Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
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