Thoughts on hill-climbing and riding "no hands"
{This was a post I made on the Cruzbike yahoogroup and some suggested I move a copy to this blog for general reference. -Jim}
I will leave the technical/gearing aspects of hill-climbing to Doug and others who know a lot more about that than me. Here is my take on the Cruzbike rider and hill-climbing:
The first point I'd like to make is that everyone in this yahoogroup is on the cutting edge of a new technology, the attributes of which we are still discovering. The Cruzbike Sofrider/Freerider are the first production pivoting-boom FWD recumbents in the world and they have only been around for about a year. The more I learn about and experience what they can do, the more inspired I am to promote further development and research into this design.
Any beginner on a Cruzbike will notice on their first ride that there is a tendency of the arms to "fight" against the legs for control of the steering. This is due to a lack of coordination of the lateral control muscles of the legs. As an analogy from the world of weight-lifting, if you have been doing your bench presses on a universal-type machine where the motion of the lift is predetermined in a fixed track, you can develop great strength on that machine. But then if you switch over to a dumbbell press, where the weights are free to move independently, you will feel very weak, wobbly, and uncoordinated until you develop the smaller lateral control muscles in your upper body. It's for this reason that serious weight-lifters prefer free-weights over weight-machines.
Following this analogy, pedaling on a Cruzbike is like lifting free-weights. .. you must develop and coordinate both large and small muscles groups in your legs to pedal efficiently. So how do you develop this coordination? I find the best way is to practice riding with only a very light touch on the handlebars, and eventually "hands-free" riding. Those concerned for my safety, keep in mind that when I ride "no-hands" on my Cruzbike, I still have steering control of the front-wheel of the bike with my feet and can run a slalom course if I wanted to. As I've gained more experience, I can pedal 20 mph on a flat surface with my hands folded on my lap, all while keeping the bottom-bracket rock steady. I am not a particulary graceful or athletic person. This is a skill anyone can do if they practice gradually at it. My wife and my 13 y.o. son picked it up within a couple of months of me suggesting they begin working on it.
So what's riding "no-hands" have to do with hill-climbing? Once you have trained your legs so that your arms don't have to fight them, you will be better able to use your arms to assist your legs. When I climb or sprint, my hands are definitely needed... in effect, I overcorrect the pedal steer effect by pulling back on the ipsilateral (same-side) handlebar during the forward power stroke- bringing the pedal closer to the forward-moving leg, just as a road biker pulls up on the ipsilateral handlebar during the downward powerstroke while leaning the bike to bring the pedal closer to the downward-moving leg. Both actions allow upper body strength to assist with hill-climbing, and both actions involve complex dynamic motions that are easier to experience than explain. It's sort of a "flick" of the handlebar that helps you eke out more climbing power. My wife has very low body-fat, and if you ride behind her when she is hill-climbing, you will see an amazing display of back and shoulder muscles working. In October, she participated in the CNC "Ride Across North Carolina" on a Sofrider V1 with a double chainring. On the mountain climbing sections, she passed every other recumbent and a lot of road bikes. These were serious, long, steep hills that many roadies and bent-riders were walking up. Certainly her low bike/body mass helped, but I believe it was also her well developed Cruzbike skills.
In conclusion, don't neglect your own training when looking for better hill-climbing performance. For me, the ability to ride "no-hands" has become one of the more pleasurable attributes of Cruzbike riding. It's not only of practical utility in freeing your hands to fetch or adjust something, but an exhilarating experience of joy and freedom.
Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday and Great New Year,
Jim Parker, M.D.
I will leave the technical/gearing aspects of hill-climbing to Doug and others who know a lot more about that than me. Here is my take on the Cruzbike rider and hill-climbing:
The first point I'd like to make is that everyone in this yahoogroup is on the cutting edge of a new technology, the attributes of which we are still discovering. The Cruzbike Sofrider/Freerider are the first production pivoting-boom FWD recumbents in the world and they have only been around for about a year. The more I learn about and experience what they can do, the more inspired I am to promote further development and research into this design.
Any beginner on a Cruzbike will notice on their first ride that there is a tendency of the arms to "fight" against the legs for control of the steering. This is due to a lack of coordination of the lateral control muscles of the legs. As an analogy from the world of weight-lifting, if you have been doing your bench presses on a universal-type machine where the motion of the lift is predetermined in a fixed track, you can develop great strength on that machine. But then if you switch over to a dumbbell press, where the weights are free to move independently, you will feel very weak, wobbly, and uncoordinated until you develop the smaller lateral control muscles in your upper body. It's for this reason that serious weight-lifters prefer free-weights over weight-machines.
Following this analogy, pedaling on a Cruzbike is like lifting free-weights. .. you must develop and coordinate both large and small muscles groups in your legs to pedal efficiently. So how do you develop this coordination? I find the best way is to practice riding with only a very light touch on the handlebars, and eventually "hands-free" riding. Those concerned for my safety, keep in mind that when I ride "no-hands" on my Cruzbike, I still have steering control of the front-wheel of the bike with my feet and can run a slalom course if I wanted to. As I've gained more experience, I can pedal 20 mph on a flat surface with my hands folded on my lap, all while keeping the bottom-bracket rock steady. I am not a particulary graceful or athletic person. This is a skill anyone can do if they practice gradually at it. My wife and my 13 y.o. son picked it up within a couple of months of me suggesting they begin working on it.
So what's riding "no-hands" have to do with hill-climbing? Once you have trained your legs so that your arms don't have to fight them, you will be better able to use your arms to assist your legs. When I climb or sprint, my hands are definitely needed... in effect, I overcorrect the pedal steer effect by pulling back on the ipsilateral (same-side) handlebar during the forward power stroke- bringing the pedal closer to the forward-moving leg, just as a road biker pulls up on the ipsilateral handlebar during the downward powerstroke while leaning the bike to bring the pedal closer to the downward-moving leg. Both actions allow upper body strength to assist with hill-climbing, and both actions involve complex dynamic motions that are easier to experience than explain. It's sort of a "flick" of the handlebar that helps you eke out more climbing power. My wife has very low body-fat, and if you ride behind her when she is hill-climbing, you will see an amazing display of back and shoulder muscles working. In October, she participated in the CNC "Ride Across North Carolina" on a Sofrider V1 with a double chainring. On the mountain climbing sections, she passed every other recumbent and a lot of road bikes. These were serious, long, steep hills that many roadies and bent-riders were walking up. Certainly her low bike/body mass helped, but I believe it was also her well developed Cruzbike skills.
In conclusion, don't neglect your own training when looking for better hill-climbing performance. For me, the ability to ride "no-hands" has become one of the more pleasurable attributes of Cruzbike riding. It's not only of practical utility in freeing your hands to fetch or adjust something, but an exhilarating experience of joy and freedom.
Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday and Great New Year,
Jim Parker, M.D.
posted by JIM PARKER, MD at 12:30 PM
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