How To Ride Out Of The Saddle!

Hope this helps some of you out there! Promise, it gets easier more you do it!

Well chuffed to have the following brands support me and my ol' cycling adventures. So you will see some of their products I choose to use in my content :)

[michaellangfitt]

Being a larger rider with a full knee replacement, riding out of the saddle is NOT 2nd nature. It is in fact, often even tougher than powering through. Your tips were solid and I will incorporate them into my training. Well explained. Thanks.

[senyaw]

Good tips Katie. Riders new to being out of the saddle on hills can practice when rolling along on the flat. Hands on hoods, weight on one foot and stand out of the saddle just to get a sense of how the bike feels, then swap over to the other foot and roll for a bit. I have been doing it for so long i didn't realize that some people had difficulty with it. Keep up the good work Katie, love the vids.

[stevencampbell]

Have to admit despite being an experienced cyclist I do want to thank you Katie because I'm considering tackling a big climb locally not far from where I live and tho' some of it can be done in the saddle, the steeper parts do need you to be out of the saddle to make it up. I am of course speaking of Dree Hill outside Dromars which I think you might have tried yourself when you were over in Northern Ireland. I haven't tackled this climb in about 8-10 years going up it, going down is every bit as hairy as it's not a wide road and my friend at the time was nudging 50-55mph down the hill, I was much slower at just under 40 but this will be the first time I've tackled it completely solo and on this current bike that I have which tho' geared slightly differently I reckon I can do it. I also live further away from said climb than what I used to and in a slightly different direction so I'm trying to work out the least hilly route at present to cycle to the climb before I commence the climb plus I have a busy dual carriageway to cross of which there are to the best of my knowledge only 2 easy-ish ways to do it as both routes have a bridge over the carriageway but one route is hillier to get there but shorter and the other is a slightly flatter route all be it not by much but it is longer. Decisions decisions! I may also come up with a third plan to drive to part of the route with my bike in the back of the car but that in a way would feel to me like I'd cheated a bit which is why I'm determined to do so from where I live. My only other issue is I am overweight and also heavier than when I last attempted this climb so I'll have to take my time at it no matter what.

[bengt_axle]

My tip: Begin by practicing gear changes. You have to change to a harder gear to ride out of the saddle, so the pedals can support your weight. On a flat, this will be 2-3 gears or a shift from small to big chain ring, which is what many competitors will do. Shift quickly when your right foot is at the six o'clock position. Approaching a hill you may need only 2 gears more, or even 0 if the pitch of the hill gets kicks up quickly. The harder gears allow you to climb by shifting your body weight slowly, keeping hips centered, as opposed to just pushing down on the pedals. For this, your core must also be engaged to give you stability. It may feel like doing crunches and the bike will be swinging to get under your body. When you sit down again, you will need to shift quickly to an easier gear and spin your legs, to use different muscles. A good way to practice the gear changes is to start on a flat road and just alternate sitting and standing every 2 minutes or so, timing the shifts.

[rebeccafisher]

Great tips, took me a while to get use to standing up on my road bike I think due to the handle bars and how light the bike felt. Practice makes perfect and its so easy now. Thank you yet again xx

[pandemonicpixie]

Thank you for the tutorial. I never learned to ride a bike as a kid, so it's all foreign to me. I hope I can achieve this skill at some point.

[SamanthaManning-xyfu]

This makes me want to get a road/ mountain bike some day….. right now I just have a cruiser.

Great video ❤

[sudeepify]

Your fan from India. I have restarted cycling after a long break of more than 29 years. So your video is so the timely! This is one skill am not good at! Thanks for the video!

[CRJ]

A huge thanks for these tips. I will practice following your advice. For the moment I am a bit scared to ride out of the saddle. I also don't clip.

[geoffclarke]

Great video. Riding out of the saddle feels natural on steep climbs (not that there are many of those where I live in South London/Surrey) but have never tried this on the flat.

[defnoz]

I've always found myself getting out of the saddle for even modest climbs for whatever reason. My tip would be too practice getting out of the saddle but keeping the same level of effort- it's really easy to overdo it which will come to bite you later on. Know when you're honking for extra power and when it's to have a change of position.

[jeffk]

Nice tips! 1 other thing is work on keeping pressure centered over the pedals and not too far forward (often with toes down). I forget this when tired.

[SeanBickerdike]

Good vid. Like the tip about thinking of the rider behind. Pro riders give a flick of both elbows just before they get out of the saddle to warn the rider behind that they will be slowing momentarily. ❤️

[GrenvilleMelonseedSkiff]

Another excellent how-to video ... ta very much! My tip would be to drop down at least one or two gears before hitting the steep bit of a climb where I've found changing gears with a big load on the pedals can be difficult. Trying to anticipate the best gear for the climb before getting out of the saddle will simplify things.

[chriscc]

Great video (as always) I never knew until quite recently that a lot off people really feel uncomfortable and unstable out of the saddle. Its easy to forget sometimes that what comes naturally to some feels like the most unnatural thing in the world to others. I suck at getting my bottle in and out of the cage when I reach down I have all the stability of Bambi on ice in a hurricane.

[inspiredtotired]

I also practice ROotS when riding alongside a tall hedge, and I want to see over it 😁

[harrygrimley]

Great tips. I do all those and I like to count my pedal strokes. Most of the hills near me I know how many it takes to get over.

[kennyhollinsworth]

Looking well KK….glad your heel is healing ❤️

[kevinlyon]

Good tips Katie, like the sprint at the end. I very rarely get out the saddle on the road, occasionly on really steep stuff but can't do it for long.

[anouk]

Thanks for the video Katie. Another tip is not to make a "hollow" back. You will take to much power put of your lower back instead of your core and legs.