Starting to work on hills seriously - need beginner advice!

[HappyAnika]

When riding rollers, its best to stay in a high gear and carry as much speed into the bottom of the hill as you can. Start gearing down as you slow down while going up to keep from mashing. When you get to the top, change back into the big ring and repeat.

On long hills, keep it easy from the start, you want to conserve energy to make sure you make it to the top.

Dr. Liz, the first time I tried standing to climb, I almost fell over. I felt like I had no control over the bike. To get better, I would practice short bursts of standing on flats just to get used to the feel of the bike moving from side to side. Once I felt comfortable with this, I tried it on hills again, remembering to switch to a harder gear just before standing. Just keep practicing. Its like learning to reach for your water bottle, you have to create new neural pathways in your brain, and once they are there the motion becomes second nature.

All that said, I'm no climbing expert. I can do the long gradual canyon/hill rides which for me is all mental, but we have some seriously steep hills around here which I am working on conquering. I did my first high elevation ride last weekend with 2400 ft. of climbing over 25 miles with a max elevation of 9140 ft. (1540 ft. on the way "up", and 860 ft. on the way "down", lots of ups and downs). I had to stop a lot, but I didn't beat myself up over it, my goals were just to finish and have fun, and I did that. 5100 ft. in 19 miles, ouch!