Quote Originally Posted by wavedancer
I'm actually looking forward to working on hills again!
That's the spirit!

Luv'nAustin - I know it's easier said than done to say keep pedalling - especially if your pedals refuse to co-operate and just give up the ghost half-way round! Does your chain come off when you shift front chainrings? Do you ride a double or a triple - as I'm assuming you're riding a triple and it happens if you're changing from the middle to the granny (smallest ring) on the hill?
The hardest thing with hills is anticipation - selecting the right gear just before you need it (because if you decide too late, the bike doesn't like it). But it's very trial and error, because if you select a low gear too soon, you'll lose momentum and it can make things worse. You waste a lot of precious energy.
Practice helps a lot - to develop your technique and your confidence.
If there's a hill on a regular route you do where you've had problems before, try riding it again - but this time try changing to a lower gear just before the point when you previously fell off.
I also worry that the chain will fall off if I shift gears mid climb
It sounds like maybe you're nervous to change down the gears as you go uphill because you're worried the chain may come off - but gears are your friend and use them all up if you have to, that's why you have them - there's no advantage of saving a gear when you're at risk of falling off. If you've changed chainrings in time - then moving down the gears at the back shouldn't cause mechanical problems - they're designed to allow you to change down as you go up the hill.
Pedalling as hard as you can all way up a hill can really tire you out - just try and take it steady (again, easier said than done, I know) and methodically work your way through the gears as you ascend. If you've reached the point where you've no gears left, you've taken it steady and you've completely run out of steam - then either it's a REALLY steep hill, or it's just a fitness thing.
And I'm NOT saying you're unfit! Far from it. But hill climbing recruits totally different muscles than, say, riding on the flat. That's why the only way to combat hills is to keep climbing them - you build up those muscles, which increases your power. But it takes a lot of practice - and like any sport, you have to do it - lots.
When I first moved to NZ I was totally overwhelmed by the hills out here - I hadn't climbed anything so steep and remember getting really upset on some of them because I just felt so demoralised and had to stop several times on each of them because my lungs hurt and my quads were on fire.
But 6 months down the line and I'm actually starting to enjoy them - the sense of achievement, that my body can now do what I want it to. And on a few of the races I've done, I've even overtaken lots of fit looking blokes going up some pretty steep climbs! Little old me, who 6 months earlier, was feeling sorry for herself at the side of the road.
Sorry for going on so much - but hills have definitely been my nemesis, but in a masochistic sort of way, they've been the making of me - and have built up my confidence after initially knocking it out of me.
Stick with it - I know you can do it!