... by a seven-year old boy on the side of the road as I rode past, out of the saddle and climbing a steep hill.
He took a look at me and inqured, "Why aren't you bobbing your head?!" I replied, "It's inefficient." (I assume his parents had a good time explaining what I meant, as I didn't hang around to discuss the finer points of power transfer.) That was it, and I rode on.
But now I'm thinking... Why DON'T I bob my head while out of the saddle? No one's ever told me not to, I just assumed that I shouldn't. I assumed that I should keep my upper body as steady as possible while climing because I figured that my legs should be the primary sources of power to the pedals (just as they are while cruising on flats), not energy produced by bobbing my torso up and down. To be sure, there's SOME movement of my torso, but as little as possible. (I sway my bike back and forth, but not too much.)
Am I wrong? Should I be letting gravity do more of the work? What I'm doing feels right, but is there something I'm missing?[i][/i][i][/i]
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"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell
He took a look at me and inqured, "Why aren't you bobbing your head?!" I replied, "It's inefficient." (I assume his parents had a good time explaining what I meant, as I didn't hang around to discuss the finer points of power transfer.) That was it, and I rode on.
But now I'm thinking... Why DON'T I bob my head while out of the saddle? No one's ever told me not to, I just assumed that I shouldn't. I assumed that I should keep my upper body as steady as possible while climing because I figured that my legs should be the primary sources of power to the pedals (just as they are while cruising on flats), not energy produced by bobbing my torso up and down. To be sure, there's SOME movement of my torso, but as little as possible. (I sway my bike back and forth, but not too much.)
Am I wrong? Should I be letting gravity do more of the work? What I'm doing feels right, but is there something I'm missing?[i][/i][i][/i]
__________________________________________________
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell