One of my goals for this year is to improve my climbing. I have made some progress but I still have a lot of work to do in this area. I would love some suggestions for workouts to address this.

My problem is that on group rides, I get dropped on shorter hills or series of hills and on longer hills I hang in there kind of OK but gradually fall back. I don't want to be the one that the group has to wait for.

Surprisingly, I did 3 Mountain Madness this year and I had no trouble on this ride. I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that I was going at my own pace rather than trying to keep up. Also, this was more long rhythm climbing, not the shorter sprint/power climbing that I encounter on week-to-week basis.

Thanks in advance!

Here is a recent tread with some information that may be usefull to you.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=430398

if you happen to be riding with a stronger rider(s) on a series of rolling hills, try to pass them on the downhill side leading to the next hill. If you get to the front, or better yet off the front, before the hill, you have a better chance of limiting your losses.

but to make yourself a better climber, you should just spend more time climbing. The steeper, the better.

But you have to find out why you are not climbing the way you want. Is it lack of power? Is it a low LT? Not big enough aerobic capacity? Bad technique?

It's hard to say what specifically would make you better the fastest. But in general, the more you climb, the better at it you get.

Do you ever sprint up hills? that's always a good one

My solution was to get sick, and then get put on a really low salt diet which eliminated all the junk from my diet. Low salt everthing generally isn't as tasty, and you just eat less as well...12 months later and 20 pounds lighter my climbing is much, much improved....go figure.

I understand you do comparatively worse on short hills than on long hills. That's a lack of peak power, which is simply leg strength.

Technique-wise, try spinning it up to around 105 before you slam into a short hill. Get a run at it, in other words. Keep sitting and hold that gear until it drops below 90, then shift, etc. You can produce more power at high rpm than at low. You'll also run out of gas sooner, but hey, it's a short hill, right? In rollers, tuck and accelerate off the front on the downhill, pedaling like a maniac, then repeat the above advice.

Strength-wise, try squats and leg sled. High reps and all the weight you can manage. But that's just in the winter. Now, on the bike, every once in a while shift into a huge gear, dropping your cadence to about 50, and give it all you can for 5 minutes, shifting up to keep the cadence down to 50 as you accelerate. Then downshift and resume your normal ride. Repeat when you feel ready again. For a more structured workout, find a 15 minute hill and do three 50 cadence repeats on it once a week. Intensity should be high enough to make your legs hurt pretty good by the top.

Another very good workout on the trainer is to do intervals of up to 45 minutes at a steady 70 cadence in zone 3.

Another very good climbing workout on the road is to do 20-30 minute intervals in zone 3 at a steady cadence that is 10-15 rpm faster than your normal cadence. Do 2 with only 5 minutes between intervals. Once a week.

Sometimes riding in a group can hinder. What you might need is to do hill riding on your own without the pressure of trying to live up to the group's expectations or the expectation you place upon yourself.

Thanks to all of you for your advice. I am watching cadence and making time for some hill intervals each week. Thanks for suggesting the squats. I need to shake up my gym workouts and that is something that I can add immediately.

I'd try some interval training (http://cycling.dingdangdo.com/training/interval_training.php). By either varying the intensity, cadense or duration you can improve al sorts of different aspects of your riding.

concept2 indoor rowing is a great way to get upper and lower body power.Rowing is like squating with added bonus of upper body workout