momentum

When riding my bike today I refocused on my momentum, simply applying the right amount of pressure on the pedals at the right time makes a huge difference when riding rolling hills. It is really easy to lose your momentum and speed when starting to climb a hill - the key seems to be that while your legs are still relatively fresh from the last down hill or straight away, try to keep your momentum going as long as you can up the hill. This doesn't work as well for long hills (anything more than 1-2 minutes to climb), but I've seen so many people drop to an easy gear as soon as the hit the hill, rather than taking advantage of the momentum they have and charging the hill and only dropping to an easier gear when fatigue begins to set in. Also, when cresting the hill, many people are so relieved to get to the top, that they don't keep the up-and-over momentum when they are just about to be rewarded with a downhill. Another thing, when taking the downhill, so many people stop pedaling. The only time to stop moving your legs, particularly when racing, is when safety is a factor. Typically when going downhill, you don't have to apply much pressure (soft pedal) to increase your speed significantly. I've seen guys work really hard to get to the top, only to be passed by yours truly on the downhill because I soft pedalled and the didn't pedal at all.

So a lot of folks think that I'm a much better rider than I really am, simply because I ride smarter (sometimes). All of these tactics require a fair amount of concentration, because old habits creep in and because you mind will go into automatic mode, which sometimes result in bad decisions for short term benefit.

This 'momentum' principle applies to all things physical. Swimming is another big one - you can lose momentum even faster in the water than uphill, into the wind on a bike.

Finally, this wouldn't be much of a blog if I didn't put a philosophical spin on this momentum. In life, there are many uphill challenges that we have to deal with. It's best just to go after them with gusto while we are fresh and feeling up to the task, and finish them off with a level of satisfaction, so we can enjoy the downhills.