That's great! Whatever speed you can get up this hill at is the perfect speed. If you can get to the top without puking, you're golden.
My motto is "rest on the hill". I always think it when I'm starting to huff and puff. Calms me right down.
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Hello,
I'm Katie and I am new here. I have been cycling on and off for a few months now.I have gotten my average ride up to 24 miles but I am still HORRIBLE on hills. I have found that they don't wear me out quite as much but sometimes I am only averaging 4 mph up some. I am just wondering if I am really that much out of shape or if that is not bad considering? The grades are not that bad, maybe between 6% and beyond. What is everyone averaging? Am I really that bad?
That's great! Whatever speed you can get up this hill at is the perfect speed. If you can get to the top without puking, you're golden.
My motto is "rest on the hill". I always think it when I'm starting to huff and puff. Calms me right down.
'02 Eddy Merckx Fuga, Selle An Atomica
'85 Eddy Merckx Professional, Selle An Atomica
'10 Soma Double Cross DC, Selle An Atomica
Slacker on wheels.
Don't worry about it. Speed depends on so many things, not just grade and your physical fitness. There are some hills I'm lucky to make it up, regardless of speed.
At least I don't leave slime trails.
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2009 Giant Avail 3 |Specialized Jett 143
2013 Charge Filter Apex| Specialized Jett 143
1996(?) Giant Iguana 630|Specialized Riva
Saving for the next one...
I watched my hill speed today, funny this subject would come up. I love this site. My average speed on a mediocre hill that was about .5 miles long was 8.5mps. Now if your hill was steeper than mine, then I could see how your speed may vary a lot from mine.
I think everyone is right. If you make it to the top and you can continue to ride with no problem, then that is the right speed.
I do wonder about standing your bike. I see a lot of people do it and I have tried. I find it exhausting. I do better gearing down and just going for it. Which way is right?
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”.
~Oscar Wilde
Type One Diabetes
currently using Medtronic MiniMed
Revel 723 with CGMS
We don't have very many hills in my area, but of the ones that I do ride often I would say the average grade is around 4-6%...my speed is generally somewhere between 7-10mph...depending on how long the hill is. I'm not an efficient hill-climber...never was, never will be. If it were up to me, I would avoid hills...period. Unfortunately, the two other people I ride with happen to LOVE EM', so I often don't have a say in the matter.
2012 Seven Axiom SL - Specialized Ruby SL 155
Hills are always going to make you hurt. It's the nature of hills. Don't worry about your speed, because you'll always feel slow when you're chugging away. You got up the hill, didn't ya (one way or another)? There you go!
I will say that it helps me to remind myself to pedal in circles, rather than just mashing the pedals. Kind of eases up on my legs and gives me a little burst of speed when I've been just plodding along.
"I never met a donut I didn't like" - Dave Wiens
As long as you aren't falling over like the old man on the trike on laugh in, your speed up a hill is just what it should be.
marni
Katy, Texas
Trek Madone 6.5- "Red"
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"easily outrun by a chihuahua."
I don't care for hills in general especially one particular short and very steep hill. However I climb about a 2 mile stretch with about a 6% grade when I ride to the Zoo, and this might sound strange, but as I'm pedaling there comes a point where I can actually relax my quads and, it seems, I actually use LESS effort to get up that hill! Maybe I tense up my quads at the beginning of the hill then relax them along the way. It seems counterintuitive to relax muscles that I am actively using, but it happens. I literally tell myself, "relax your legs" and that difficult pedaling immediately becomes less difficult. Not sure what all that means but it works for me. It's as though all that extra tension in my legs was simply wasted energy.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls & looks like work" - Thomas Edison
For me it depends on the hill, and how I am feeling right then. I actually like hills. Anyway, some I just sit there and work my way up, others it just feels good to stand up and get over it in a few strong strokes. I'm more likely to stand if it's been a longer hill/I need a change of position/the grade increases closer to the top.
It IS exhausting. I can't do it for a long climb or I may not make it up the next hill.
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I keep reinforcing with myself that hills are my friend (don't know that I'm thoroughly convinced yet). My average speed, depending on the hill can be anywhere between 5 mph up to 10 mph. Seems I hover around 6-7 mph, depending on the hill.
The weekend of July 30th, I encountered a hill that was the mother of all hills. It was probably about a 10% grade and it went on for over a mile. I was riding as a crew for the Susan G. Komen 3 day 60 mile walk. My bike was loaded down with gear for the 3 days and it was heavier than usual. There was no way I was going to make it up that hill. I ended up about a quarter of the way and had to stop. Of course, it was in the high 80s to low 90s and the heat index was somewhere around 105. I had no choice but to walk my bike up the rest of the hill. Sweat was literally pouring off of me. Walkers were having difficulty going up that hill and here I am, with a bike & extra gear on the bike, along with my camel pak, with extra stuff in it walking up that hill. I made it but I swear if the 3 day is on this side of town again next year, I am going to ride that hill somehow (even if I have to hold on to a car ).
I read a few weeks ago on Team Estrogen that someone suggested "boobs to the tube." How appropriate for the 3 day and I kept repeating that saying to myself when climbing hills (except for the mother of all hills). I made it up everyone while chanting "boobs to the tubes."
There is this one hill on my 16 mile route that's been a struggle all summer. I think it's probably 6-7% grade just shy of a 1/2 mile long. I've managed to go from 4mph to 5mph, not a big improvement, but a little bit. I chant, "I love hills" and alternatively "du hast mich" (cause the song has been stuck in my head lately).
Anyway, hills get better. Just keep working on them.
Depending on the hill, I've noticed I go anywhere from 4 to 10 mph, sometimes as low as 3. It sucks when you're trying to chug up a hill at 4 mph though and people go speeding past you...had that experience this past weekend on my century ride, but I had to remind myself that a lot of those guys were racers and were in much different condition than I. I mean, the Tour de France racers were going up some of those hills at 25 mph - no way are we going to be doing that anytime soon! Like everyone else said, as long as you get get up the hill you're good!
2013 Volagi Viaje
2002 LeMond Tete de Course rebuild/"The Chimaera"
2012 Scott Contessa Foil with Dura-Ace
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1999 Santana Team Ti 700 tandem/"Silver Streak"
Thanks for all the good replies and awesome info! This does help a lot. It makes me feel great to be able to get to the top of the hill but I am so slow, lol. I can see I am improving but it hurts my averages a lot that I cannot stand to power up a hill like most people. I have had knee issues in the past and everytime I try and stand up on the bike, it shoots pain through my knees instantly. So I have to stay in the saddle and slolwly make my way up. I am aggravated with myself that I cannot stand to power up them. I have always enjoyed mountain biking more but the steep short hills always got me because of this. Now I am concentrating on the road instead.
I too have been working on the hills recentyl. I have lots of coaching from my hubby tho. I got up some pretty steep long hills and haven't had to stop yet. He calls it "walking" up the hill with the "granny gear". Longest hill has been about 1/2 mile but not sure what the grade is. Can go up at 8-10mph which just amazes me. I know it is the gear thing not me. Oh, the best part is going down. Most of my hills are short and steep on the back side. I freak out at about 27mph so at that point I really crank down on the brake levers. It is exhilarating to say the least!
Don't cross the river if you can swim the tide...
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