Not to discount the possibilities, but I've found that I need a decent warm up period before I'm breathing "openly" -- it's like the first 5 miles or so I struggle more than the rest of the ride. This meshes with my other muscles too: my legs grumble more the first few miles than once I get going.

I learned this summer that this has an effect on my hill climbing capability.

I can actually climb my "big" hill (turns out that for the TdF boys, it's a cat.4) better the second time around, or if I've ridden the long way to get to it than if it's one of the first things I do on my ride.

There's also a mental thing involved here. I tend to panic, or something, when climbing, and have this "I'm on a giant hill" thing that happens in my brain, which moves to my lungs and legs. When that happens, if I can't squash it, it's a race to see whether the legs or lungs quit first!

One time, I got to the top anyway, and that made a HUGE difference for me! My body now knows that I can do it, and I don't get so "out of control" or "behind," if this makes sense. I'm getting better at keeping my breathing in check, and along with that, my heart rate is better -- must be my fitness is improving -- but my legs, sometimes they just don't listen! (not that my lungs don't appreciate it when my legs just plain STOP on a hill and I have to take a break!)

Karen in Boise