Uphill skills

[RoadRaven]

The best way to get better on hills is to climb more hills.

Workouts at the gym will make your muscles strong... for working out at the gym...
Example: Lance Armstrong doesn't climb at a cadance of 85 by working out at the gym, doing squats or whatever... he did/does it by climbing.
Squats etc will augment your muscle power... but hill reps are the best way to improve on hills.

I suggest hill reps once a week for someone my age... you don't over-stress your knees that way, and you give your body the time to recover (someone younger might do hill reps twice a week)

Like Delta suggests, speed at the bottom can make you faster up the initial part of the hill... I always endeavour to use my momentum to carry me up faster than I can climb.

As Delta and Kimmy also point out, get in the right gear... avoid trying major shifts between the front chain rings during a climb as you will be much more likely to drop your chain if you change gears in mid-climb.

Staying seated is actually more efficient for most people, and if you are newish to riding, then stand with caution - and only near the top of the climb, because until you get used to standing it can be more exhausting to sit down again and try and grind the rest of the way up.

However, my partner is like Armanns friend and he will often ride with me standing - because I go so slow. However, in a race he mashes his way up a hill seated in a big gear between 24kph and 36kph - depending on the gradient he will stand as/when it gets very steep - staying in the big gear still.

A golden rule for hills is NEVER walk. Get in a low gear, set your own rythym and forget what others do. Ride to your rythym because if you try to keep up with others your will blow your heart-rate. If you must stop on a hill, fine, stop, rest a minute or two, then hop back on and keep going (you may have to start downhill and then turn to come back up after you have clipped in). Never walking gives you a huge psychological advantage in your own headspace.

Like Mom says... weight makes a huge difference... each kilogram (2 pounds) we carry makes about 6 seconds slower over each kilometre... so if you are commuting and carrying loads of stuff (or like me and need to drop another 20kgs) then you will be slower up a hill.

Good luck and have fun... remember the great thing about going up hills is the coming down the other side! Woohoo!