Clad in skin-tight clothes and cleated shoes, we walk with all the grace of a chicken with a repetitive stress injury. Yet once astride our machines, hovering above the tarmac and enraptured by the sensation of flight, we are transformed into a picture of fluidly harmonic articulation which belies the power and skill that drives us forward. Years of fine-tuning our position, together with thousands of kilometers passed under our tires have built to perfect our magnificent stroke and continue to blur the lines between rider, machine, and passion.
The still is shattered, however, as we move out of the saddle in search of more speed and power. Once an elegant creature, the rider is spontaneously transformed into a beast of bobbing head, swaying saddle, and protuberant elbow. It is a complicated matter, this business of riding out of the saddle, but when done correctly can embody all the grace and power of the seated cyclist. The French understand this well enough to have given mastery of this art a special phrase, en danseuse, which means that the rider exhibits all the elegance and beauty of a dancer when riding out of the saddle, particularly when going uphill. Few Pros embody this, and even fewer enthusiasts.
It’s not beyond the grasp of the Velominatus to Look Fantastic while standing. Next time you lift your caboose off the saddle, keep these points in mind.
Stand on the hoods or in the drops. This is Standing 101: absolutely never, under any circumstances, no matter what anyone tells you, whatever is happening, in spite of any special circumstances, ever, stand on the tops. Grab a handful of hoods or the drops when standing; these postions help get your weight lower and farther forward and give better control than do the tops, which are awkward and wobbly. Also shy away from the bend of the bars just above the hoods in favor of the hoods themselves; this is better than the tops, but not as stable and powerful as the hoods or drops.
Move to the V-Locus. The temptation is great to let your elbows flare out and stick your ass out like you’re trying to red-eye the rider behind you (and maybe you are, I’m not judging), but you should keep as much of your mass centered over your bike as possible. Shoulders down, elbows bent, hips forward of the saddle. Practice shifting your body forward and back a bit to weight the front and back tires differently and learn how it affects traction and power. Your weight distribution will need to change as the gradient does and on different kinds of road surfaces.
Go with the flow. As you stand, let your bike sway back and forth naturally in rhythm with your strokes. Don’t hold it too still or you’ll risk draining energy into holding the bike in place that could otherwise go into your pedaling action. On the other hand, don’t let it sway so much that you’re just swinging your bike around needlessly because you think it looks cool.
Hold your line. If Greg LeMond could have pointed his bike in one direction, he would probably have won the sprint against Gianni Bugno at Alpe d’Huez in 1990. Your tendency will be to let your bike swerve around as a result of the heaps of power you’re dishing out from your massive guns, but not only is that dangerous, every change in direction means a loss of energy and inertia. Some movement is natural, but don’t overdo it.
Lower your cadence. You’ll want to shift into a slightly higher gear just as you rise out of the saddle; standing gives you access to additional power, but it is also inefficient because you’re holding your body up with your legs and arms. Lowering your cadence helps steady your body and move it less.
Keeping in mind the principles above, below are some stylistic considerations.
Avoid the Bopping Betty. You’re trying to look like you’re dancing, but steer clear of doing The Bop. Alberto Contador is the master of this particular faux-pas, in spite of his astonishing speed. But assuming you’re carrying more weight on your upper body than a Spanish Beef-Eating Uphill Specialist, you’re going to want to keep the torso reasonably still; its the heaviest part of your body and every time you lift it up, it wastes energy.
Don’t Be a Handlebar Humper. We love our bikes, but not that much; try to keep from thrusting your hips into your stem like Lance Armstrong. Its a passable technique on dry roads, but riding with your weight so far forward not only looks distressingly sexual, but will unweight your rear wheel too much and you’ll find yourself slipping when the road pitches up or becomes damp.
Avoid the Monster Mash. Though you want to change into a lower cadence, you also don’t want to overdo it. Cadel Evans and Greg LeMond are two riders who come to mind as trying to mash their bikes to death, climbing out of the saddle in a monster gear.
Channel your Pantani Power Ranger. I don’t know why it’s so hard to climb in the drops like Pantani did, but it’s also wicked fast. If you’re looking for some extra power, go searching for it in the drops. You’ll burn out quickly, but you’ll get up over the hill quickly too.
Go Gorilla. Ask a Pro how they go so fast, and they usually look at you quizzically for a while before eventually giving an answer somewhere between “why would you go slower?” and “push harder on the pedals”. My favorite piece of advice is this: try to break your handlebars. Standing is all about counter-acting forces, and you can’t do it without using your handlebars, so try to break them. You won’t. Probably.
Almost every climbing style imaginable (and some not) can be found in the 2010 Fleche Wallone finale:
*Thanks to G’rilla for inspiring this article.
frank
The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking.
As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it.
Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen.
Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.
And tonight I tried all of the above on my fave hilly ride with Lay Brother Simon and ended up with the most appalling cramp in my calves over the last mile which denied me a shoe-in PB/PR whatever you want to call it. Nearly dumped me of the bike - agony. Never cramped out my calves before - must be because for once I was really giving it The V on the climbs rather than just doing enough to get up.
@Steampunk you are right! That kind of bad habit would be rectified with a short ride on a fixed bike...
I wasn't sure what to do the other day when my 3 y.o. son sat enraptured by synchronized diving (sorry Frank). I have been trying my best to expose him to as much cycling as possible, but we are generally watching anything olympic we can find time for. He cries when I turn off whitewater in the mornings. I told my wife we were going to watch the individual time trial the other day, and my son squealed at me and said, "you mean the one wit the start house?" Win! I thought it was fantastic last weekend when I arrived home after breaking a chain, and told my son about it. He thought for a second, and said in a very serious tone, "but you got a new bike from the support car right?" "Right!"
This parenting thing is a drag on the riding, but is turning out to be a pretty good gig.
Great article, not only because I was always a Pantani fan, but also because since I really got into this beautiful sport, this is what I've been striving for. I climb on the hoods because I haven't yet developed the finesse for long climbs on the drops - and some of the hills around here are hellishly steep. I've slimmed down so that I'm no longer too fat to climb and I can enjoy channelling my inner Pirata whilst spinning my way up the local climbs. I have to tame my lack of finesse and try to keep everything in line, imagining my legs as pistons, driving down to the crank with no effort wasted through swaying - it might not have the balletic grace of Marco at his best, but I'll work on that. The feeling when it clicks to dance your way up a hill is fantastic, more so if you're giving your mates a guided tour of the dark end of the pain cave. Stay light, float, enjoy the views.
I wasn't sure what to do the other day when my 3 y.o. son sat enraptured by synchronized diving (sorry Frank). I have been trying my best to expose him to as much cycling as possible, but we are generally watching anything olympic we can find time for. He cries when I turn off whitewater in the mornings. I told my wife we were going to watch the individual time trial the other day, and my son squealed at me and said, "you mean the one wit the start house?" Win! I thought it was fantastic last weekend when I arrived home after breaking a chain, and told my son about it. He thought for a second, and said in a very serious tone, "but you got a new bike from the support car right?" "Right!"
This parenting thing is a drag on the riding, but is turning out to be a pretty good gig.
It keeps it interesting right? It's cool though when you see little light bulbs like that come on! I'm jealous for my kids because I wasn't really exposed to all this. I like that they'll grow up with cyclling as the norm. It does take a hit on ride time, but totally worth it! This morning I missed my ride because the little guy was up when I tried to leave and wanted to hang, I'm gonna take it all before he gets older thinks I'm no longer cool and grunts at me....hopefully we'll always have cycling as that bridge over those times though. I noticed on your profile you're from Chicago! I lived in Illinois from birth to age 23. We lived in Chicago to age 7 and then moved like 60 miles west to around Rockford, IL.
And tonight I tried all of the above on my fave hilly ride with Lay Brother Simon and ended up with the most appalling cramp in my calves over the last mile which denied me a shoe-in PB/PR whatever you want to call it. Nearly dumped me of the bike - agony. Never cramped out my calves before - must be because for once I was really giving it The V on the climbs rather than just doing enough to get up.
That's fantastic! I have to start doing this, too. I spend alot of time surviving climbs vs kicking their teeth in with killshot of The V. Must channel Il Pirata....
Great article. Getting uphill and looking good doing it is no small feat. While sitting is the most efficient, it's not always the most effective. Mixing it up so you're at the front, but not cooked requires attention to the small details.
In some very small way, I miss the days when a small group of riders, all from different teams and doped out of their minds, would relentlessly hammer each other on the climbs. You felt dirty for being entertained by it, but it was fun to watch.
I think Boonen's Classics bike(s) this year was a fine example of keeping a modern bike totally classy & sharp. Simple black & white for the most part, but then the tan sidewalls with the carbon rims just looks boss. His hubs should have been black though. If you are going for carbon bits & a black/white theme, gotta keep the wheels black too.
I've been having a lot of daydreams lately of a new wheelset...Yes, yes I have.
In some very small way, I miss the days when a small group of riders, all from different teams and doped out of their minds, would relentlessly hammer each other on the climbs. You felt dirty for being entertained by it, but it was fun to watch.
Sing it brother. It does feel dirty, but its true. And I preface that saying I wish the riders were clean. But the racing during the EPO era was the most consistently exciting.
But not to say that there wasn't better racing before those days; the 1989 Tour predates EPO and that was certainly the best ever in terms of attacking racing.
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And tonight I tried all of the above on my fave hilly ride with Lay Brother Simon and ended up with the most appalling cramp in my calves over the last mile which denied me a shoe-in PB/PR whatever you want to call it. Nearly dumped me of the bike - agony. Never cramped out my calves before - must be because for once I was really giving it The V on the climbs rather than just doing enough to get up.
@Steampunk you are right! That kind of bad habit would be rectified with a short ride on a fixed bike...
Btw, Jan Ullrich was great to see on the mountains, like here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPabWyUrxTo
@graham d.m.
I wasn't sure what to do the other day when my 3 y.o. son sat enraptured by synchronized diving (sorry Frank). I have been trying my best to expose him to as much cycling as possible, but we are generally watching anything olympic we can find time for. He cries when I turn off whitewater in the mornings. I told my wife we were going to watch the individual time trial the other day, and my son squealed at me and said, "you mean the one wit the start house?" Win! I thought it was fantastic last weekend when I arrived home after breaking a chain, and told my son about it. He thought for a second, and said in a very serious tone, "but you got a new bike from the support car right?" "Right!"
This parenting thing is a drag on the riding, but is turning out to be a pretty good gig.
Great article, not only because I was always a Pantani fan, but also because since I really got into this beautiful sport, this is what I've been striving for. I climb on the hoods because I haven't yet developed the finesse for long climbs on the drops - and some of the hills around here are hellishly steep. I've slimmed down so that I'm no longer too fat to climb and I can enjoy channelling my inner Pirata whilst spinning my way up the local climbs. I have to tame my lack of finesse and try to keep everything in line, imagining my legs as pistons, driving down to the crank with no effort wasted through swaying - it might not have the balletic grace of Marco at his best, but I'll work on that. The feeling when it clicks to dance your way up a hill is fantastic, more so if you're giving your mates a guided tour of the dark end of the pain cave. Stay light, float, enjoy the views.
@razmaspaz
It keeps it interesting right? It's cool though when you see little light bulbs like that come on! I'm jealous for my kids because I wasn't really exposed to all this. I like that they'll grow up with cyclling as the norm. It does take a hit on ride time, but totally worth it! This morning I missed my ride because the little guy was up when I tried to leave and wanted to hang, I'm gonna take it all before he gets older thinks I'm no longer cool and grunts at me....hopefully we'll always have cycling as that bridge over those times though. I noticed on your profile you're from Chicago! I lived in Illinois from birth to age 23. We lived in Chicago to age 7 and then moved like 60 miles west to around Rockford, IL.
@the Engine
That's fantastic! I have to start doing this, too. I spend alot of time surviving climbs vs kicking their teeth in with killshot of The V. Must channel Il Pirata....
Great article. Getting uphill and looking good doing it is no small feat. While sitting is the most efficient, it's not always the most effective. Mixing it up so you're at the front, but not cooked requires attention to the small details.
@Pedale.Forchetta
In some very small way, I miss the days when a small group of riders, all from different teams and doped out of their minds, would relentlessly hammer each other on the climbs. You felt dirty for being entertained by it, but it was fun to watch.
I think Boonen's Classics bike(s) this year was a fine example of keeping a modern bike totally classy & sharp. Simple black & white for the most part, but then the tan sidewalls with the carbon rims just looks boss. His hubs should have been black though. If you are going for carbon bits & a black/white theme, gotta keep the wheels black too.
I've been having a lot of daydreams lately of a new wheelset...Yes, yes I have.
@onceaclimber
Sing it brother. It does feel dirty, but its true. And I preface that saying I wish the riders were clean. But the racing during the EPO era was the most consistently exciting.
But not to say that there wasn't better racing before those days; the 1989 Tour predates EPO and that was certainly the best ever in terms of attacking racing.