Quote Originally Posted by Catrin View Post
All good points Indy! In retrospect, last year I was already injured when I started seeking out hills to climb them (August). THIS year my riding schedule has been quite different - more days a week - but fewer "drive-the-bike-to-ride" rides.

That is ok, I am having a blast on both on and off road, my weekly mileage is close to what it was this time last year...so I am going to take what I can get. All of this is for personal pleasure along with health and fitness - I suspect as I spend more time on the mountain bike this year that my road climbing skills can only benefit. Once I internalize the mtb skills better there will be time to start focusing a bit on hill climbing before the snow flies.... I want to find and feed my hill climbing beast, but with more wisdom this time.

All of that being said, I am in awe of the OP climbing skills, stories and videos!
Sounds like your rides are somewhat similar to mine. The only ride I do that requires me to drive to the start of the ride is a climbing ride, so those are done once a week. The rest of the week I ride down here in the valley where I live. I only drive if it's absolutely necessary, so I probably ride quite a few miles during the week. I don't have a computer on any of my bikes and I only use the Garmin for climbing rides, so I don't keep track of mileage.

Mountain biking will definitely help your road climbing. I used to mtb all the time in the early 90s when I actually had a properly fitting mtb. Lots of good steep stuff on mtb trails!

Believe it or not, even though you can clearly hear me suffering in my videos, I love it! I'm one of those twisted types who enjoys suffering, so my climbs are done for fun in addition to the challenge of conquering yet another long steep climb.