hills... my dreaded weakness

Does anyone have any tips on getting up hills?
I just started going up hills 2 weeks ago, and have improved slightly. When I first started I could barely make it up some of them, and now, I can make it up 2 without stopping.
My problem is i go, but after I push hard, my legs just start to go and lose all momentum, and have to get off and walk my bike uphill. I have noticed that on the right side of my waist starts to spasm .. is that from breathing too heavily?
I try to take deep breaths and relax.
My husband and I are signed up for the Civil War Century ride in September.. but we are only doing the 1/4.

google "how to improve hill climbing" then ignore half of what you read.
Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?

The CWC is a beautiful ride and the food at the end is fantastic.

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Originally Posted by Kim1976

Does anyone have any tips on getting up hills?
I just started going up hills 2 weeks ago, and have improved slightly. When I first started I could barely make it up some of them, and now, I can make it up 2 without stopping.
My problem is i go, but after I push hard, my legs just start to go and lose all momentum, and have to get off and walk my bike uphill. I have noticed that on the right side of my waist starts to spasm .. is that from breathing too heavily?
I try to take deep breaths and relax.
My husband and I are signed up for the Civil War Century ride in September.. but we are only doing the 1/4.

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Half of hill climbing is technique and the other half is psychological. (a high power to weight ratio doesn't hurt either). Assuming you have power to weight on your side, then it is even more psychological.

Tell yourself that you can do it, and then use your gears! I prefer seated climbs, so I get into an easy gear and spin, spin, spin. The key here is to not worry about how fast (or slowly) you are going, and not to let your cadence drop too much. On a long hill you might want to alternate between seated and standing, but I try to avoid that because after standing I have trouble keeping my cadence up in the saddle. On a short hill, some people like to do the whole climb out of the saddle, and I am starting to use this technique more often. This will allow you to turn a slightly bigger gear, and put more of your body weight into the pedal stroke.

No matter what your climbing style (seated or standing) or the length of the climb, you will really want to get into a rhythm on the climb - sing a song to yourself if you have to. This will help greatly with keeping your cadence up and turning off that voice that says the hill is too hard :-)

sit up straight, spin easily, relax your death grip, breath deep and sing "we are climbing, we are climbing, yes we are, yes we are, this is not a real hill, this is not a real hill, no it's not, no it's not " to the tune of frere Jacques.

Practice practice practice and don't worry about the speed as long as you are going fast enough not to fall over.

marni

Someone once posted here to smile when you're climbing hills. I have made that my motto, and I think it helps. Beyond that (and I'm a relatively new rider- just since last summer)- keep riding up the hills and use your low gears. Someone said to me, it doesn't get easier but you get better at it. I just plug away at it, and go back to the same hills regularly. I see my progress that way.

I mostly climb sitting down. If my legs have already started to get tired/sore, then I simply can't stand up. If I try standing up before I'm hurting, it works better for me.

Good luck!

A group leader on a ride I did last month told new cyclists to not stand while pedaling when attempting to get better at climbing, to do it when there is more experience under the belt and the climbing is more easy. He said sitting while climbing will build the leg muscles faster, thus increasing the power/body weight ratio. His advice to the new cyclists made sense to me, so I pass it on. I am not a new cyclist, but standing while pedaling isn't feasible for me, so I've really built up the leg muscles over the past few years to make up for the deficiency in not being able to do that pedaling technique. Sadly I am still working on lowering the body weight, so that I can continue to increase the power/body weight ratio.

Relax! Smile! Breath! Spin! You can't climb efficiently when you have a death grip on the handlebars and are leaning forward. Try to keep your weight off your front wheel and more on the back. Breath easy and make yourself relax your arms, neck and shoulders. Don't sit in the saddle like you have a hanger in your jersey. The tension in your upper body takes power away from your legs. Just keep at it and you will get stronger.

I agree with Chicagogal in that it's half technique and half mental. I used to have anxiety attacks when I saw an upcoming hill but soon realized that it's never as bad once you get into it as it appeared when you were approaching it. I wouldn't look at the hill, just the road right in front of me so I wouldn't get overwhelmed at the task of climbing.

Remember there is a reward at the top---the downhill!

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Originally Posted by Bike Chick

I wouldn't look at the hill, just the road right in front of me so I wouldn't get overwhelmed at the task of climbing.

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That is exactly what I do, too. It really does help. I do it when jogging, too. Hills are even harder when I'm running.

Ditto. Besides all the real-biker-stuff like shifting & spinning, I think hills are 60% headgame. I count. I look at the ground in front of me and count to 20 - then I look up. Then I reassess if I need to shift again and start counting. After all this counting, shifting, and looking...I'm up the hill before I know it. It's just something to distract me from saying, "OMG...I'm dying getting up this hill". It works great for me!

Agreed to all the above.

I've also heard that core work can help, it can't hurt in any case. If nothing else, it will help the mental struggle. "All those crunches are helping me up this hill. Yep, here I am at the top, and looking great!" It's worth a try.

Staying seated while climbing will keep your heart rate lower, which is a good thing, especially for longer climbs. Sit and spin...find a good rhythm.

The CWC is an awesome ride, and you'll have a blast! Bring a camera too....very pretty country.

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Originally Posted by marni

sit up straight, spin easily, relax your death grip, breath deep and sing "we are climbing, we are climbing, yes we are, yes we are, this is not a real hill, this is not a real hill, no it's not, no it's not " to the tune of frere Jacques.

Practice practice practice and don't worry about the speed as long as you are going fast enough not to fall over.

marni

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But what about when you are going so slow that you start weaving? Perhaps this is just a problem for me because I am new and still developing, but I've noted that if my speed drops below 5.5 mph or so then I start the weaving thing. Then I start focusing on trying to keep a straight line - and if that gets too hard - OR if it is a twisty bendy road that traffic flies down I will walk to the top to keep from getting creamed.

On our Southern Tour ride a little over a week ago I did find myself starting to pick out landmarks on the way up the hill..like in "I can make it to that stick", or "I can make it to that tree", or crack, or whatever. It helped a lot and I made it to the top :D

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Originally Posted by Becky

Staying seated while climbing will keep your heart rate lower, which is a good thing, especially for longer climbs. Sit and spin...find a good rhythm.

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+1 for this advice.

Catrin, you will find that as you get stronger, the weaving thing will occur at much lower speeds, or even go away. I can easily climb at 5.5 for a very long time, and that's just what I did in Spain (well, I estimate this, since I had no computer). I have seen my computer at 3.5 at certain points on really steep climbs, but that would be just for a little bit, to rest.
I do think its safer to walk, though, if you think cars are around and you are weaving. A couple of weeks ago I was coming home from a ride with a friend. We were in her neighborhood, just chatting and going very slowly. A younger woman ('20s?) passed us on the left, on an older bike with a standard double, at the beginning of a little hill. She looked a little proud of herself for passing us old ladies, and then I noticed she was completely on the wrong side of the road, weaving horrifically. I told my friend (a newer rider) to watch, and I accelerated up the hill, spinning, and passed the younger person. She was totally red in the face and stopped in the middle of the road. She either didn't know how to shift, or she should have walked.

The most important thing I learned about hill climbing is: if you are going downhill and you see a steep hill coming up in front of you, don't slow down or stop pedaling. Get as much momentum as you can to glide half way up the hill and keep pedaling until you have to shift down. Then get into your lowest gear as quickly as possible and spin for the remainder of the hill. Don't wait until you have lost all momentum to shift down.

This doesn't work on really long hills when all momentum is gone. Then you need to find the sweet spot between leg muscles hurting (high gear - pushing) or breathing too hard (low gear fast spin). Then keep at it as long as you can.

If you start weaving, it is not a sin to walk your bike for a short while. If it even slightly levels out or the grade gets less intense, then get back on the bike.

Using these techniques, I have gradually improved my hill climbing. I can get up hills that I used to walk. And we have really big hills here. The small hills are easy now.

Depends on where you are riding, if you are heading up a road that is not busy you can go up easier by crossing from one side of the road to the other, cutting diagnol lines across the road until you are at the top. Be very aware of traffic and your surroundings. If you are on a busy road or on a path you might want to settle into a low gear and just spin away. This can seem boring or non-productive but look off to the side and see that you are MOVING and that is what is important. if you are spinning too much shift to the next gear up and get out of the saddle and work your way up that way, I like the variety of in/ou of the saddle. I take hills both ways depending on what my body and my bike are telling me. Sometimes I just feel like attacking it and then when I get tired I sit and spin. Look at hills as a way of really improving your cardiovascular capacity and congratulate yourself when you do better on a familiar hill. It will happen. If you are weaving you need to get in the lowest gear possible and spin. If you can't, get off and walk your bike up. No shame in that. Soon you will make it with no weaving. It takes practice and conditioning, you will get there.:) Stay positive, always. be patient with yourself and the bike.

Today I paid attention to just WHEN it is that I start to weave going up hill. Generally speaking it is when my speed drops to around 5-5.5... however there is another piece of the puzzle. If I am looking well ahead of me then I noticed that I seem to straighten out - it is when I am focusing on the road in front of me as I climb that hill that I start weaving...

So today when I started weaving I started looking further ahead, to the top of the hill or the next rise if I could see it. It seemed to make it easier to stop weaving. Of course, so did that SUV coming up along the side of me - the thought of becoming road kill helped too :o

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Today I paid attention to just WHEN it is that I start to weave going up hill. Generally speaking it is when my speed drops to around 5-5.5... however there is another piece of the puzzle. If I am looking well ahead of me then I noticed that I seem to straighten out - it is when I am focusing on the road in front of me as I climb that hill that I start weaving...

So today when I started weaving I started looking further ahead, to the top of the hill or the next rise if I could see it. It seemed to make it easier to stop weaving. Of course, so did that SUV coming up along the side of me - the thought of becoming road kill helped too :o

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EXACTLY. I think where we focus our eyes our bodies follow. Think about when you are driving a car, where are you looking? Not right in front of you but a ways in the distance. We have to watch the road ahead of us for potential hazards so try shifting your eyes from in front of you to a ways up ahead. I think looking at the goal (the top) helps to but then I look around to entertain myself. Cool! Also giving yourself little goals on a long hill will help, a cow, a fencepost, a store...

I find it easier to look just abit ahead of me when going up a hill. To focus on the moment, not what I was going to do 5 min. later.

I stay seated when going up hills and know alot of experienced hill-climbers do this also. Conserves energy. For long rides and if you are riding with loaded panniers, for sure.

Also try to relax your arms, upper body. Don't grip the handlebar too hard. Relax, relax,..relax you will get up there. Patience.

:)

Of course, on next hill, I'm already plotting how to use downhill momentum to get myself up the next hill ..

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Originally Posted by navybeetle

Also giving yourself little goals on a long hill will help, a cow, a fencepost, a store...

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That helps. As long as the cow doesn't move. :D
Dory's little song ("Just keep swimming....") helps too.

I thought that said BILLS.
Never mind.
I'm no good with them either.

I'm relatively new at biking and in NH, there are HILLS everywhere! My health coach (who does Iron Mans) suggested this technique - you pedal really hard with one leg for 10 revolutions and then swith to pedaling hard with the other leg for 10 revolutions. It works for her - for me, I kept losing count. (LOL) I switched from my mountain bike to an aluminum frame hybrid and can now get up any hill I want - staying seated. The lighter bike increased my confidence as well as decreasing the load I was trying to get up the hill. I'm now back on program to drop another 25 pounds to hopefully increase my overall speed. (For a total of 130 pounds).

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Originally Posted by msfelchy

I'm relatively new at biking and in NH, there are HILLS everywhere! My health coach (who does Iron Mans) suggested this technique - you pedal really hard with one leg for 10 revolutions and then swith to pedaling hard with the other leg for 10 revolutions. It works for her - for me, I kept losing count. (LOL) I switched from my mountain bike to an aluminum frame hybrid and can now get up any hill I want - staying seated. The lighter bike increased my confidence as well as decreasing the load I was trying to get up the hill. I'm now back on program to drop another 25 pounds to hopefully increase my overall speed. (For a total of 130 pounds).

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I am in the Seattle area and can't go 150 feet without finding a hill. Seriously, they make me tremble. And I live on a freaking hill, so if I want to ride all the way home, I have to make it up the hill. And I haven't gotten much better over the past two years.

What I've determined (from reading here) is that my power-to-weight ratio is off. I'm not very strong and I'm 30-35 pounds overweight. I've started lifting weights (including lower body) and have re-dedicated to losing weight. I know that my bike and commuting panniers are heavy so that hurts, but losing body weight is probably the most effective thing I can do to get faster. Otherwise, climbing hills will continue to suck for me