So I'm not a climber

[Crankin]

I don't climb fast, but I can climb.
Does that make sense? I have climbed some horrendous hills, but sometimes I am going 4 mph. I just won't quit. If someone is faster than me, so what?
Haven't done any group rides this year, but, in the group I rode with, I could climb with the faster guys (relative here; we are all old). I find it harder to maintain a consistent fast speed on flatter rides. Ten miles of 17-20+ mph on easy terrain will do me in, or at least I need to tone it down for awhile. Since almost everywhere I ride is rolling to hilly, there's usually some chance to rest a bit, and there's a lot of changes in speed. And I hate descending. I think I may be the only rider who looks forward to the climbs and dreads the downhills.

[luv2climb]

I have climbed some horrendous hills, but sometimes I am going 4 mph. I just won't quit. If someone is faster than me, so what?

I think I have you beat. I've been as low as 2 mph on the steepest climbs. Check out some of my past threads with ride videos of tough climbs with GPS data overlay for proof. But, like you, I refuse to quit. I won't stop in the middle of a climb unless I absolutely have to or there's a photo opportunity that may not be there on the descent.

I really don't care if people are faster than me either. There's always someone faster than you no matter how hard you train.

[bluebug32]

I love to climb too, but I usually get shot off the back. The worst is when I'm off the back and panting and huffing and puffing, trying to keep my Gu down, and no one else is even breathing hard!

I just started using Strava and that's humbling too, as it compares your hill climbing times to everyone else's.

[ivorygorgon]

I love this thread!!! It is very encouraging.

I struggle with climbs, and we climb a lot. I ride with a group and I am almost always the last in the group. Sometimes there are some 70 year olds who are slower.

Sometimes climbing makes me want to throw my bike in the ditch! DH and I did a climbing ride this weekend. The first half was 30 miles mostly uphill- about 5500 feet of climbing. Of course the pay off was the way home

To top it off DH found out yesterday my rear brake was dragging. Like I needed that little bit of help.

But, like a lot of you have said, I refuse to let the hills beat me. I am getting better. I can hang with the group on flats and some rollers (depending on how fast they are going on the rollers). I have improved a lot. But hills are still a bugger. I don't think I will ever love to climb, and I will certainly never climb like a "natural climber" but I think someday climbing won't make me want to give up biking.

Here is the real key and it is so simple, but so hard. When I compare myself to myself, I am really proud of how far I have come, and much I have improved. When I compare myself to others, I become really unhappy. They key is not to worry about others and concentrate on your own stats and improvements.

[Veronica]

Here is the real key and it is so simple, but so hard. When I compare myself to myself, I am really proud of how far I have come, and much I have improved. When I compare myself to others, I become really unhappy. They key is not to worry about others and concentrate on your own stats and improvements.

You're exactly right! It's more important to be the BEST YOU!

Veronica

[Catrin]

Here is the real key and it is so simple, but so hard. When I compare myself to myself, I am really proud of how far I have come, and much I have improved. When I compare myself to others, I become really unhappy. They key is not to worry about others and concentrate on your own stats and improvements.

Bingo I am learning how to do this on the trails, as a new MTBR who has only been riding a bike period for a little over a year, it is a lesson I am taking to heart. When I stop comparing myself to others I have a lot more fun than when I start doing that...

[Geonz]

I love all of you :-) I'm not so fast on the flats but I realized on the TOMRV ride's significant hills that I'd pass people on the up and they'd go by me on the down...
I did get a whole lot better at climbing when I focused on making sure I was getting as much of the full circle going "round and round, not up and down" on the pedals.

[bellissima]

I just started using Strava and that's humbling too, as it compares your hill climbing times to everyone else's.

I like Strava, is fun and motivational

Climbing is all about Weight to Power ratio, in others words the lighter and more power you have the better of a climber you are. But just being light and strong does not mean you’ll be a great climber unless you work at it. Climbing is an acquired skill; there is definitely some technique involved. In order to climb better and faster you must climb often, at a slow or moderate pace but you must also push your self on those hills in order to really improve your climbing skills. Gearing is also important, finding the best gear for the grade or the climb is key, as having the best cadence is very important in order to climbing better and efficiently. It takes time and a lot of climbing to figure out what gears to use. Keep on climbing

[Owlie]

I suck at hills--I'm okay on relatively steep climbs, but the long shallow ones suck it out of me. I know I need practice, as I spend most of my riding time on flat trails, but I'm pretty sure I'd need to lose about 20 pounds to be "effective" and there's no way that's happening!

[redrhodie]

I did my hilly ride today alone, and once again, it appears I'm an awesome climber. My brake must rub on the group rides.

I sound great in the shower, too.

[AppleTree]

I did my hilly ride today alone, and once again, it appears I'm an awesome climber. My brake must rub on the group rides.

I sound great in the shower, too.

This is great redrhodie! When I'm alone, I too am a combination of Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and George Hincapie, dancing away on the pedals... I am always shocked when I am in a group ride and find out, alas, I am just a chubby little ol' granny who still loves to ride in spite of it.

[maillotpois]

[QUOTE=redrhodie;601347
I sound great in the shower, too.[/QUOTE]

I bet you do!!!

[Zippinalong]

I hate hills with a passion. I just don't have the leg strength to get up those things. This off season I want to work really hard at building up my leg strength. But then my partner I swear was born for riding. She has fantastic strength in her legs and can go up the hardest hills without stopping. She even bests some of the more seasoned riders up hills and riding in general. She doesn't even do a lot of training which is annoying as hell.

But I think the other thing too is the mental aspect of it. Like any sport those who have a very strong drive will tend to do better. My partners mental will is amazing. She showed me a hill she went up one time and I just started at awe at the hill and the fact she made it up there. It was seriously a monster hill. Steep and long. I could see people with bikes walking up the hill. I said there's no way I would have gone up that hill. So I turned and asked her why she went up it. She looked at me and without skipping a beat said because it was there. To her everything is a challenge, meant to be conquered.

But as some of you have said, some have the natural ability and some like me don't and have to train all the time to get better.

[grey]

My riding partner and I have been training really hard for an upcoming Century, and there is a lot of climbing on the route, so that is what we have been working on: our hill legs.

After Wednesday's training ride, he decided he couldn't do it, and that he wouldn't ride with me after all. I was surprised, he had a bad day out there but all along he and I have had nearly matched paces and skill. Turned out, Tuesday night he had eaten Mexican, at a less than faboo place in town.

I guilt tripped him a little, but I wasn't going to push. He came out for yesterday's training ride after all, same horrible route, hotter day, saying if he couldn't keep up he'd head back to the start point at a convenient spot around mile 60.

During the ride, he said maybe his issue was mental. We have a fellow rider who has not been training much this year, but he is hard to ride with because he moans and groans like he is in horrible pain. At first it is funny, but then you notice your own aches and pains and eventually even small hills are friggin mountains! So at every hill, I said 'I LOVE hills! Hills are friends! Going down will be so much FUN!

He did the whole 87 with us. Even passed me on Hell Hill. Last week he had needed to stop partway up.
My point is, sometimes when we have a bad hill day, we ate the wrong thing or not enough of the right thing.
And a lot of the trouble with hills is mental.

[nscrbug]

I suck at hills--I'm okay on relatively steep climbs, but the long shallow ones suck it out of me. I know I need practice, as I spend most of my riding time on flat trails, but I'm pretty sure I'd need to lose about 20 pounds to be "effective" and there's no way that's happening!

X2!!! Except that I'm not even "relatively okay" on steep climbs either...ANY and EVERY climb sucks it out of me...which sometimes depresses me...especially when I see others doing the same climbs with ease. And even more so, when I see fairly unfit riders that are way heavier than me, climbing hills better and faster than I can. I too, know that I could stand to drop about 15 or 20 lbs, and that would help greatly with my climbing...but if these other heavier riders are climbing pretty decently at the weight they are at now, I have to wonder why can't I?