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Hey, How Are Those Things On Hills?
By Ron Bobb

I like to climb. The longer, the steeper, the better I like it. No, I'm not into masochism, it's just that in order to ride around hilly Santa Cruz County, where I live, you have to be able to climb to go anywhere. When I first started riding recumbents, I found hills to be formidable barriers that left me sucking big air, while watching wedgies disappear. Since that time, I have learned to get over the hills almost as fast as the wedgies so that downhill advantage is not wasted.

What's Possible
Let's take a realistic and candid look at how well you can expect to climb on your 'bent. With practice and training, you will be able to keep up with fit wedgie riders on a 140 mile day with 5,000 vertical feet or less of climbing. They will probably out climb you by 10+% on long hills. You can generally make this up on downhills, flats, and into headwinds—if you have a fast recumbent. The truth is that many recumbents are slower than wedgies. On steep uphills (more than 10%) it can be very difficult to keep the wedgies in sight. It's best to save a little gas and catch them later. On rollers (small to medium climbs mixed with descents and short flats) a thoughtfully set up 'bent will show truly awesome performance. You must remember that you are riding a recumbent bicycle, with dramatically different riding and coasting characteristics. It is important to ascend and descend at your own speed and pace. If you ride in a pace line with wedgie bikes, you will find yourself working like a 'Trojan' to keep up on hills and riding your brakes on the downhills. If you ride a recumbent pace it is quite within the realm of possibilities to arrive mid-pack or better on a 140 mile 5000 foot day.

Climbing Technique
Do we spin small gears or do we push big gears? For as long as I can remember the advice given to new 'bent riders has been to 'spin up the hills.' This may be the easiest way, but it's not the fastest way. Obviously, big gears pushed hard and fast will get you uphill fast. Since even the strongest of us 'bent drivers can't push big gears all day long, the pragmatic answer to the question is...push big gears as long as you can, then take Granny for a ride and spin. Be sure to listen to your body, knees, ankles and hip joints. Big gears are incredibly hard on unconditioned joints. There is another part of this equation as well. 'Bents generate much more momentum/speed than wedgies, but they lose it fast too. Since you can't stand on the pedals and use your body weight, conserving that forward motion can save you a lot of grunting and groaning. Get your 'bent moving fast and push hard to keep it moving fast. Equip your 'bent with big gears (135 or more gear inches) and learn to pedal (fast) downhill in order to fly up the next hill. One thing that helps to push these big gears is an efficient riding position. This usually means a fairly closed riding position with the seat back as upright as comfortable (for you). This allows you to push against the seat back with a great deal of force. Lean forward to push the pedals, but be sure to be upright enough to fill your lungs completely when you breath. If you use a fairing (Zzipper type), which you should, the fairing should be at least shoulder height so that the airstream misses your shoulders. I find the Easy Racer Gold Rush Replica to be an ideal bike in this regard as it is easy to set up this way, though there are other similar LWB ASS machines.

Lastly, it is important to know when to back off. If the road goes up over a long 10% grade, the wedgies will drop you. Look at your heart rate monitor, back off and live to fight (or catch up) another day.

Equipment
I have not had the opportunity, time or the inclination to do exhaustive scientific research on equipment, but I can tell you what seems to work best for me. Bear in mind that these recommendations are based on experience and common sense, though there is an element of subjectivity too. I've heard that Lon Haldeman's (two time solo RAAM winner, etc.) priorities for equipment selection are:
1. Comfort
2. Durability
3. Weight

Mine are about the same, with aerodynamics playing a part as well. It is really difficult to push hard or even keep going if you hurt. Make sure everything is comfortable and fits right. Make sure your equipment is strong. When something breaks out on the road, it can take a long time to get rolling again. Many would argue that weight should rank number 1 or 2, but I agree with Lon. You can't get up a hill fast, slow or otherwise, with a broken 150 gram pedal or potato chipped 850 gram racing wheel. Weight is important, but your equipment has to be strong enough to go the distance. My own choice is LWB (long wheelbase) for comfort on rough roads, and because it is fast. It has to have ASS (above seat steering) so I can hang water bottle cages and computer mounts easily. It should have a comfortable seat. I prefer non-mesh so I can push hard against the seat back. On my Gold Rush Replica, everything is stock except the pedals and gearing. I use Shimano SPuD's (clipless) with the rotational cleats. In front I've swapped the stock chainrings for a 24/40/56 T. setup and in back an 11-28 cassette cluster. This gives me a 23-135 gear-inch range. If I feel the need to go faster, I switch to a lighter more aero set of wheels. That's it....no titanium anything.

Training
This is one area of astonishment to me. We have all seen it, out of shape 'bent riders who will ride miles out of their way to avoid climbing. As my friend Don Gray is fond of saying, "Recumbents don't climb hills, riders do." In order for a 'bent to be a fast climber, the rider needs to learn to climb hills fast. I am convinced that the only way to learn to climb is to climb hills. Get out and do it, learn to love the climb. you can become a pretty fast climber simply by always choosing the hilly routes. Try to get up every hill in your middle chainring to build strength. When you are too tired to push the 40 T., drop down to your granny ring and practice that nice smooth spin. Think circles... Speed work helps a lot too. Try to do interval and wind-spring training one or two days per week. Get a heart rate monitor (HRM) and mount it on your handlebars where you can see it. Get a book about working out with a HRM, learn your zones and pay close attention to it while you are riding your bike. I prefer simple HRM's that just give your heart rate. I really don't want some silly alarm beeping to alert the wedgie rider that I'm racing, when I'm off the scale into the heart attack zone. I'm told that specific weight training helps too. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to. Also, don't forget to make a point of scheduling adequate recovery time after tough workout days. Learn to recognize the signs of over-training and take time off when you spot them.

So, how are those things on hills? In my opinion, pretty damn good. With the right recumbent, lots of practice and training you can learn to keep the wedgies in sight on ascents and catch and pass them on any other kind of road.