More walking than cycling

[hondated]

Only wanting to do a short cycle ride today I decided to try another new route.I knew that there was a great view from the top of the road I intended to ride up so off I went.Whether it was because I was on my mountain bike which has wide tyres fitted or I am just an incompetent cyclist I don't know, well I think I know the answer to that but I will say no more,within a short distance of cycling I had to stop to rest and that is how it continued all the way to the top.
http://maps.google.co.uk/
Butts Lane Willingdon

Anway because I had spent so much time walking rather than cycling and somehow felt guilty but it was only when I was relating this to one of our Forum colleagues that I suddenly felt stupid for having felt guilty.I mean its not as if I was even in a race.

So the next time I do the same route I will remember that and I will enjoy the whole experience rather than a small part of it.

It does also seem that at 61 I am trying to do things that I would have struggled to do at 21.

Can any one of you with navigation aids tell me from the map the hills gradient.

[horizon]

hondated: the whole walking thing is a complete red herring - if you couldn't get up the hill you couldn't. End of, so to speak. If you want to get up all the hills you encounter, lower your gears, lighten the weight of your bike, develop your muscles and get really fit. Even then, you may wish to carry luggage or find an even steeper hill so you cannot guarantee getting up them. Even Bradley doesn't carry a Thermos. Keep doing the same hill a lot, put in a lot of effort and you will get fit. My philosophy is to walk it because I usually carry stuff but there are plenty of people who train themselves to get up the hills, albeit on a light bike. The choice is yours but it's nothing to fret about .

[ChrisButch]

The case against getting off and walking is that it disrupts your rhythm and momentum (such as it is), and some of us find the sudden change from a very high heart rate somewhat disconcerting. On the other hand some of us positively welcome the chance to break the rhythm and get different muscle groups working. That suggests that, as in so many aspects of riding technique, this is very much an individual thing: and I'd be wary of anybody who seems to be laying down 'rules' for what you should or shouldn't do in these circumstances. Just do what seems most comfortable, unless you're consciously training for something.

[Grandad]

Just do what seems most comfortable

Like I did with a clubmate on a particularly steep hill in an audax. He walked, I rode, and we went went up side by side talking.

[Mark1978]

I don't like walking hills at all. Even if I'm going less than walking pace. I'd rather get off and rest for a minute and continue than walk. But that's because I'm out to cycle I get enough walking otherwise.

[Vorpal]

There is nothing wrong with walking.

If embarrassed, when another cyclist passes, pretend you stopped to take a picture.

I couldn't tell where your hill is, but I think the easiest way to get elevation is to use something like gmap http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/
or Map my Ride http://www.mapmyride.com/

[DaveP]

Never been embarrassed about walking a hill.
If I get to the top under my own power, I've got to the top under my own power, and feel smugly superior to those who wont even try...
When cycling with friends we always wait at the top of a big 'un until the last one up is a healthy shade of pink again.
Strangely enough, once I stopped worrying about it, I started getting better at it - relatively!

[meic]

I certainly would walk a lot more if I didnt have my custom made low gears and had a standard double crankset.
I didnt quite walk on my last ride with three panniers full of shopping and the daughter in tow... but I did make her get off and walk up the hill.

[horizon]

and feel smugly superior to those who wont even try...

I agree with that. I wouldn't knock anyone who allowed themselves to feel a bit guilty about walking up a hill or smug if they rode it because they were trying to get fit etc etc - it's essential psychology. I only worry when people feel there's some kind of social stigma attached to walking up a hill when walking up a hill is often a practical part of cycling.

[karlt]

If your link went to the location, I could give you the gradient. I can't find a Lunt's Lane anywhere near Eastbourne.

[ANTONISH]

As other's have said try lowering your gears -that enables you to turn the pedals more easily. Try taking it easy at the bottom of the climb and try to stay out of the "red" which means going quite slowly in places - I don't walk hills and I've never been passed by anyone walking (didn't this get covered in another thread?) . At 61 you are still quite youthful - wish I was

[[XAP]Bob]

You got up the hill under your own power. Problem?

[hondated]

If your link went to the location, I could give you the gradient. I can't find a Lunt's Lane anywhere near Eastbourne.

Thanks everyone for your responses had a day on the sofa today so I should have more energy for tomorrows ride.

Thanks karlt and apologies I think that I was having one of those senile moments when I wrote the name of the road and its name is actually Butts Lane.

[Kevbcbga]

Plotting from the bottom of Butts Lane to the where it levels out it rises from 150 feet to 530 in just over 1/2 a mile. A gradient of just over 1:7 or around 15% (using Map my Ride)

[reohn2]

.......Thanks everyone for your responses had a day on the sofa today so I should have more energy for tomorrows ride........

Thats not how it works,you get better at it by keep doing it .
By that logic if I spend a week on the sofa I'd fly up hills,tried that,it don't work .