Cycling Slump?

[Velocivixen]

@Veganbikechick, when I ride from my house to the Oregon Zoo, there are a couple of short, intense hills I have to ride in order to get onto the multi-user path that parallels along Hwy 26 and up the long, slow, steep hill to the zoo. I have always been able to do it from my very first time, but it was very difficult in parts. I know that if I do it periodically it will get easier, but there was this one hill that still "psyches" me up. I know I can do it but it will take 110% effort to get to the top and slowly. I just laugh now and do it - not let it get to me. I tell myself, "so what? I'll be out of breath at the top, but it will be a relief". I just do it. I shift to a low gear and just keep pedaling and looking at the ground just in front of me, not at the top of the hill.
Have you actually tried riding up that hill? How low of a gear were you in? I'd say that speed isn't a factor going up a hill unless you're coming down one hill and you want to use speed/momentum to help going up the next hill. If you're going up this hill from relatively flat, I'd just keep shifting into lower gears (before you need them) until you get one that is comfortable. When I ride up long, tortuous hills I'll tell myself, "I'll ride just to that mailbox", then once there I keep going and pick something else I'm going to ride to. I break it into smaller pieces and that makes me feel successful along the way versus making it to the top (or not) and using that as my success.
Hope this helps. Keep up the good work. Maybe you could "reward" yourself if you ride to work, say, twice a week?

[pll]

@VeganBikeChick,

I was wondering last night if you had shifting problems when climbing. I had those when I traveled to Scotland until some friends explained to me how to do it. What I was doing: gradually shift down all the way in the rear derailleur and then go to a smaller ring in the front. I would "overspin" for a short stretch, and I was suddenly out of gears, had to stop and walk.

My apologies to everyone if I am stating the obvious (it was not to me): my friends told me to get into a good cadence when approaching the climb and shift both at the front (shift down) and the back (shift up). When you 'fire' both shifters at the same time, the chain ends in the best gear to match you cadence. This made an enormous difference for me. It also explained why the shifters for the front and back work as they do.

[VeganBikeChick]

I don't think I have shifting problems. When I'm approaching the hill I shift into the smallest rear gear, and then as I'm climbing I downshift until I can't downshift anymore! So I'm definitely in the lowest gear possible when climbing the hills.

[ultraviolet]

Instead of taking the most direct route up and over the biggest hills, have you tried zig-zagging it onto other streets so you take the elevation gain more in chunks? Yes, it makes the route longer, but it might actually make the commute more enjoyable.

I used to do this on my commute home in a previous job. If I took the most direct/shortest safe route between my office and home, it was only about 2.5 miles...but almost all of it was uphill--the upside was that getting to work in the morning was fast and took very little effort. Going home, I added about a mile to the distance using a combo of streets with more shallow grades and little climbs with bits of flat for "rest". It only took a few minutes longer, but it made me happier (and more likely) to bike commute.

There are enough Seattle TE'ers around here that if you need help finding alternate routes someone would probably have thoughts.

[Crankin]

I've had lots of cycling slumps in the past ten years.
The way I solve them is to ride for a different purpose. A couple of years ago, I was really distraught about getting slower because of the effects of illness and on going sports injuries. I rode a lot more on my hybrid, for errands that summer (almost 1,000 miles) and I still ended up riding the normal amount of miles I usually do for my total. Riding my hybrid absolves me of all speed requirements... it's like the bike is so much heavier than my road bike that I feel no compelling reason to try and ride it very fast. The year after that, I still did a lot of bike errands, but not as many. Last year, I only rode my hybrid maybe 5 times. I had to quickly get in shape for a challenging tour in May and after that I felt very fit, so I rode a lot. And it never rained.
I also started riding in the early AM and discovered I like riding in the dark, when no one else is out. Those rides might be short, but they add up.
This year, I am kind of in between. Weather, work, and allergies seem to be conspiring against me for mileage, but I've decided to sort of let it go for this season. I'm pretty sure I won't end up with the miles I had last season, but I'm sure I will reach my "minimum" which I keep in the back of my mind.