Hey, MD - just wanted to give you the heads up that your hill climb issues may not show up in standard indoor asthma testing. Even though my fitness is quite high when spinning indoors - and the tech said I set a new high on the pulmonary test machine at the clinic - I have never been able to get enough air on even smallish hills. My old doc wasn't very active herself- or very sympathetic. Experienced cyclists who ride with me always said "asthma?" when they heard me wheeze and cough on hills. Old doc said it wasn't exercise-induced asthma if I could train so hard indoors. New doc (a runner) said, "oh you have exercise-induced asthma, use the inhaler all the time, no worries." For me, it's a combo of the hill climbs and sucking in those outdoor allergens.
Most importantly, ride to enjoy, keep at it, and you will improve. You can learn to relax and recover a little even while climbing- I'm working on that, and it's helping a lot. A heart-rate monitor can help you with that.
Good luck! Lynda Gene