Trouble with steep hills

[mandinorris]

What do you mean by a "nice crankset and gearing?"
Do you have a compact double or a triple? Or a regular double? What's your lowest cog? There's a huge difference in these, for a beginning rider, no matter the level of your components.
I am a small person, too, 5' 1" <110 lbs. I am not the strongest person in the world, but after 10 years of riding and training in an area with lots of short, steep hills, I can get up almost anything. I may not do it at a high speed, but I feel confident I can get up the hill.
Nothing will improve your hill climbing ability like riding hills all of the time. You've been given great suggestions here. And don't forget that a good part of this is mental. Some people sing to themselves while climbing. I repeat a positive mantra, which changes from time to time. If I let myself get to the point of swearing, well, it's more likely I will want to give up.

I guess my thing is that it is physical for me. I try as hard as I can and then I just can't push anymore.

I think from the advice given, my best bet is repetition to build the strength to get up the 12% + hills

[Biciclista]

and Mandi, for sure, your smallness is an asset. TRUST US on that.
It took me 3 years to build strength enough to ride anywhere, and that does NOT include steep hills. Someone just bragged that they have only walked 3 times.... I can't tell you how many times I have walked up hills. HOWEVER, I have gotten stronger (and darn, as I've gotten stronger, I've gotten heavier, I must have gained 10 lbs just in my legs, and it shows)
and I have actually done an 18 mile hillclimb and some other rides that were JUST all about hills. (and I still walk sometimes)

So I can promise you, if you keep working at it you will get better.

ps, can you put your bike in your car and start somewhere a little better? I don't envy your hills!

[Crankin]

Mimi, I hope it didn't sound like bragging when I said I have walked only 3 times. The thing that helped me the most was not having any choice... walking up a steep hill in road shoes sucks almost as much as barely being able to climb it. Moving to a street on 10-15% grade, probably was the best thing for me, even though I had done a lot of climbing before that. The end of every ride, well, imagine it. The thing is, I am not a particularly fast rider, compared to others here. I just kept at it, like you.
And while it *is* physical, as in strength, it is also mental strength. You have to be able to endure some pain to improve and keep telling yourself you can do it, even in little improvements.
Mandi, it would still help people here to give you advice, if we knew what gearing you had.

[Biciclista]

Crankin, I just wanted her to know that she might need to walk more than 3 times.

and here's the statistic: take your height = 60 inches. now take your weight (in Mandi's case) 110 pounds. 110/60 = 1.83
if this ratio is smaller than 2, you are going to have an edge on climbing. Pick your favorite guy, say, 70 inches tall and 160 pounds. 160/70 =2.28 You have a big advantage over him. So once you get into shape, you ought to be dynamite!
and make sure your bike fits you!

[JennK13]

I concur - your gears arent low enough for that kind of climbing. I have 36/46 up front and my stock cassette is 12-25 which makes for difficult climbs. I switched to an 11-28 and noticed an immediate change for the better!

[mandinorris]

Mimi, I hope it didn't sound like bragging when I said I have walked only 3 times. The thing that helped me the most was not having any choice... walking up a steep hill in road shoes sucks almost as much as barely being able to climb it. Moving to a street on 10-15% grade, probably was the best thing for me, even though I had done a lot of climbing before that. The end of every ride, well, imagine it. The thing is, I am not a particularly fast rider, compared to others here. I just kept at it, like you.
And while it *is* physical, as in strength, it is also mental strength. You have to be able to endure some pain to improve and keep telling yourself you can do it, even in little improvements.
Mandi, it would still help people here to give you advice, if we knew what gearing you had.

Lol I am not even ashamed to admit that because I am so new to cycling, that I have no idea what my gears are. My boyfriend is the bike wiz and got me into cycling/chose my bike. However, I did just buy a 2010 Kona Lisa Roadbike...and I have ultegra and 105 components. I'm sure if you guys look up the bike you can see what kind of gears/crankset it is. I would but I am at work!

[OakLeaf]

http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=lisa_rd

50/39 in front, 12-25 in back

The 2010 Ultegra SS RD will accommodate up to a 28T rear cog. So you can definitely go lower there. Three teeth WILL make a difference.

Unfortunately you won't be able to put a smaller chainring up front without some other modifications.

That bike is geared awfully tall for the Blue Ridge Mountains. Say it with me: it's not you. Most everyone I know in Ohio (which has hills not quite as steep and not *nearly* as tall as yours) has a 34x27 or lower as their lowest gear. Sure, racers run taller gearing in all but the most extreme terrain, but they also had to get strong before they started racing.

I guess if I were you I'd try a cassette with shorter gearing and see if that gets you where you need to be. If not, you'll probably need to change out some more components, which unfortunately can get expensive. You might sniff around the gear threads here, Craigslist, eBay, etc., for used components.

You can definitely get stronger - we all can - and that will definitely help, but starting out with a bike that's geared too tall is just frustrating, and actually makes it harder for you to get stronger. You wouldn't start out bench pressing 100 lbs if you'd never done it before, and tall gearing is the same kind of thing.

[Crankin]

Thank you, Oakleaf. That's just what I thought might be going on here.
Mandi, you bought a bike that's really nice. I bet your boyfriend helped you. Sometimes people (not just men) who are strong riders and have been riding for awhile don't realize that some of us need easier gearing on the bike. Like, some of us have a triple! You live in an area with really difficult climbs... take Oakleaf's advice and see if you can get a rear derailleur with lower cogs. Believe me, those 2 or 3 lower gears will make a world of difference.

[aicabsolut]

I've never seen a 50/39 combo. Isn't a 50T usually 110BCD? Maybe she could put on a smaller inner ring?

I'd say put on a cassette with a 27 or 28 tooth cog if you can't change the cranks. I ride around the Blue Ridge in VA, and I use a compact (34T or 36T small ring with a 25 or 27T cog as the lowest). There are some times where I am pedaling really slowly due to the grade. There is one climb in WV that I just cannot get up without walking. It's over 6 mi, and there are a couple of switchbacks about mid-way or so over 18% with some steep sustained portions in between. I usually have to stop once I get down to about 3mph and 40rmp. The bike I prefer to use for climbing needs a longer cage rear derailleur to accommodate a bigger cassette. Maybe one day I'll do it. I can ride a little farther on this mountain each year.

Another thing... take the paperboy route if traffic allows. Zig-zagging on a hill will mean you are covering more distance but you are putting your bike on a less steep grade. Stay to the outside on curves if the road is at all banked.

It takes some practice, but it is possible to unclip from a near stop on a steep hill and stay upright.

[marni]

remember, whether you ride or walk up the hill, the top will still be there when you get there. Hang in there and remember the value of practice and repetition.

[f/64]

Short way to say it -
Find a hill that's pretty easy to climb & just keep riding it daily. Once you start getting used to it & can climb up easily, start attacking from bottom to top w/ a larger gear & time yourself every time. Know your limit !

What helps -
hands on top of the bars
relax upper body, too much movement can tire you out
which method helped me (just got used to it after) = keep your heels down while pedaling
& the biggest one, stay seated

Goodluck !

[FunSize]

What helps -
hands on top of the bars
relax upper body, too much movement can tire you out
which method helped me (just got used to it after) = keep your heels down while pedaling
& the biggest one, stay seated

+1!

Then...
I remembered another kind of imporrtant mind thing. It never hurts any less, you just get faster. But what's good to know is that your body will keep going if you tell it to. For me its my mind that makes me stop. Kind of along with that is that you shouldn't ride outside of yourself. Its tempting to just rush up the hills but you won't be able to maintain it and it'll make the rest of your ride hard, too.

Today, I went on my usual loop. 3 steep but short hills. Still hurts, my legs were on fire, but I finished them faster than I usually do!

[ny biker]

+1!

Then...
I remembered another kind of imporrtant mind thing. It never hurts any less, you just get faster. But what's good to know is that your body will keep going if you tell it to. For me its my mind that makes me stop. Kind of along with that is that you shouldn't ride outside of yourself. Its tempting to just rush up the hills but you won't be able to maintain it and it'll make the rest of your ride hard, too.

Today, I went on my usual loop. 3 steep but short hills. Still hurts, my legs were on fire, but I finished them faster than I usually do!

Actually for me it does hurt less, but I don't go much faster. Which is fine with me.

[TxDoc]

the top will still be there when you get there

+ 1