Hills - that's where I usually get dropped on group rides. We have some really big ones - can go up to 15%. I have noticed that the club riders who pass me are either spinning faster than my bike allows, or they are standing (which I also do not do). So, today I bought a new 10-speed cassette with 11-36 and a mountain bike rear derailleur and it is being installed on my Ruby compact double.

I read in a cycling book that your cadence should not fall below 40 or you are pushing too hard. My bike computer has a cadence monitor and when I was going up the 15% hill (at least I wasn't walking this time), my cadence was about 30-35 (about 3 mph).

I also did a test ride. I rode my Ruby compact up the hill and then I rode my Bike Friday up the same hill. Bike Friday has lower gears. It was easier to get up on the Bike Friday - and I actually made it up faster.

The other thing that has been helping me is doing intervals on my bike trainer. There are two kinds. Easy gear alternating with fast easy gear, and easy gear alternating with hard gear. Now the 6% hills are easy. The new low gear I will be getting is only for the desperately long, unrelenting, steep hills, and there is at least one or two in every ride. I hope this works as my goal for the last 3 years (that's when I started riding) has been to keep up on the 'B' group rides. I am doing better. Most of the time, I can see the people in the distance, and today I actually arrived at the same time.