When to walk
Sometimes it’s better to get off and push
Walking? But we are cyclists who ride. Bare with me, like Bob Harrison, I never go for a walk without my bike, however sometimes getting off and pushing is the best thing to do. There are two circumstances you may find yourself in, either in training or racing, and the outcome is different. This post isn’t aimed at hike-a-bike sections of tough routes, where you are forced to walk, but more sections where you could, if you chose too.
Pushing up an incline that could be pedaled, but not without hefty effort.
When training
When you’re training, you’re trying to induce stress, asking the body to adapt and grow stronger. Generally your rides are single day and not so long. You have ample time to recover between rides and the stress is not degenerative on the body – if done right. Your bike is likely less loaded than when racing, and your legs are still fresh and strong(ish). All these factors mean you will find yourself needing or wanting to walk far less than if you were racing. In training you want to build strength in your legs, so powering up a climb or doing low cadence high torque work, could well be beneficial. Do it all the time and perhaps not. Knees are one of the cyclists weaknesses, not quite our kryptonite – which would be our undercarriage, but still serious trouble. Doing some strength work to build the musculature around the knees is wise, and this can be done on the bike with low rpm high torque work, ie those steep climbs you might want to walk or in the gym. I go to the gym and lift weights. If you over stress your knees or your muscles when training, it is likely they will recover by the next time - unless you really overdo it. Anyway, over stressing when training is sort of the point, but not to damage, just enough stress.
Pushing in Kyrgyzstan while racing Silk Road Mountain Race, suffering at altitude.
Photo: Danil Usmanov
When racing
When racing, everything is flipped on its head. The main aim is to NOT stress and fatigue your body. The first action in aiding this would be to fit really small gears, so you can spin up any climbs, keeping rpm high and torque low, preventing muscular damage or stress on your knee joints. Occasionally you will meet a climb that is just too much for your gears, perhaps it’s off road and the surface is bad, or just a super steep tarmac climb. At this point, rather than using a lot of energy, damaging your muscles, just to protect your ego, the best thing to do is get off and push. Pushing your bike still requires effort and force, but you can moderate the level a lot easier, and it is a lot softer on your joints and muscles. There is also the added benefit of allowing you to get of the saddle and give your undercarriage a break! I often find, running Shimano XTR 30 x 10-51 that when I am in the 30 – 51, I might as well be walking anyway once my cadence drops, as it is no slower.
So next time you are racing, always be thinking, how can I reduce stress right now?