Indysteel : I would really like to know what your trainer lays out for you. We don't have anyone around here to do that for cycling.

Interesting points CassandraCain - some rethinking material

Re: hills - I suck at them too, they are hard and haven't gotten any easier. I was riding one day last spring with a very experienced rider going up one of our steeper hills after already riding 40 miles (my longest ride at that time) I asked him how and when do hills get easy and he said NEVER, they may get easier but never easy.

I practiced hills everytime I went out this summer to build up my endurance. they never really got easier but eventually I never had to walk

One of the things I really learned over the summer is how and when to shift, how and when to stand up and timing when riding rollers (one hill after another)

shift before you think you need to - as soon as your cadence drops and you feel pressure shift down. Even in my lowest gear there are some hills around here that I can't spin up, I just do the best I can.

If I have a down hill first I get going as fast as I can then shift down as soon as I feel myself losing speed on the uphill.
- I pretty much start in my front big ring and about 3/4 up in back
- then I shift my front ring, not my back until i get to granny
- then i start shifting the back as needed.
- Depending on how much I have left of the hill adn how much energy I have left I stand to "top it off" (if it is a long grinder -1/2 mile or more I just sit and pedal)

As a last resort and if there is no traffic I have been known to switch back (like slalom skiing) across my lane of traffic ( I NEVER go into the oncoming lane going up hill)

Mentally I think : "this is only (5,10,15) minutes, of my life, it will soon be over - hills end" contrary to WIND

I figure if I am only going 6mph that is still faster than I can walk!