sweetie, I live in Houston- around here the only hills are railroad crossings and freeway overpasses- mind you we do have headwinds which are good for resistance but don't do much for hill training. The biggest obstacle around here is texas drivers, the heat and humidity. But I ride way out in the country where there isn't quite as much traffic which takes care of the drivers. As for the heat and humidity, I in the summer I ride out at the butt crack of dawn so that I am off the road by 11:00 and I cut my distances a bit but frankly once your wet and sweaty, it doesn't really get much worse. The hardest part is mopping up the sweat pools off the kitchen floor.

marni