Ok - so let's talk about clipping out going up hill

[TrekTheKaty]

This only happened to me once. It was a monster and by the time I realized I wouldn't be able to clip out, it was too late. The fear of falling got me over to top. Relax (drop shoulders), breath (seriously), pedal. Repeat.

Just get out there and do it. My fear used to be riding on the road and being hit from behind. I learned: 1) that's not the most common accident 2) take the lane instead of hugging the curb 3) Longer distances would only be possible if I took to the road

[OakLeaf]

Well said, Darcy.

Only two things you didn't mention -

(1) Gearing. The same person with the same legs might be able to climb a hill with their 30x27 that they wouldn't be able to with the 42x21 low gear on the race bike they used to ride 25 years ago. Not anyone I know of course. (Last week I spent a couple of hours shooting the sh*t with someone I used to ride with back in the day. I felt sooooooo much better when he broached the topic of the hills he couldn't climb with the gears we both used to run.... )

(2) You can pull off on the descents, too. Unclip, let your rims cool off and your adrenaline settle down, go back out.

It's all good.