| A lot of it depends on the terrain. During the Trek Across Maine there were many long climbs. On those I remained in the saddle and focused on cadence an breathing (gear selection was determined by keeping a steady cadence). During my commute to work there are a couple of short steep climbs that I know I'm better off standing and blasting up those quickly. It has two benefits: 1) if I've been sitting for awhile on the ride it gives my legs a well deserved stretch, and 2) the roads I ride are so narrow it gets me through "trouble spots" quickly. For example I almost got shoved off the road on one of these short climbs by a soccer mom driving a Ford Excursion who had 5 kids in the back and she was talking on the cell phone.
So now when I'm at that short, steep hill I'm immediately up off the seat so I can get through the danger zone fast.
I have 2 training hills near the house that are really steep. On those I have to "read" the terrain. Parts I sit, and parts I have to stand. |