hill repeats?

[Duck on Wheels]

Practice standing for 15 seconds at a time, then 30, then 45, etc.

Thanks for all the good tips! I can vary between doing a fairly easy hill over and over, and practicing gearing on a steeper one, then try to find a steep and long one for some serious practice in a few weeks (can be hard to find around here, though we have a few rolling hills on my side of town). Aside from the downshifting, this sounds a lot like what we've been doing on hill repeat days in spin class -- like today. There I was pumping out my last drops of energy on the final 15 seconds of the final round and the instructor says "Ok guys, let's do another minute on this hill. Whaddya say?" So I took a deep breath, turned the dial up another notch out of sheer stubbornness, and did another minute. Now I wonder what that hill really would've looked like out on the road.

I also wonder another thing (see quote above). Last fall I couldn't stand more than a stroke or two in spin class. Now I can stand however long and hard the instructor says, but I still can't stand on a real bike on a real hill out on the road. I _used_ to do it all the time back when I was a kid with a 1-speed Schwinn. I've tried up-shifting to have more resistance and thereby more controll. But I still can't seem to do it. Any tips for that, besides just keep trying?