What's your psychological technique for climbing?

So we all know there are things which help us to push ourselves harder. Like a cheering crowd or a hug with a loved one before you set off.
Even when you're going up a hill, there might be someone ahead and you feel the urge to overtake.
In a situation where none of these occur, what passes through your mind when you need to push harder?
Even when you're going up a hill, there might be someone ahead and you feel the urge to overtake.
In a situation where none of these occur, what passes through your mind when you need to push harder?
0
Posts
...there never is. Doesn't mean there won't be the next time.
Bianchi Via Nirone 7/ Campag Xenon
ABCC Cycling Coach
Apart from that i often think about things i would be eating after my training ride & the quicker i got up the climb the nearer i was to eating them! Try to manipulate your mind into looking forward to & enjoying the climbs.
Either that or imagine a viscous dog chasing you...
ABCC Cycling Coach
I really need to work on them there hills :-(
I also like to imagine Claudia Winkleman in a nurses uniform waiting for me after telling me if I climb well she will do things to me that would make Caligula blush.
This plus lots of swearing.
If with others, provoke angry looks by saying "It's only a hill" and holding an expression of extreme serenity. Whilst hurting on the inside. Weakness must not be shown at any cost.
So you've seen me out on a club ride then!!!
I was trying to thing of how to put my feelings into words - then I read this post. Sums it up perfectly.
I swear a lot when I'm climbing too... calling my legs c****s seems to make a difference
Works well when it's not internal as well. I had a friend decide to hurl abuse at me as I went past each lap at a crit a couple of years ago, it actually helped a lot
You haven't tried hard enough then, have you? 8)
Giant CRS 2.0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/243 ... 8d.jpg?v=0
http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 076tl5.jpg
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3407 ... e001af.jpg
Thinking about the hatred I felt at that moment is good for spurring me on.
+1.
Used to do the counting revolutions method, but I found it easier to stare about 2 metres ahead and glance a bit further every now and then.
http://www.pedalmash.co.uk/
I try and imagine that each hill is making a deposit in my fitness bank that I'll be able to draw on next time so it will be easier next time around. Also I think of my my feet making little circles and I have to concentrate on keeping those little rotations going round and round..... Helps take my mind off it!
What's the interest rates on those deposits?
I like the circles thing, focus on small things you can do lots of and the hills fly by! ish....
http://www.pedalmash.co.uk/
I am built like a climber but am not a natural
Firstly, breathing is the carburation of your climbing engine. Really fill your lungs, right to the bottom on each breath rather than shallow gasping. Start this just before the hill to get the breathing right and concentrate on that.
Secondly, gearing. I now start all big hills in a lower gear than I think necessary and spin. If it feels too easy change up. This is both psychologically and physically easier than getting into oxygen debt and having to drop gears and trying to recover on a steep slope.
I also talk to myself, and the bike, but that's just me.
with....gears of war.