Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Slow Improvement

On my normal commute home there is a roughly 1.5 mile long hill, reasonably steep, that I would crawl up every night in the lowest gear trying to maintain a cadence. I would be going around 8 mph or so, and I would be sucking some pretty hard wind by the time I got to the top.

Due to some construction that has taken place all summer I have not felt safe taking that route home. Instead I have been taking a much more aggressive hill that takes me around the construction on a road with a bike lane.

I hadn't thought much about what that may have been doing to me until today. I went on a recreational ride that ultimately took me up my normal commuting hill. I felt like I was shooting up the hill like a bullet. In reality I was only going 12 mph, but I had a good cadence and was not in the lowest gear. Beyond all that, I wasn't horribly winded when I reached the top.

None of this would be impressive to anyone but me. We have a lot of great hill climbers here since we have pretty much nothing but hills around here. But it still felt pretty good.

I love that feeling of surprise that I can do something now that I couldn't do before.

Good on you!

I don't believe you! Clydes can't climb and hills never get easier!:D

That first time realizing you didn't get your butt kicked by the hill that always does is a great thing. Congrats on the win!

I don't believe you! Clydes can't climb and hills never get easier!:D

Do hills get easier? I find that the stronger I get, the more I push myself on any particular hill. For the same effort I may go faster after having put in a lot of climbing time. But the hill never seems any easier.

dlester, you should come over this way and do some of the fun hilly rides! Summits of Bothell, 7 Hills of Kirkland, or even the SiR 100k Mountain Populaire.

I say yes, they get easier. Like you said , you push yourself, that's what makes it hard. I fyou didn;t pus yourself, then it would be easy.:D

I think of it this way. I used to really struggle up a one mile climb when I started riding. Few years later I was doing 10,000 ft of hills. If the first hill had never gotten easier for me, I'd still be out there trying to make it up the first hill.:p

Well, the hill was 'easier' because I had a psychological effect of reserving myself because I had remembered it being so tough. I would put more into it from now on because it isn't intimidating any longer.

But, I would still have to say that no matter how I ride up that same hill I would still classify it as 'easier' now. Even if I put everything I had into climbing it, it will be easier because I am going to get to the top of it much faster.

Congratulations! Had a similar experience when I realized I was spinning up hills that used to put me in huff-n-puff mode. Feels good!