Walking up that hill.

During my usual loop over the SDW yesterday there were a lot of riders on some kind of organised ride. I passed lots between Southease and Alfriston and I was really surprised by how many were pushing their bikes up the hills.
Fair enough, if you’ve done a few miles then itford hill can be tough but pushing your bike up everything steeper than a false flat is a bit much, is it not?

How far had they already travelled?

Probably just a case of…

I went round Penmachno a few weeks back and encountered a chap on a 5 pushing along a fire road with a very gentle incline. Assuming that something was broken, I asked him if everything was alright, preparatory to lending him a powerlink or an innertube or whatever, and he got a bit of a hump on, “Just having a bit of a walk, ok?”

He was on the second loop which, quite remarkably for a trail in Snowdonia, manages to be almost entirely flat and devoid of lengthy descents all the way round. If he was determined to stick with his tactic of not pedalling I reckon he might still be there. Funny chap.

Last time I was at Glentress there was a few guys pushing up from Buzzards to the top of Berm Baby Berm. They were on a selection of All Mountain”/”XC” bikes. I did think it was a bit odd as I overtook them on my Fatbike, but for all I know they’d been there all day and were already knackered.

There are some lazy feckers out there…

last time i went to laggan wolftrax, there was this 20+ stone woman in full protection with her skinny boyfriend pushing a bso up the first bit of fire road. being a nasty bugger i tried to get a photo, sorry but it was a funny sight whilst approaching from behind.

does it matter? i ride with people who will walk up a hill and others that stop and walk down obstacles. we all have fun regardless

It must be great being so superior to everyone else.

Yesterday there were some MTBers pushing their bikes up a hill on a road
I spat on them as I powered past, putting maximum wattage out.

I once bought a used bike which had ‘Proud to Push’ stickers on it, I think from MBUK c1998. The people I see pushing these days are unfit people on slightly-too-heavy “all mountain” bikes. Sort of acceptable if they’re stupidly fast on the descents, but they never are.

Yesterday there were some MTBers pushing their bikes up a hill on a road
I spat on them as I powered past, putting maximum wattage out.

Now that made me laugh.

Iam a fat man, and i push my bike on the odd occasion. Anyone have a problem with that?
I still like riding my bike (when i can conjure up the will) and think that is enough of a reason to ride one.

The are some silly people here eh!

I can’t believe other people have the audacity to not conform to the rules as laid down by MartinP!

Were they not issued with the Proper Bicycling Handbook (MartinP 1992) when they purchased their bicycles?!

Rest assured I will head out tomorrow and start spreading the word!

My post obviously didn’t read too well to some of you happy folk. I was just surprised that quite a few riders were pushing there mostly decent bikes up some small inclines. Just an observation on my part but I promise to keep them to myself from now on.

I’ll often end up pushing my bike up a hill in order to ride down, and do carry down a bit as well. Last week I went up that hill above badaguish, along the top, then down from the saddle before Meall a buchaille. It was a nice walk on the way up, and a blast on the way down. Yesterday it was the Burma rd and again it was a push, even tho it was a track all the way up. I might not have the legs to pedal all the way up that but I’m buggered if thats going to stop me doing it.
I suppose the thing is, stuff that I consider easy probably feels the same to some, just like there are some who would go up the burma rd without breaking a sweat.

OP,

Love

Stw

OP seems to have touched a nerve with a lot of people on here… 😉 ?

No, I just think they saw an opening for a good natured dig 🙂

What with the price of cassettes, chains and whatnot these days, riding uphill is not viable, roll on adult pushbikes (pun incidental, but claimed!! (rushes to patent office))

Iam a fat man, and i push my bike on the odd occasion. Anyone have a problem with that?

Well, you’d like to think not but it does seem about 50:50 on here.

I’ve always seen climbs as a bit of a personal challenge. The only time I’ll get off and push is if I’m physically or technically incapable of continuing.

I may well collapse in a sweaty asphyxiating lump at the top though!

I’m not saying go all hardcore about it, but at least give it a fair bash. Then the next time you try the hill aim to get a bit further up. Just don’t get to a hill you know you can’t get up and don’t even bother…

The only time I’ll get off and push is if I’m physically or technically incapable of continuing.

For many a slight incline on a fireroad fulfil these 2 criteria.

Jedi +1

Why does it matter what other people do?

Wallop + Jedi + another 1

Rorschach – that may well be the case!

My point is just give it a bash. Keep trying to get better at your hobby whatever your level. Challenge yourself, improve and try to get more out of it.

OP isnt saying that anyone who walks up a hill or cant ride something is lame, just that you shouldnt give up at the first sign of it getting a bit hard.

its that kind of self defeatist nature that some people have, “oh this is getting a bit hard and I cant be bothered to try any harder”. its the can’t be bothered attitude that annoyes me a little.

If you have reached your limit, then fair enough.

I dont mind people pushing up hills, just fighting for OPs corner a bit (i think!)

edit: beaten to it 🙄

Last time I was at Glentress there was a few guys pushing up from Buzzards to the top of Berm Baby Berm. They were on a selection of All Mountain”/”XC” bikes. I did think it was a bit odd as I overtook them on my Fatbike, but for all I know they’d been there all day and were already knackered.

Thanks for telling us that they were on all mountain bikes and you were on a fatbike. I feel it was crucial to the story. 🙂

Jedi +1

Since I got ill with CFS/PVFS I push up hills sometimes that could easily be ridden, but at least it means I can still get out on the bike without screwing myself up.

its that kind of self defeatist nature that some people have, “oh this is getting a bit hard and I cant be bothered to try any harder”. its the can’t be bothered attitude that annoyes me a little.

The cant be bothered attitude of people walking up a hill, pushing a mountain bike? Do you see walkers as having a cant be bothered attitude too because they’re not even pushing bikes? I pushed my bike up Ben Lomond, it was well worth it for the descent, but I suppose I shouldn’t have bothered because of my defeatist attitude.

If you have reached your limit, then fair enough.

How very generous of you. What if they just feel like it? Mountain biking isn’t necessarily about gritting it out in a physical challenge for some people – I don’t see the need to look down on them.

are we talking the hill which traverses above southease station? If so that can be a very long and tiring climb, however the gradient isn’t actually too bad.

I often have lazy days where I think “why should I bother struggling up here when it’s no fun”, but sometimes I push on and then it’s satisfying. Different people get different things from the sport, you’ve just got to accept that.

I did a sportive a while ago and there were people pushing up some small hills, Newlands FFS people thats and easy one!!

Aren’t other people crap!

I was speaking generally, as opposed to people on mountain bikes.

What if they just feel like it?

like i said, at the end of the day i dont care if people push up or not.

I cant explain it, but Its nice seeing people do something they didnt think they were able to do.

On another note, if you’re on a long ride or doing a XC race, is it not sometimes quicker overall to push up some of the hills? Uses your muscles differently, giving the pedalling ones a rest, and at very low speed up steep inclines are legs not actually more efficient than pedals/cranks/chain/sprockets/wheels?

Jedi + (another) 1

40 camels a day for 20 odd years maybe ? I only gave up smoking end of last year as i was getting so puffed out on simple shallow climbs i figured i had to choose one or tother ! Its taking longer than id expected to get any real benefit but i am starting to climb things i used to walk up !!Last sunday i was breathing that well a fly got sucked straight down without touching the sides !! maybe i should have stuck to the fags and slow walks uphill after all !! ?? 😳

I was at the climbing wall last night and watched someone struggle on a V0. didn’t even do the sit start. 🙄

hmmmm.. they sound like wrong ‘uns to me.. paedophiles probably, or worse

Feel the love people. Feel the lurrrv.

I sometimes get off and push. Some hills are too steep. I like riding my bike and want lots of people to be my friends. Is my habit of pushing a bike when I can’t pedal it any further going to lose me the opportunity to make friends with the clearly superior beings that graciously allow me to share in their chosen passtime?

Perhaps we could start a sticky of times when we lesser beings may be permitted to visit the haunts of the elite and do all our pushing when the sight of that pathetic spectacle won’t offend? We could then all get tickets for the next session to watch the elite heroes in our midst riding up everything, and hooning down everything flawlessly on their steel framed rigid singlespeed fatbikes, before retiring to the online cafe for a quick macchiato.

I’m 43, ride a 32lb AM rig and sometimes have to push up…. Especially that climb up to the 2 barns leading up to derwent edge in the dark peak. I’m not unfit but that climb is a butch!

seeing people “winching” in granny gears annoys me more than pushers..

Funny I don’t let how other people choose to spend their free time riding their bikes trouble me in the slightest. After all it’s eff all to do with me, has it?