Today was a milestone for me!!!

[rij73]

Good job! I have major hill paranoia, so I can imagine how you feel!

[Popoki_Nui]

Well done! I'm allergic to hills myself....

[LoriO]

Well done! I'm allergic to hills myself....

LOL, don't ever move to Connecticut then!!!! One thing I never noticed until I bought my bike was that I love on top of a fairly large hill. No matter which way I ride I have a hill to climb up to get home! The worst one is the mile long grade up one road to my house. It isn't steep but just enough of a climb for a full mile that it kicks your a$$. After the hills I did the other day, it looks like an anthill now. WHOO HOOO!!

[SouthernBelle]

One thing I never noticed until I bought my bike was that I love on top of a fairly large hill.

This is the funniest typo in a while.

I've noticed as time goes on that hills that I avoided are not even noticed now. Unfortunately not all of them.

[pgsmart]

I am not a big fan of hills, either. I live where it is flat with no good hills to train on. I plan on riding in the Livestrong Challenge in Austin again this year but I really want to do the 60 mile rather than the 40 mile. I hear the hills are a little bit worse on the 60 mile. Any suggestions on a good way to train for the ride on Oct. 14? I've been going to the gym and trying to work out on the cross-trainer, weight machines, etc. and am riding my bike of course. I would appreciate any input.

[Kano]

People say wind counts as hill training, so I guess you could ride into the wind -- it always feels SO good to turn around and go the other way!

'Belle -- Me too! It's not the ones I avoided that I don't notice anymore, but the ones that I used to think were monsters are either manageable, or almost not there and I can go happily charging up them!

Karen in Boise

[LoriO]

I am not a big fan of hills, either. I live where it is flat with no good hills to train on. I plan on riding in the Livestrong Challenge in Austin again this year but I really want to do the 60 mile rather than the 40 mile. I hear the hills are a little bit worse on the 60 mile. Any suggestions on a good way to train for the ride on Oct. 14? I've been going to the gym and trying to work out on the cross-trainer, weight machines, etc. and am riding my bike of course. I would appreciate any input.

Put your bike on the trainer and ride. Do intervals of lower gears and higher gears. I would do about a minute at a really tough gear and then back it down to an easier gear for a few minutes and then another minute at a tougher gear again, basically simulating the harder work you will doing going up a hill.

I was doing that while rehabbing from my knee surgery and when I got back on the road again I was really surprised about just how ready I was to do a lot of the hills in my area.

[sundial]

Woot woot!! Yippeeeeee!!!! I'm very proud of you for doing a really steep hill.

[alpinerabbit]

Yay Berlin Girl!

Hills. The common enemy of the cyclist.

You will get there.

[teawoman]

Woohoo! I don't think I've even seen a 2.5 mile hill...

[Kano]

Hills can be sneaky, Teawoman!

Sometimes, they don't look like a hill, and sometimes, the land around you makes you think you should be going down, but your legs know you're working too hard for that...

And yes, they can be long and keep on going, and going, and going, and going... When I find one of those, I sure celebrate at the top when I surprise myself by keeping going on them!

The most evil hills are the ones like when I ride my bike to work: I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then you go up and it's flat -- no reward! It's about a seven mile ride -- they call 'em benches here.

Karen in Boise

[indigoiis]

Hills can be sneaky, Teawoman!

Sometimes, they don't look like a hill, and sometimes, the land around you makes you think you should be going down, but your legs know you're working too hard for that...

And yes, they can be long and keep on going, and going, and going, and going... When I find one of those, I sure celebrate at the top when I surprise myself by keeping going on them!

The most evil hills are the ones like when I ride my bike to work: I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then I go up, then it's flat, then you go up and it's flat -- no reward! It's about a seven mile ride -- they call 'em benches here.

Karen in Boise

I know of the "ghost hills" of which you speak.

They are legendary around here.

You don't know they are there until you are on them.

Look down... do I have a flat??? Nope. Maybe it's that time of month? Nope. Maybe I suddenly contracted lyme disease? Nope. Is this road going ever so slightly upwards??? Ah yes!!!

[sundial]

Oooh, I just did a devil of a hill this past weekend. I don't know how steep it was, but it reminded me of going up on a roller coaster ride. I had just come down a steep hill and was pedaling like a mad woman to get up that blasted hill when......I accidentally geared up to the highest gear--front and rear. Dumb! Dumb! I almost came to a halt and had to jump off my bike to run up the hill. In the meantime, there are cars whizzing right by me on a road that has no shoulder. Geez! The things we do!

[teawoman]

Look down... do I have a flat??? Nope. Maybe it's that time of month? Nope. Maybe I suddenly contracted lyme disease? Nope. Is this road going ever so slightly upwards??? Ah yes!!!

LOL!! I soooo know that feeling! Some kind of evil headwind I somehow can't feel?

[Starfish]

Hills. The common enemy of the cyclist.

Aaaahhh...or the common friend, Grasshopper!