Climbing - oh those hills!

[smilingcat]

I've been riding about 10 months and everything seems to be progressing well except my ability to ride hills. I struggle so much on hills that I dread them and I am just before the panic stage when I start the climb. On long or steep hills - I push myself until it feels like my lungs are going to burst and I stop. The crazy thing is - I can rest about 15-20 seconds and then finish the climb with much less effort. What is up with that?

Sounds like may be you are rushing at the beginning. Then you stop and you settle down for the rest of the climb. Hills shouldn't be viewed with anxiety. Hill climb is mental once you get in shape. Take deep breath and fill the bottom of your lung as well as the rest of the lung and just concentrate on the road immediately in front. Relax your upper body and don't lock your breathing to your pedalling. And don't try to climb at the same speed as you ride on the flat.

[martinler]

Thanks to everyone who responded. If the rain ever stops, I will ride with those things in mind. I hadn't thought much about my exhale - but I do suck air like I'm gasping for every little bit of air that's out there. I'll let you know. Blessings~

[Dogmama]

Sounds like may be you are rushing at the beginning. Then you stop and you settle down for the rest of the climb. Hills shouldn't be viewed with anxiety. Hill climb is mental once you get in shape. Take deep breath and fill the bottom of your lung as well as the rest of the lung and just concentrate on the road immediately in front. Relax your upper body and don't lock your breathing to your pedalling. And don't try to climb at the same speed as you ride on the flat.

++++ what she said!

It sounds like your muscles might need those few seconds to reload. If you do what Smilingcat said, you should be able to pace yourself up the hill.

If nothing else, just regard hills and headwinds as your own personal trainer.

[dervilfal]

I've been riding for 2 months and there are 2 hills on our regular ride that I'm getting better at, but haven't mastered. 1 is a long steady, steep grade and I can usually make it up that hill, barring technical issues, but by the time I get to the top I'm practically at a stop.

The second is a very short but very steep hill and the lead up to it is about 1/2 a mile of medium grade up hill before it. I am an athena so I know I'm at a disadvantage on hills anyways but I have never been able to make it up this baby. I finally made it about 1/2 way up it yesterday which is my best yet, however, once I stop, I have to walk the rest of the way up.

I haven't tried the tongue sticking out thing yet, but I think I do a pretty good job at breathing control and will try this trick next.

Any advice for beginning athena's and hill training out there?

[smilingcat]

see if you can get little farther up the hill every other week. Sometimes the gain maybe as short as 10 feet. But that's okay. And practice on gentler hill too. They do make a difference in your conditioning. And do hill repeats on gentler hill. This helps with stamina and also help with strength training for the hills.

Doing strength training on super steep hills or something beyond your ability is total waste of time, not to mention setting yourself for injury.

Most important thing is to have fun riding. And good luck.

[tctrek]

I have started using some different techniques to climb. First, I am purposely relaxing more as I approach the hill..ie: letting the hill come to me. I'm breathing deeply and since I'm not strong enough to spin up the hill, I get myself into a slow, steady cadence that I know I can sustain up the hill.

Most importantly, I've been putting my hands on the top bar and really relaxing my hands, elbows and shoulders... the great benefit of this is that my heart rate stays down! If you can control your heart rate and your breathing, I believe you can climb just about anything. I am still very slow going up, but I'm comfortable and in control.

[OakLeaf]

I'm really having to focus on keeping my weight back when I stand to climb. I don't know if it's a fit issue or what, but typically I've got too much weight over the front wheel, which means that not only am I climbing inefficiently, but the rear tire will slip easily. I'm trying to start making the correction before it slips.

Fit gurus? Does this mean I'm too stretched out (doesn't seem like it when I'm in the drops), or is it just technique?

[hipmama]

I took a lot of this advice with me on a pretty darn hilly ride last week, along with the advice I got about being scared on the down hills and it really helped! I used to attack the hills with everything I had and never make it up the big ones.
I took the "let the climb come to me" philosophy, and just kicked down to low gear from the start and only looked up to scan every few seconds but kept my eyes closer to right in front of me and it really worked! Even the cue sheets I had for the ride warned about some killer hills and I figured I'd not make it up them but I never got off my bike- it felt awesome!
The downhills were better too! I relaxed and let myself tread on the edge of fear and while I was slower than most on the hills, I was faster than my norm- I had the benefit of some wide well paved rural roads with clear views to the end and that gave me a big safety feeling.