Uphill struggle

[tristgo]

I've been doing my first bit of proper cross-country biking on a decent Giant bike recently, mainly along bridle paths. I still find uphill on grass to be a killer, my thighs catch fire after about a minute. Anyone else find that?

 

[spandex]

Welcome trisigo

Your seat is to low if your thighs are on fire that quick you will need to put it up by at least a 1 1/2 inch's

 

[RedBike]

I still find uphill on grass to be a killer, my thighs catch fire after about a minute. Anyone else find that?

Uphill on grass is hardwork. You just need the fitness to keep slogging away.

As above try checking your seat ks at the right height. Put your heal on the pedal and raise the saddle until your leg is stragiht.

 

[fossyant]

Try a big bucket of water......

 

[Ludwig]

Learn to love your hills.

 

[purplemoon]

I've been doing my first bit of proper cross-country biking on a decent Giant bike recently, mainly along bridle paths. I still find uphill on grass to be a killer, my thighs catch fire after about a minute. Anyone else find that?

If you think grass is bad try doing it through soft sand

That's what I was faced with last weekend on a forest trail, although I have to admit to getting off and walking several yards through the worst of it

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I one tried to ride a loaded touring bike on th ebeach at holkham in norfolk, what an arse....I had to drag it, push it, kick it, ..even ditched the dam thing once ...

I dont do off road tracks, but hills just get easier as your legs get fitter, and you learn not to push to high a gear and that standing to early is never good...on the road anyway...I have no idea about MTB stuff.

 

[JohnRedcoRn]

a couple of my local 'hills' (although i dont know what technically constitutes a 'hill')...whorral bank and bothal bank - for an out of shape relative beginner, these are like Ahabs white whale, i feel genuine anxiety on approaching them. nevertheless i have the 50m penrith ride on 13, so its been 'fight or flight' this week (+alcohol free weeknights!).

now i understand the psychological aspects of sport, there really is a lot of 'psyching yourself up' getting in a 'zone' and suchlike. the bit when youre approaching, when the road starts to incline and get steeper, and you know its going to be very hard work, thats the scary bit. and of course learning how to best taclke these climbs with your gears, posture etc etc.

if i can do it with 2 or more stone weight than i should have, then with perseverance i have a much better level of fitness and ability to look forward too.

 

[swee'pea99]

Gear low, pedal fast, and keep your eyes on the ground just ahead of your front wheel. It'll still hurt, but it does get better in time.

 

[purplemoon]

I certainly hope so!

I mentioned riding home in an 'uphill' wind the other day when in reality it was nothing more than a gentle slope but it meant I had to pedal harder just to keep moving

Being a Yorkshire lass by birth I often laugh at people who call the gentle bumps around here "hills" but they certainly feel like hills when you're an unfit newbie cyclist

 

[yenrod]

Uphill on grass is hardwork. You just need the fitness to keep slogging away.

As above try checking your seat ks at the right height. Put your heal on the pedal and raise the saddle until your leg is stragiht.

Mines far higher than that !

 

[Angelfishsolo]

(although i dont know what technically constitutes a 'hill').

You asked

The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is generally somewhat lower and less steep than a mountain. In the United Kingdom it is popularly believed that the Ordnance Survey defines a "mountain" as a peak greater than 305 metres (1,000 ft) above sea level, a belief which forms the basis of the film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain; in fact the OS maintains no such distinction today. [1] The Oxford English Dictionary, by contrast, suggests a limit of 2000 ft (610 m). This has led to Cavanal Hill in Poteau, Oklahoma, receive billing as the "World's Tallest Hill" due to its height of 1,999 feet (609 m). Mountains in Scotland are frequently referred to as "hills" no matter what their height, as reflected in names such as the Cuillin Hills and the Torridon Hills.
Artificial hills may be referred to by a variety of technical names. See mound and tumulus.

Hills may form through a number of geomorphic phenomena: faulting, erosion of larger landforms, such as mountains and movement and deposition of sediment by glaciers (eg. moraines and drumlins, or by erosion exposing solid rock which then weathers down into a hill. The rounded peaks of hills results from the diffusive movement of soil and regolith covering the hill, a process known as downhill creep.
Areas that would otherwise have hills do not because of glacier cover during the Ice Age. The contrast between the extreme plains of northern Indiana, and the extreme hilliness of southern Indiana is a result of this.
There are various specific names used to describe particular types of hill, based on appearance and method of formation. Many such names originated in one geographical region to describe a type of hill formation peculiar to that region, though the names are often adopted by geologists and used in a wider geographical context. These include:
Drumlin – an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial action.
Butte – an isolated hill with steep sides and a small flat top, formed by weathering.
Tor – a rock formation found on a hilltop; also used to refer to the hill itself, especially in South West England.
Puy – used especially in the Auvergne, France, to describe a conical volcanic hill.
Pingo – a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and Antarctica.