Tip for Hills

[wackyjacky1]

Someone on this board once posted "boobs to the tube" with regard to hill climbing (meaning lean forward). When I do that, and keep an easy, loose grip on the bars, that really helps. (In fact, I find myself saying it over and over in my head as I climb: boobs to da tube, boobs to da tube! ) Don't remember who said it, but it stuck with me, and it does work.

That, along with not looking up at the hill you're climbing (just look far enough ahead to keep from crashing into something) are the things that help me get up those #@% hills.

[Tri Girl]

"boobs to the tube"

Well, thanks to age and gravity- I don't have far to lean.
Good tip as well!

[colorisnt]

I hate hills, too, ever since moving to a hilly place.

If it is a small "hump" (a lot of them in my hometown are short climbs), I have found that getting out of the saddle is appropriate. If they are legit hills, I do the following:
get UPRIGHT like people are saying. Hands close to my center of gravity. Sit up and look at the crest of the hill or just where you are going.

Breathe!

Just focus on how fast I am spinning because that is the thing that will get me up the hill.

I feel that riding with more experienced road riders helps because I can hear when the shift and better know what to do. That has been helping A LOT.

[Velocivixen]

I rode to the Oregon Zoo the other day and there is one .2 mile VERY steep hill that I go up and as I was at the mid point, huffing and puffing (as well as smiling) a female pedestrian said, "Keep going. You can do it!" and that made me feel great! I replied "Thanks" and it made me feel like I could continue on.
I guess hills are partly mental and partly physical. I think they require practice.

[MojoGrrl]

I rode to the Oregon Zoo the other day and there is one .2 mile VERY steep hill that I go up and as I was at the mid point, huffing and puffing (as well as smiling) a female pedestrian said, "Keep going. You can do it!" and that made me feel great! I replied "Thanks" and it made me feel like I could continue on.
I guess hills are partly mental and partly physical. I think they require practice.

The second real hill I climbed was a TERRIBLE street in Carmel, CA. I had only been riding for a month. So on this hill, I was dying; I kept stopping and was almost in tears (at the end, I was pretty much crying and my boyfriend said "That's a really hard hill for even an experienced cyclist, honey"). Well, at one of my stops where I was panting and saying "I don't think I can do this," this random guy walking down the street said, "You go girl! You can do it!" And that totally made my day and I climbed the rest of the hill (before almost puking on my boyfriend).

[colorisnt]

Wacky Jacky, I would totally buy that as well!

[new2ride]

LOL - yesterday I tried to the boobs to the tube suggestion. It worked, great suggestion!

[Tri Girl]

so a friend and I were riding up a hill (in the city on the way to a trail system) and a little homeless man pushing a shopping cart screamed at us. What he screamed had us laughing out loud the rest of the ride. He screamed "Power through that sh#t, girls." So now I'll be doing boobs to the tube chanting my new mantra as I do it. Thanks, cute little homeless man.

[wackyjacky1]

The next TE jersey, perhaps?

[Bike Writer]

The next TE jersey, perhaps?

Love it! You are pretty clever!

[MojoGrrl]

The next TE jersey, perhaps?

I would TOTALLY buy that. You should make some!!

[Tiffany_S]

The next TE jersey, perhaps?

I would totally by that jersey as well. Actually, more than one so I'd always have a clean one to wear when I ride.

[MojoGrrl]

I have to say, I took three things from this thread: look at the road, not the hill, drop my shoulders, and smile, and I used them today climbing some crazy steep hills (stoking a massive tandem no less) and IT WORKED! In fact, my boyfriend said he wasn't even pedaling that hard, that I was pushing us up the hills

Thanks TE ladies!

[chincitop]

Wow, you may have just become my new hero. There's some serious hills on the way to and from work and I've been killing myself trying to get up and down them, I'm going to try this Tuesday when I head to work (Or tomorrow if I end up biking to my sisters house)

[MojoGrrl]

Climbed some gnarly hills today and I tried to "boobs to the tube" when I didn't feel like standing up, and it worked. I also kept saying in my head, "Boobs to the tube, power through that sh*t!" ha ha