No one seems to do this anymore, or did it never really work anyway and just felt like it did to me?
I’m talking about wall like road climbs and zig zagging to wipe out some of the gradient.
Was asked what I was doing the other day, said it was something I picked up decades ago.
Am I mad?

yes.

I think lower gearing/bigger gear spread with more ratios (even on road bikes) now means it’s not as necesary any more.

I do it too.

Cheaper than gears 🙂

Yes – and not just steep stuff.

Will go side to side if I want to keep up pace in a higher gear rather than dropping a cog.

Steep road climb that comes to mind is the first road bit of the Snowdon climb…

I do it all the time, works nicely.

wwaswas +1

back in the day 42×21 was the standard lowest on a race bike innit.

Everyone’s a better rider than you these days 😉

My Gf does it alot as she struggles with power
I do it on the SS and rediculous road climbs

I just get off and push.

(-:

Yep, do it loads, almost fool myself into thinking that the swerving gives you a little bit of acceleration…

I do it too and have done for years, a bit like skiing in reverse (and more hard work), do get some strange looks sometimes and not always the best on busy roads!

Almost hit some local club rider from Grimsby going up our local big hill who was doing this. He was coming up, accompanied by the rest of his club, I was going down, came round a bend at about 35mph, he was on my side of the road, blowing out of his hoop, he looked at me I looked at him,his mates all flinched and watched us both, still to this day don’t know how I missed him. Utterly terrifying.It was almost as if time stood still for a minute.

I just get off and push.

Then realise its really bloody steep and hurts your calves, stop for a bit (where no one can see you taking a breather), get back on the bike facing downhill, then turn round and try n power to the top! 5metres later take another breather and repeat!

I often used to zig zag. Don’t anymore as I have a 32 rear to spin, but just a side point – am I odd, I never EVER get tired calves riding, even when the rest of me is falling apart?

I once found myself riding up a l:3 hill in Bangor on an ancient road bike with 39/19 bottom gear. I had to zigzag to stay alive, cadence was measured in minutes per rev rather than revs per minute. Made it tho 🙂

Re getting off and pushing – I encountered a hill on a lane near Cardiff that was so steep I didn’t think I could get off without falling over and sliding back down. Seriously, it’s mental. I think I can pinpoint it if anyone’s interested. It’s in that funny pocket of countryside between Cardiff, Newport and Cwmbran.

almost fool myself into thinking that the swerving gives you a little bit of acceleration

Technically, it does!

Acceleration is a vector quantity, therefore by changing direction you are decelerating in one direction whilst accelerating in another.

Even if your velocity stays the same, you are still accelerating.

Zig-zagging simply reduces the incline your body must climb at the expense of added distance. It works fine but it’s a tradeoff.

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.626782,-3.050251&spn=0,0.024633&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.626771,-3.050079&panoid=A5307Kj-ZC_U4iD2r8tgig&cbp=12,291.89,,0,12.59

Doesn’t show it well, but I think this is it.

My dad showed me the zig zag thing when I was about 8, still use it now, very effective

Even if your velocity stays the same, you are still accelerating.

Velocity is a vector quantity too; if you swerve your velocity changes, your speed remains constant. (I think, long time since I did my GCSEs).

Must admit I use the same technique up…

http://tinyurl.com/5tl5k2a

Cougar – correct, speed is scalar, velocity and acceleration are vector 🙂

Even if your velocity speed stays the same, you are still accelerating.

Even zig-zagging up HERE didn’t work for me as the road is a bit narrow
Here’s a mate enjoying the push 😮

I love the pain on his face as he pushes.. or is it shame? 🙂

good job he has all those pads, that tarmac looks nasty!

my mate was doing it sunday, so bad i though at one point he was turning back

molgrips – Member

I love the pain on his face as he pushes.. or is it shame?
Pain & near 30deg heat!!

Also notice he has the brakes on to stop sliding back.

rOcKeTdOg – Member

good job he has all those pads, that tarmac looks nasty!

To be fair its the only road section and seeing as he did a rag doll impression on the descent of Drum to Llanfairfechan (777m to sea level in about 4k) the previous year he was justified.

Even if your velocity stays the same, you are still accelerating.

Yeah, but you’re not accelerating uphill!

I do this regularly. It’s a habit I picked up/learnt when hillwalking.