I can't climb

[Miranda]

I'm enjoying reading this thread for my own help as well.

I'm primarily a roadie gal and have been doing more trail riding lately. Going back out this week a repeat trip to a more advanced trail than what I have done previously. I thought the same thing... man, I really need to get into that little chain ring if I am going to ever make it up all the way!

Part of my problem is that I am too cautious on descending before the next incline. As my skilled mtb pal tells me, "momentum is your friend".

I find myself wanting to try and over steer my mtb also, like I would try to control my road bike, and it just doesn't work out.

Finally last ride when I hit some sand at the bottom of a hill, I let the bike do more steering than I did, combined with a wiggle dance, to roll through it, vs locking up like a stone, and crashing. I was so thrilled that it worked. Plus it gave me some extra speed to make it up.

When those little things happen, it just makes you want to ride more. Good luck tripling up to the top.

[stephanie1129]

A lot of good advise here, i like the "boobs to the tube" one. Maybe i'll use that when i teach my women specific classes.

A few other factors that could be making it difficult is tire pressure. Especially if you are used to road riding, you're probably used to filling the tires up to max psi, but for mountain biking i usually recommend the lowest psi to give the tire more traction and surface area to the dirt. It also helps dampen the ride a little. (but make sure you don't under inflate them, you don't want your tire peeling of your rim). You could also try the switchback approach. Just like when the terrain is really steep, the trails are usually switchbacks, if you have the space, make your own little switchback route so you're not going directly up the hill, but attacking it at more of an angle. You could also try preparing for the hill by gaining speed and trying to keep your cadence as uniform as possible by shifting your gears. Don't be afraid to shift your gears a LOT. On some terrain I almost feel like i'm playing the piano because i'm constantly shifting (something that you wont see in road biking).

[tprevost]

sounds like you might have your weight too far forward... its definately a learning curve as to weight distribution! If you have a little more weight over your rear tire, it will get better traction... Have fun and keep trying, it'll come!!!