18h ago

When it rains

Edit: I love this community so much, thank you all for trying to help!

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Same here. I switched to cycling.
- I tried switching from running to cycling for my daily cardio, but lately I'm wondering if I'm just not built for cycling. I'm so bad at it.
  I live near mountains and will do hikes where I gain 3,000 feet in elevation and burn 2.5k calories, enjoying every second of it, but for some reason I can barely bike up a small hill.
  Underdeveloped muscle groups maybe?
  
  The more you ride a bike up hills, the easier it will start to become. But if it feels like too much of a wall to ride up the hills around you, you could look into swapping out your chainrings or cassette to get lower gearing so the hills aren't as much of a challenge.
- So did I, but it still makes my knees worse when I do it. As of like an hour ago, apparently even swimming does.
  
  How do you handle elevation gain? I ask because I can climb mountains like a champ but for some reason running kills my legs and I'm terrible at cycling. It doesn't even need to be a mountain, as a steep hill does the trick. Keeping a steady pace up a hill gets my heart rate to a place similar to running, and it usually stays pretty high for the descent as well. It doesn't hurt my joints nearly as much as running or biking.
  
  I'm actually saving up for some climbing gear, I'm in the middle of the alps! I think I'll be starting with via ferratas, there's dozens near me. Any tips?
  
  I haven't done any climbing that requires ropes/helmets yet, so far I've been sticking to trails. I moved to a mountainous area 2 years ago.
  Going uphill is the easier part, it just requires cardio. Going downhill hurt my knees when I first started, but that pain went away over time. Downhill always seems to be harder for people once they get past the cardio requirement for going up.
  Investing in a good pair of adjustable trekking poles makes going downhill a lot easier on your joints. Cork handles are expensive, but worth it if you use them a lot. Shortening them for uphill and lengthening them for downhill also helps.
  Another great investment is a high quality ultralight chair! I have a Helinox ground chair which is shockingly comfortable and only weighs 17 ounces/482 grams. Being able to relax and enjoy the view before descending adds a lot to the experience.

56 comments