Adapted from Bicycling by Peter Oliver

That said, there are times—especially when losing momentum during a climb—when standing up to pedal makes good sense. Some riders are very good at climbing in a standing position without delivering themselves into lactic distress. Their secret is falling into an easy rhythm—developing a relaxed, mambo-like dance on the pedals.

Three things go into making the dance effective. The first is striding forward on the pedals, rather than downward. That helps to keep some of the stroke roundness that is lost in the up-and-down motion of upright pedaling. Second, shift into a higher gear and slow down your cadence. If you try to spin too fast while standing up, the result is usually a sluggish"bottoming out" at the six o'clock position in the pedaling orbit. And if you are able to spin the pedals fast, it makes more sense to do so in the more efficient sitting position. Third, rock very gently from side to side as you pedal—a way of keeping your back muscles loose, adding extra bodyweight leverage to each stroke, and maintaining that mambo-like rhythm.

Standing to pedal is great for short spurts, for which you need a little extra pedaling torque, or to stretch muscles occasionally during a long climb. But for most riders it imposes an anaerobic tax. Unless you're particularly adept at the mambo, stand only briefly and return as soon as possible to the more aerobically efficient method of sitting and spinning.

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