Climbing Tips

yeap, I cleared this section on my bike

 

I shared with you Alimuddin's tips on climbing in my previous entry.

Here's another one that came in my email mailbox just before the BP ride, but I forgot to mention it.

 

Getting Through That Impossible MTB Climb by Bike198

 

My version of it, instead of counting rocks or singing an annoying song or argue with yourself, I'll put in positive thoughts. Just like Wendy and her siblings thinking of happy thoughts in order for them to be able to fly to Neverland, in that Peter Pan movie. You get my drift? No, not the self made movies from Indonesia. It's that movie adapted from the novel, you dirty minded crankers.

 

Or, I'd resort to zikrullah. Simple, repititive, and hopefully makes for a blessed ride. Also, you can pace your cadence and breathing with it.

 

One thing I found out is that when I have negative thoughts, the uphill climb doubled it's difficulty in a snap. It's a lost battle before it even started. Well, it is still difficult even when the mind is filled with positive thoughts, but it's not as tough. For some hills, they actually were not as hard as it seems, like the one above that I cleared in Batu Pahat last Sunday.

 

Another thing I employed is to sit on the nose of the saddle, especially for a steep hill. Made my butt sore a bit, but it's not for a long climb. Sitting on the saddle nose makes my body's center of gravity shifted to the front and that gives some grip on the front tire. It's a balancing act; you have to find a position that won't make your rear wheel lifted.

 

If you have a lockable fork, use it by all means when climbing. Your pushing up when pedaling will be transfered right to the ground and won't be sucked by the plush strokes of the fork.

 

Try it out yourself on the trails this weekend.

Dang, it's only Wednesday... still a few more days to go.

 

Thanks for dropping by.

Think positive thoughts.

 

photo by Suffrizal A. Karim