STANDING TO PEDAL

Several times recently, friends have come to a steep hill that required standing to keep momentum and when they did, their quads cramped. There are different reasons for this happening, one of which is the muscles are stiff from under-utilization. The counteraction I use on long rides is standing to pedal at least every fifteen minutes. Therefore at some inclines, where the group is spinning up seated, I will drop a couple of gears and stand for maybe thirty seconds or five sets of eight or whatever. This way, I am keeping the muscles loose and not calling on them to push hard, just stay flexible. Standing also helps the back, not to mention giving the other muscles a short break. If you aren't doing this now, give it a try, then drop me a line.