hills... my dreaded weakness

[navybeetle]

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.

[Catrin]

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

[navybeetle]

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...

[shootingstar]

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 ..

[Owlie]

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.

[Zen]

I thought that said BILLS.
Never mind.
I'm no good with them either.

[msfelchy]

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).

[Groundhog]

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).

I am in the Seattle area and can't go 150 feet without finding a hill. Seriously, they make me tremble. And I live on a freaking hill, so if I want to ride all the way home, I have to make it up the hill. And I haven't gotten much better over the past two years.

What I've determined (from reading here) is that my power-to-weight ratio is off. I'm not very strong and I'm 30-35 pounds overweight. I've started lifting weights (including lower body) and have re-dedicated to losing weight. I know that my bike and commuting panniers are heavy so that hurts, but losing body weight is probably the most effective thing I can do to get faster. Otherwise, climbing hills will continue to suck for me