Megan...I ride hills constantly. I live in a rural area and as soon as I leave my driveway, which is a hill itself, I am either going uphill to the right or downhill to the left. Plus, I ride predominately on gravel roads which is much more difficult especially after a heavy rain and you really bog down into the road.

I am so used to having to work that hard that I am just much better conditioned than even people who ride more than I do in a week.

The only way to get faster/stronger on hills is to get out and ride on some...alot. When my kids were small I used a trailer for them behind my bike and they added 75 pounds to what I was pumping uphill. Now that they ride their own bikes I will still load the trailer up with weights and take it for a ride so I don't get too soft! My husband can not keep up with me if he rides my routes and I credit that to the extra conditioning I got pulling my kids in that trailer. Notice that I always pulled the kids, not him! Sissy.