Quote Originally Posted by kelownagirl View Post
Yup, lots of real hills, I do them all the time. We have everything from short steep (10 %) to long and shallow (4-5%) to rollers of varying height. That's how I know I'm slowish on them (at least compared to my husband ). I guess I'm looking for some specific workouts to do to build my strength in a systematic way so that when we go out to ride, I can attack the hills with more power.
Racing and the kind of stress it puts on the body (especially crit racing--having to "jump" several times and then recover) made me stronger, which helped me on hills in that I could climb the same 1-2mi hill in a gear a couple cogs harder than I used to and still spin about as fast. Those may be hills that are around 8-10% at their max but are more like 6% for most of the way. Strength and just improved fitness from other types of riding helped me improve on these hills because I had plenty of gears.

Practicing long climbs averaging 8-10% in the mountains led me to conclude that 180bpm at 70rpms was sustainable mentally and physically for a couple of miles. When the inclines started getting in the 13-22% range and my cadence started dropping down into the 50s and 60s, I would start to fall apart. My legs wanted to spin, but my heart rate would get way out of control. I needed a couple more gears. So, I know what you mean when you get to the point where you can't spin anymore. Ideally, I'd say find some more gears somehow and practice. But otherwise, when the climbs get that difficult, I don't think there's any real way to get better at them other than to just keep climbing them, and work on your pacing. Watch your HR or do whatever you need to keep yourself below the red zone. Don't attack at the bottom trying to keep up with your DH but pick a sustainable pace for you. Too many people I've ridden and raced with who are not good climbers try to attack the bottom and then they blow up (and then I blow past them). You will not be able to keep up with the good climbers while you're training to get better, so don't let that mess up your system. Just ask him to wait for you at the top . The more you ride them and the more you try to improve your cadence to your more comfortable level, the more you'll improve.

You can try working on sprint intervals and long tempo intervals to build more strength so that you'd have the strength to spin in the gears that are hard now, but you really can't simulate those climbing muscles so much in other workouts.