This one came out of a group ride I did a few weeks back. I was sitting on a wheel going up a local climb — nothing savage, maybe six or seven percent for about four kilometres — and I watched the lad in front of me make every single mistake in the book. White-knuckling the bars, mashing a massive gear at 60 rpm, elbows locked, and he had absolutely buried himself in the first 90 seconds. By the top he was weaving across the road. Sound familiar? Yeah. I have done all of this too.
So I sat down and wrote out the five mistakes I see most often when riding with mates and community members. None of them require more fitness to fix. That is what makes them brilliant — these are free speed. You do not need to train harder or lose weight or buy a lighter bike. You just need to stop doing things that are actively costing you watts and time.
I cover pacing (starting too hot), cadence (grinding when you should be spinning), upper body tension (death-gripping the bars like you are trying to strangle them), gearing (shifting too late under full load), and weight distribution (sitting too far back on the saddle on steep pitches). For each one I explain why it happens, why it costs you, and what to do instead.
Key Takeaways
- Start climbs 5-10 percent below target effort — the anaerobic system flatters you in the first two minutes
- Keep cadence above 75 rpm to shift load from muscles to your cardiovascular system
- Relax your grip, drop your shoulders, soften your elbows — upper body tension is wasted energy
- Shift into easier gears before you need them, not after you are already bogging down
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