On Saturday I took a 45 mile ride with two guys. One of them has hardly ridden in the last two years because of building his investment business. The other recently had a heart attack. So I spent most of the day trying to stay at their pace.

On the way back there is a 600 foot 6% climb that I've been riding up in the small ring at about 6-7 mph. I didn't want to either blow off my friend who hasn't been riding or cause the other to ride harder than he should because before the heart attack he could out-climb a mountain goat. So I left it in the big ring. I completely cross-chained the thing so that I was in a 50-29.

The funny thing is that I was riding up that grade at the same speed I normally did despite trying to ride slowly. I felt almost no effort on the pedals to climb. Near the top I slowed down nearly to a stop to allow them to pass and lead on the way down.

The odd thing is that that gearing is about the same as a 34-20 but I have a hard time turning that gear up hills like that when I would expect it to be easier since that is close to a straight line chain.

This reminded me that I used to ride up hills like that in a 39-23. I used to argue that I was a "lugger" as opposed to "spinners". But everything I read or watched on YouTube or races emphasized that you should spin and that would allow you to go longer before exhaustion.

Finally I succumbed to the standard narrative and have been spinning. But I do not find myself riding longer or harder by spinning. And what I do find is that I am in general more exhausted at the end of a ride than before. I've been passing this off as being partly to blame from my age and from the fact that my blood count is 20% below normal minimums because of the anti-seizure medications.

Now that I've sold off all of my old 53-39 cranks I suppose I will have to get another one to test with.