First off - a 17 - 20% grade is a mountain!!

1. Hit the botttom of the hill as fast as you can. Momentum is your friend.
2. Shift slightly before you need to shift so you don't blow out your legs.
3. If you are going to stand, shift to a slightly harder gear. When you sit, you'll have the easier gear to fall back on.
4. Ride hills. If you have to go slowly, do it slowly. Speed and endurance will come.

In the weight room you want to mimic cycling:

1. Do your exercises with single legs & switch them out. In other words, if you are doing lunges, alternate your lunges. Ditto with leg extensions, hamstring curls,etc.

2. To hit the glutes - bulgarian split squats. This is a great glute exercise. It is basically a lunge, except your back leg is on a support, so you cannot push off with it. It works quads and glutes. Obviously, you cannot switch these out easily.

Back up to a bench, chair, aerobic steps, no higher than knee height to begin. Stand about 3 feet from the bench.

Put one leg on the bench, shoe lace side down. You may need to be next to a wall or something to use for balance in the beginning.

Now, lunge. Do not let your knee go past your toes (or not very much.) Concentrate on bringing yourself up using your glutes.