The Daily Grind
By Rob Manning

What goes up...

Seated or standing, you have to get to the top somehow.

S ince the season has been in full swing, I’ve spent plenty of time on the trails, and I’ve seen plenty of things, both good and bad. It seems that no matter who you are, your descending skills don’t really disappear much over the winter. Sure, maybe you’re a little timid the first few times you hit the gnar, but generally everyone remembers how to go down. The same can’t really be said for going up though. I’ve seen loads of spin outs, slow speed sideways falls and just plain give ups on climbs both long and short. I think a little refresher is in order.

We really forget that there are two kinds of climbing: seated and standing. The problem most people have, even after riding for a few years is that they don’t know which style suits them and which style they prefer. It takes some time trying both styles, but eventually you’ll find one you’re more comfortable with. This doesn’t mean you should use that style exclusively either; you’re going to need to use both of them from time to time.

Seated Climbing
Probably the easiest method of climbing involves keeping your butt planted on your saddle and spinning away in a nice easy gear. Sure, it’s not glamorous, and it’s pretty slow, but it’ll get you there easily enough. The key to remember here is remembering to shift BEFORE you hit your climb. It’s easy enough to shift a couple gears up in your cassette, but downshifting under load is generally a bad idea. Keep your eyes down the trail and make a quick assessment of what you’re up against. Long climbs with a slight to moderate grade are best tackled in a lower gear, spinning your way up. As you approach the beginning of this long grinder, throw your front derailleur down to the granny ring (sometimes you’ll be able to use the middle ring, but let’s pretend this is a long killer) and keep your momentum into the start of the hill. Find yourself a cadence and stick to it, keeping your little legs spinning while your ass is on the saddle and your rear wheel is glued to the ground.

Perhaps the most important thing to focus your attention on while in the saddle is your upper body position. Balancing your weight to the center of the bike is of utmost importance; too far forward and you’ll spin out, too far backward and you’ll wheelie up and lose control of the bike. You’ll need to balance your weight right in the center, and as a visual, I like to say to put your weight right over the bottom bracket. This will keep you generally centered on the bike and keep you in the right place. You can move more over the bottom bracket by scooting forward on the saddle (clench those cheeks around the nose of the saddle), bending your elbows and leaning over to put your head closer to the stem. This will center you out, and you’ll only need to make small changes to maintain traction or get over obstacles.

Once you’ve got your body position worked out, you can play with your gears to give you a nice smooth and easy pedal stroke, and you can change it as the terrain changes as well. When you’re settled into a nice spin, just relax and hang out until you see the top.

Standing Climbing
We see lots of photos of people mashing on the pedals with quads bulging and steam coming out their ears. Well, maybe not, but it’s still a damned effective method of getting up some climbs. This tactic is best reserved for shorter and steeper pitches with lots of traction. In this case, instead of dropping down to a smaller chainring, we’re going to keep it where it is. In fact, we might even shift up a couple times in the rear. We’re going to power into the start of the climb with as much momentum as possible to try and get up and over as fast as we can. Instead of a quick spin, we’re going to be seated going into the climb and pedaling away in our regular pre-climb gear. As we start to lose momentum, stand up over the pedals and start mashing in a nice smooth, measured cadence (which will likely be pretty slow.)

Body position here is a little tougher to visualize. You’ll be standing up on the pedals, and you’ll still want to have most of your weight centered over the bottom bracket. Keep your upper body nice and upright, arms slightly bent, and throw all your weight into each pedal stroke. While you should be well centered over the bottom bracket, you’ll likely have to rock your hips backward or forward based upon what the bike is doing. If you’re spinning the rear wheel (much easier since you’re putting a LOT of torque to that wheel) you’ll need to rock it backwards. When your front end starts to lift up, rock it forwards and plant that front end. Keep shifting that weight and pounding those cranks until you’re topping the ridge and ready to fly down the other side.

Practice, Practice, Practice
Really the only way to get good at climbing is to go out there and do it again and again. Try different terrain, different conditions, different tires and different methods to find out what works the best for you, then stick with it and practice perfect form every time you can. After a while, it’ll become habit, and you’ll be the one known as the mountain goat of the group.

Questions? Comments? Love letters? Send 'em to Techeditor@mountainbiketales.com.