Can't Breathe up Hills!!

[indigoiis]

I think a lot of it is psychological. A LOT. As Redrhodie said, shifting your focus off your speed and onto technique or (is it possible?) enjoyment of the task works wonders. After first doing a little stand and climb, I shift down to a spinnier gear, look at my front wheel, and start counting breaths. Often a song will come into my head, or I'll let my thoughts wander. I don't look at the other riders. A guy might hammer by me but by the top, because I'm not pooped, I can often pass other riders who were kicking butt at the bottom.

Slow and steady. Relax your shoulders. Move a little forward. Sing a song. Recite the alpahabet. Count your breaths. Ease up a bit. You'll find it much easier to breathe!

(p.s. this is all stuff I learned right here on TE!

[Biciclista]

I am also a masher not a spinner, but I noticed that you put yourself in an easier gear this morning and maybe that helped too? The fact is, if you use your granny gear for the big hills, you're not using as much power per stroke to put yourself over the hill and it might make the difference between running out of air and not.

[Karma007]

Hills! I recently moved froms coastal SC back to the Bay Area and have negative experience on hills. Last night it was sunny enough to sneak in a couple miles in after work. I tackled a short and steep hill near my home only to find that 1/2way up, I actually had to stop and walk it up.

It came in part I think from lack of experience with my gears (I'm working on that) and a recent 'clipless tip'. I'm still a little spooked, and when I saw that I was climbing the hill at 3 mph kind of panicked, thinking that I would soon stop, clipped in and fall again.

Nevertheless, the hill is ny new nemisis. I will conquer thee!

[ny biker]

I often find that I could walk up a hill faster than I am riding it. I haven't tipped over yet.

One thing I've noticed is that I speed up a bit if I focus on pedaling full circles, so I'm pulling up between 6:00 and 12:00 in addition to pushing with the other leg from 12 down to 6.