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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Owings Mills, MD
    Posts
    39

    hills... my dreaded weakness

    Does anyone have any tips on getting up hills?
    I just started going up hills 2 weeks ago, and have improved slightly. When I first started I could barely make it up some of them, and now, I can make it up 2 without stopping.
    My problem is i go, but after I push hard, my legs just start to go and lose all momentum, and have to get off and walk my bike uphill. I have noticed that on the right side of my waist starts to spasm .. is that from breathing too heavily?
    I try to take deep breaths and relax.
    My husband and I are signed up for the Civil War Century ride in September.. but we are only doing the 1/4.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Limbo
    Posts
    8,769
    google "how to improve hill climbing" then ignore half of what you read.
    Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?

    The CWC is a beautiful ride and the food at the end is fantastic.
    2008 Trek FX 7.2/Terry Cite X
    2009 Jamis Aurora/Brooks B-68
    2010 Trek FX 7.6 WSD/stock bontrager

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    220
    Quote Originally Posted by Kim1976 View Post
    Does anyone have any tips on getting up hills?
    I just started going up hills 2 weeks ago, and have improved slightly. When I first started I could barely make it up some of them, and now, I can make it up 2 without stopping.
    My problem is i go, but after I push hard, my legs just start to go and lose all momentum, and have to get off and walk my bike uphill. I have noticed that on the right side of my waist starts to spasm .. is that from breathing too heavily?
    I try to take deep breaths and relax.
    My husband and I are signed up for the Civil War Century ride in September.. but we are only doing the 1/4.
    Half of hill climbing is technique and the other half is psychological. (a high power to weight ratio doesn't hurt either). Assuming you have power to weight on your side, then it is even more psychological.

    Tell yourself that you can do it, and then use your gears! I prefer seated climbs, so I get into an easy gear and spin, spin, spin. The key here is to not worry about how fast (or slowly) you are going, and not to let your cadence drop too much. On a long hill you might want to alternate between seated and standing, but I try to avoid that because after standing I have trouble keeping my cadence up in the saddle. On a short hill, some people like to do the whole climb out of the saddle, and I am starting to use this technique more often. This will allow you to turn a slightly bigger gear, and put more of your body weight into the pedal stroke.

    No matter what your climbing style (seated or standing) or the length of the climb, you will really want to get into a rhythm on the climb - sing a song to yourself if you have to. This will help greatly with keeping your cadence up and turning off that voice that says the hill is too hard :-)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Katy, Texas
    Posts
    1,811
    sit up straight, spin easily, relax your death grip, breath deep and sing "we are climbing, we are climbing, yes we are, yes we are, this is not a real hill, this is not a real hill, no it's not, no it's not " to the tune of frere Jacques.

    Practice practice practice and don't worry about the speed as long as you are going fast enough not to fall over.

    marni
    marni
    Katy, Texas
    Trek Madone 6.5- "Red"
    Trek Pilot 5.2- " Bebe"


    "easily outrun by a chihuahua."

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Tucson, AZ
    Posts
    1,973
    Someone once posted here to smile when you're climbing hills. I have made that my motto, and I think it helps. Beyond that (and I'm a relatively new rider- just since last summer)- keep riding up the hills and use your low gears. Someone said to me, it doesn't get easier but you get better at it. I just plug away at it, and go back to the same hills regularly. I see my progress that way.

    I mostly climb sitting down. If my legs have already started to get tired/sore, then I simply can't stand up. If I try standing up before I'm hurting, it works better for me.

    Good luck!
    2016 Specialized Ruby Comp disc - Ruby Expert ti 155
    2010 Surly Long Haul Trucker - Jett 143

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Top of Parrett Mountain, Oregon
    Posts
    453
    A group leader on a ride I did last month told new cyclists to not stand while pedaling when attempting to get better at climbing, to do it when there is more experience under the belt and the climbing is more easy. He said sitting while climbing will build the leg muscles faster, thus increasing the power/body weight ratio. His advice to the new cyclists made sense to me, so I pass it on. I am not a new cyclist, but standing while pedaling isn't feasible for me, so I've really built up the leg muscles over the past few years to make up for the deficiency in not being able to do that pedaling technique. Sadly I am still working on lowering the body weight, so that I can continue to increase the power/body weight ratio.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Little Egypt
    Posts
    1,867
    Relax! Smile! Breath! Spin! You can't climb efficiently when you have a death grip on the handlebars and are leaning forward. Try to keep your weight off your front wheel and more on the back. Breath easy and make yourself relax your arms, neck and shoulders. Don't sit in the saddle like you have a hanger in your jersey. The tension in your upper body takes power away from your legs. Just keep at it and you will get stronger.

    I agree with Chicagogal in that it's half technique and half mental. I used to have anxiety attacks when I saw an upcoming hill but soon realized that it's never as bad once you get into it as it appeared when you were approaching it. I wouldn't look at the hill, just the road right in front of me so I wouldn't get overwhelmed at the task of climbing.

    Remember there is a reward at the top---the downhill!
    __________________
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw

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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Center Harbor, NH
    Posts
    2
    I'm relatively new at biking and in NH, there are HILLS everywhere! My health coach (who does Iron Mans) suggested this technique - you pedal really hard with one leg for 10 revolutions and then swith to pedaling hard with the other leg for 10 revolutions. It works for her - for me, I kept losing count. (LOL) I switched from my mountain bike to an aluminum frame hybrid and can now get up any hill I want - staying seated. The lighter bike increased my confidence as well as decreasing the load I was trying to get up the hill. I'm now back on program to drop another 25 pounds to hopefully increase my overall speed. (For a total of 130 pounds).

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    10,889
    Quote Originally Posted by marni View Post
    sit up straight, spin easily, relax your death grip, breath deep and sing "we are climbing, we are climbing, yes we are, yes we are, this is not a real hill, this is not a real hill, no it's not, no it's not " to the tune of frere Jacques.

    Practice practice practice and don't worry about the speed as long as you are going fast enough not to fall over.

    marni
    But what about when you are going so slow that you start weaving? Perhaps this is just a problem for me because I am new and still developing, but I've noted that if my speed drops below 5.5 mph or so then I start the weaving thing. Then I start focusing on trying to keep a straight line - and if that gets too hard - OR if it is a twisty bendy road that traffic flies down I will walk to the top to keep from getting creamed.

    On our Southern Tour ride a little over a week ago I did find myself starting to pick out landmarks on the way up the hill..like in "I can make it to that stick", or "I can make it to that tree", or crack, or whatever. It helped a lot and I made it to the top

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Omahaville
    Posts
    39

    Thumbs up Dreaded Hills...

    Depends on where you are riding, if you are heading up a road that is not busy you can go up easier by crossing from one side of the road to the other, cutting diagnol lines across the road until you are at the top. Be very aware of traffic and your surroundings. If you are on a busy road or on a path you might want to settle into a low gear and just spin away. This can seem boring or non-productive but look off to the side and see that you are MOVING and that is what is important. if you are spinning too much shift to the next gear up and get out of the saddle and work your way up that way, I like the variety of in/ou of the saddle. I take hills both ways depending on what my body and my bike are telling me. Sometimes I just feel like attacking it and then when I get tired I sit and spin. Look at hills as a way of really improving your cardiovascular capacity and congratulate yourself when you do better on a familiar hill. It will happen. If you are weaving you need to get in the lowest gear possible and spin. If you can't, get off and walk your bike up. No shame in that. Soon you will make it with no weaving. It takes practice and conditioning, you will get there. Stay positive, always. be patient with yourself and the bike.
    navybeetle
    "Be a spinner not a lugger" unknown

    TREK 8200 MTB/Planet Bike Comfort Gel

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    10,889

    to weave, or not to weave...

    Today I paid attention to just WHEN it is that I start to weave going up hill. Generally speaking it is when my speed drops to around 5-5.5... however there is another piece of the puzzle. If I am looking well ahead of me then I noticed that I seem to straighten out - it is when I am focusing on the road in front of me as I climb that hill that I start weaving...

    So today when I started weaving I started looking further ahead, to the top of the hill or the next rise if I could see it. It seemed to make it easier to stop weaving. Of course, so did that SUV coming up along the side of me - the thought of becoming road kill helped too

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Omahaville
    Posts
    39

    Thumbs up Hills...Biking...if it was easy anyone could do it!

    Quote Originally Posted by Catrin View Post
    Today I paid attention to just WHEN it is that I start to weave going up hill. Generally speaking it is when my speed drops to around 5-5.5... however there is another piece of the puzzle. If I am looking well ahead of me then I noticed that I seem to straighten out - it is when I am focusing on the road in front of me as I climb that hill that I start weaving...

    So today when I started weaving I started looking further ahead, to the top of the hill or the next rise if I could see it. It seemed to make it easier to stop weaving. Of course, so did that SUV coming up along the side of me - the thought of becoming road kill helped too
    EXACTLY. I think where we focus our eyes our bodies follow. Think about when you are driving a car, where are you looking? Not right in front of you but a ways in the distance. We have to watch the road ahead of us for potential hazards so try shifting your eyes from in front of you to a ways up ahead. I think looking at the goal (the top) helps to but then I look around to entertain myself. Cool! Also giving yourself little goals on a long hill will help, a cow, a fencepost, a store...
    navybeetle
    "Be a spinner not a lugger" unknown

    TREK 8200 MTB/Planet Bike Comfort Gel

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Tucson, AZ
    Posts
    4,632
    Quote Originally Posted by navybeetle View Post
    Also giving yourself little goals on a long hill will help, a cow, a fencepost, a store...
    That helps. As long as the cow doesn't move.
    Dory's little song ("Just keep swimming....") helps too.
    At least I don't leave slime trails.
    http://wholecog.wordpress.com/

    2009 Giant Avail 3 |Specialized Jett 143

    2013 Charge Filter Apex| Specialized Jett 143
    1996(?) Giant Iguana 630|Specialized Riva


    Saving for the next one...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Limbo
    Posts
    8,769
    I thought that said BILLS.
    Never mind.
    I'm no good with them either.
    2008 Trek FX 7.2/Terry Cite X
    2009 Jamis Aurora/Brooks B-68
    2010 Trek FX 7.6 WSD/stock bontrager

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Western Canada-prairies, mountain & ocean
    Posts
    6,984
    I find it easier to look just abit ahead of me when going up a hill. To focus on the moment, not what I was going to do 5 min. later.

    I stay seated when going up hills and know alot of experienced hill-climbers do this also. Conserves energy. For long rides and if you are riding with loaded panniers, for sure.

    Also try to relax your arms, upper body. Don't grip the handlebar too hard. Relax, relax,..relax you will get up there. Patience.



    Of course, on next hill, I'm already plotting how to use downhill momentum to get myself up the next hill ..
    My Personal blog on cycling & other favourite passions.
    遙知馬力日久見人心 Over a long distance, you learn about the strength of your horse; over a long period of time, you get to know what’s in a person’s heart.

 

 

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