Share how you came to love the hills

[Ana]

I hate long and steep hills. My favorite terrain is flat or slightly descending decline so I can actually enjoy the scenery/cycling.

I would be very much obliged if you would share how you overcame the incline and started loving the hills I have to admit that my "go muscle" isn't as in shape as it probably should be...but I'm working on that with my commute!

[makbike]

Ana, let me start by saying I don't buy the adage that "hills are our friends." I have never liked hills (they were guaranteed to trigger an asthma attack before my asthma was well controlled) and to this day I don't like them. However, I have learned to get up them quickly so as not to prolong my misery. I have over the past two years learned a couple things about climbing. The first is to utilize all the gears on my bike. I shift early and often when climbing. Second, keeping a steady cadence seems to also be a key component to climbing. Third, determination is a huge factor. I refuse to walk up a hill and so I give myself pep talks on difficult climbs. I basically tell myself walking is not an option so the pedals must continue to go around and around. Finally, building leg strength is also important so the more you ride the stronger you will become.

Hope this helps and remember the most important component - have fun!

[KnottedYet]

I love hills!

They are my chance to amble along, admiring the birds and trees and flowers. Folks say "Hi", and I admire their gardens. I get to enjoy first hand (literally!) how well balanced my bike is, as I push it one-handed. I love discovering the miracle of fork "trail" and how it makes my bike more stable as I stroll uphill playfully tipping the bike left or right. Hills are my big chance to drink some water, have something to eat, and call my sweetie on my cell phone. I can even take some fabulous pictures as I walk up hill.

Yup, hills are great!

[OakLeaf]

The view from the top is even more breathtaking when you're already hypoxic.

[maillotpois]

I like the hills because I can always be better at them than I am now and I will never be particularly good at them. They're my weakness (long sustained climbs at any rate - rollers, I rarely even shift). But they sure as heck don't stop me.

[sundial]

I didn't care for hills until I got a new bike with compact gearing. That changed everything. Now I don't mind the hills and as I amble up the hill, I try to just focus 10 feet in front of me instead of dwelling on the grade. It really seems to help with the climbing. After I finish my hill work, I have a deep satisfaction of knowing I'm getting stronger with each climb.

[motochick]

I LOVE climbing mountains. I like the longer ones, not so much the hills as it is harder to get into a rhythm in a shorter distance. How did that come about? When I survived and conquered my first mountain. I actually really enjoy pedaling slow and steady, minding my heartrate, and conquering what I once believed to be an impossible feat for me. I guess I enjoy the satisfaction of the accomplishment.

Brenda

[Veronica]

I'd rather spend an hour or two grinding up a mountain than ride the flats. I get bored on super flat rides. I like the challenge of a climb. Plus you can't have a flying descent without a good climb. Well, I guess you could, but that would be cheating.

V.

[kat_h]

Yesterday a friend was telling me about her commute. Going home each day she has 6 km of hills. I don't know the total elevation gain but it's a rough way to end the day. She said that part of what keeps her going is that right around the point where she'd love to quit there's a big ad for a gym with a picture of a person riding a stationary bike in the gym. That reminds her that she's outside actually riding a bike, instead of driving to the gym to pay to ride an exercise bike indoors.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I have grown to accept hills and have a love/hate relationship with them.
I can definitely say that I love how climbing hills has changed the shape of my legs....pure vanity.

[mimitabby]

Yeah, what she said. Living where i live, i can hate hills and be miserable because they're pretty much unavoidable, or I can just treat them like what they are; part of the landscape. If i had my druthers, i'd be on a 1% grade going downhill, but if I am on a hill, i use my gears and start climbing. I love it when i find myself going faster up a hill than I usually go. But somehow I just can't bring myself to love the hills.
I love it when I'm finished with a hill. That's about as close to loving hills as I get.
The hill I loved being done with the most was Hurricane Ridge, it was 17 miles with 5200 feet of elevation gain.

[shootingstar]

I don't pretend to be enamoured of long sustained climbs, etc...but it has made a difference to move to a place where the climate makes it abit easier to do hills...when the air is not as humid, smells fresher and temp. just cooler ..even in summer.

Vancouver is like Seattle: there are some short steep, others longer in the heart of city and outward.. if you are planning a ride more than 30 kms...you are bound to have at least a hill somewhere in your ride in the city of Vancouver or City of North Vancouver. Can be a different in suburbs where it is a flatter..but only certain parts.

AFter moving to Vancouver and cycling around last few years, I now don't consider a real fitness ride, unless the ride route does have an appreciable hill or 2 or 3, etc... meaning 5-10% grade at least...where one is forced to go up.

Streets that ascend on a hill and ascend long, with many cars.. which also have busy 4 way traffic intersections and several of them along the way...just don't agree with me. A bit of pain in butt when loaded down with full panniers of groceries...etc...to get the restart on bike with me doing several mini-hops to get back on bike...grrrrr.

[smilingcat]

Yesterday a friend was telling me about her commute. Going home each day she has 6 km of hills. I don't know the total elevation gain but it's a rough way to end the day. She said that part of what keeps her going is that right around the point where she'd love to quit there's a big ad for a gym with a picture of a person riding a stationary bike in the gym. That reminds her that she's outside actually riding a bike, instead of driving to the gym to pay to ride an exercise bike indoors.

LOL so true. When you get to the top of a hill there is a sense of accomplishement that you don't get with riding the flat. Don't think of it as conqure or be conqured. View it as something you learn to pace yourself and its there to help you with your spin.

I huff and puff my way up but I just think of the exilerating feeling at the top. Just visualize on your way up. Or at least visualize and break the hill into smaller section in your mind. To the next telephone pole, to the manhole cover, to that tree... and you can spin your way to the top.

wish you luck,
Smilingcat

[Trekhawk]

I can not say I love riding hills but I do however love living in the hills. So even when I move from one side of the world to the other I still find myself riding up hills as soon as I leave my home.

[Harley]

I live in the mountains, have always lived in mountains, I love the mountains, unless I'm riding a bike.

Short hills are fun, a short burst on energy, standing to pedal, feeling the weight of my body rocking from side to side, propelling me up in style, visions of TdF... I'm a star!!! Of course this is a hill I can see the gradual incline and top, 50yards, maybe 100 on a good day.
Otherwise I'm with Knot enjoying the flowers, strolling up the hill.

However, I have a goal... It may not be this year, but I will ride the North Cascade Highway to Washington Pass. 3500ft climb in 35 miles... Someday...

Now DOWNHILL is another story... Ooooh how I love the downhill... The ONLY reason to go UP!!!!!