Power Limits

I've been riding my bike to Takoma Park on Sundays to teach yoga.  After trying out a couple of different routes, I've settled on the slightly longer, but simpler and more scenic, route of riding a couple of miles down the Sligo Creek Trail to Maple Avenue in Takoma Park, then heading uphill to the studio.  It is one long gradual downhill followed by a shorter, and for a stretch, brutal up hill.

The ride home is the exact opposite - a fast cruise downhill, braking for the speed bumps, followed by a long uphill, with the steepest section right at the end coming up to the house from the park.

Last week I rode the whole way back in 23rd gear (out of 27 on my Trek 7500 bike).  Coming up out of the park, I had to stand up to power through the steepest parts, but made it easily.

Yesterday I decided to try gear 24.  It was noticeably harder to push and keep rotational speed up during the steeper gradients, but I was still feeling pretty good as I approached the short but steep lift up from the park path onto our street.  I couldn't hit it with a lot of speed because the path was covered with large plastic sheeting laid down for heavy equipment being used for a stream restoration project, and I got just halfway up, about two turns of the crank, before I realized that my full body weight on the pedal wasn't providing enough power to keep the bike moving.

I hopped off before crashing, and walked the bike 15 feet or so up to the street, then was able to power up to the house.  It was interesting to find that physical limit - no amount of willpower could overcome the realities of mass, gravity, and the gear I had selected.  There just wasn't enough power for the job!