain afterward in my back, any kneeproblems or any injuries.
My arms did have some pain the day after, but it is disappered now.

My back was hurting while climbing and shortly after, and the reason could be that the muscles are still weak.
I did get my lower back hurting in the first two weeks of SS, so it is stronger now! :thumbsup:

And no - I does not want to have lower gearing, as I am already too slow at the flatties...

Ha, ha... welcome to singlespeeder's heaven/hell.

All your new muscles will get sore as you start using them. They will get sore, stronger and bigger.

You have to relax. Even as your pounding the pedals with 5000 newton/ft of torque, you have to relax the rest of your body. Relax your neck, your hands etc. Keep your knees straight and maintain good posture.

Listen to your body. If you have any pain that is not muscle soreness, there is a problem. Make adjustments, repeat, rinse...

francois

Plus... remind yourself to maintain 'form' on the climbs. I don't know about you, but I get a bit lazy sometimes and find myself doing stupid things like leaning too far forward over the bars and bending way over at the waist, or not working the bike from side to side hard enough...etc.. so I have to kick myself a bit and get back into the correct form and position.

It's so easy to fall into bad habits...and that's when you hurt yourself.

My muscles are always sore, but that's because i'm old ... :D


R.

Good to hear! Thanks.
I am actually leaning far over the bar, especially in the end of the hill.
It makes easier for me to climb, especially in steep hills, where I am beginning to feel the cruel beast called PAIN!!!
I shall take the hill again soon, to take a new look at my technique, since
it was so brutal that I forgot to use my brain to register and observe... :D

I does not have much force/pressure at my pedals, as I found out quickly that it exhausted me too much, my endurance is much better when I have a comfortable lever of power on the pedals, plus it spares my knees.

I really enjoy the moments right after the hills, my legs are fatigued and slow, I need often several seconds to get my legs at "normal speed", while I am still pedaling with low force.
My legs does even protest more if I try to coast. Funny!

It's a good idea not to stop pedalling after a climb.

When you reach the top of the hill and go onto the flat or a downhill section, sit down and spin the gearing out...just spin the bike back up to speed again. 10 to 15 revolutions of the pedals is sufficient to loosen your legs up nicely.

This will help alleviate the stiffness and soreness / fatigue from your legs and get the blood flowing properly again. Try it and see... :)


R.

Keep at it and you'll get addicted to the pain. Someone once said that pain was weakness leaving the body. I sure seem to have a lot of weakness to get rid of. Maybe we'll see you in Stockholm (http://www.sswc06.com/) in August.

Funny thing...

SSing no longer makes me very sore.

But the other day I went riding with a 1st time MTBer..
I ended up going so damn slow that I found a whole new Muscle group.

i was sore as hell the next day.

Later
Jim

try to avoid leaning very far forward as you will lose traction spin out and when fatigued at the top of a hill maybe fall over and crack rib or knee i got my rib on the end of the handle bar doin exactly that a couple of months ago:madman: ride hard and fast!

Thanks again. I found out after few days that my left arm was somewhat sore, and my left hand was hurting. Well, well - no pain, no gain!
The weird thing that the weakness/(mild)pain did actually occur right after the climbing, disappeared and stuck out again after around two days...
Any comments?

Traction is not a problem, since it is mostly at pavement, but
thanks for the tips - I'll think at that in the winter or gravel.

I tried some hills Thuesday, but - it was not so painful! damn... :D
I'll take a "hill maraton", as soon I can.