I too had difficulty with hills this weekend. Four of us rode in the Mount Davis Half Century, only one made it up all the steep hills. I had to stop and push part of the way, and then hop on my bike to continue for a bit. I should say Mount Davis is the our highest mountain, but I found my legs were fine, I was just totally out of breath on this hill as well as two other steep ones. I was told I need to learn how to breath and practice breathing going down hills so I could continue the breathing strategy up hills. I am a beginning using a Cannondale Hybrid for the ride. I used ever gear 1:1 and was looking for more going up Mount Davis. A male cyclist told me at dinner, if I had had a rode bike for the event, it would have been easier.