seagullplayer

I never see this talked about, so I am just going to admit, there have been times when I got off my bike and pushed it up a hill! There I said it.

It is true I have only been back on a bike for a short time after an almost 30-year hiatus, but even back then I would push a hill now and then.

Are there other closet pushers out there?

Would I be shunned by the biking community at large if word got out?

Machka 

Yeah ... so?

JoelS

I haven't had to yet, but I will if the situation/grade warrants it.

Zan

only got off when mountain biking... the slope was too slippery to climb .

NEVER ON THE ROADS!!!!

but, i wouldn't be ashamed of it. When i ride with my buddies and we encounter the steepest slopes they usually get off and walk. I act stubbornly, refuse, and ride to the top, where i usually dismount and wait .

Retro Grouch 

I've done some mountain bike rides in which I had to push my bike up so many hills that I wondered why I bothered bringing it.

CbadRider

When I first started commuting there was a very large, long hill right before I got to work that I had to walk up several times. I remember the first day I made it up without having to walk - I thought I was going to pass out, but I was thrilled. Now 6 years later the hill doesn't even phase me.

You'll get stronger, just keep riding.

jgedwa

Or, you will get older and weaker, like I have.

I have been known to walk a hill or two.

j

jaxgtr

And you point is??? If you have to walk up a hill it's no disgrace. I live in very flat Florida and on occasion on a long ride a simple 100 ft bridge might give me problems after 40-50 miles and I might have to push it up the bridge. No shame in that. Just keep trying, get stronger and you will be riding up that hill in no time.

chicbicyclist

I do it all the time. My bike is a 45 lbs tank. I 'd rather push than ride anything else!

Siu Blue Wind

And over time that walk will get shorter and shorter.....

Zephyr11

I've pushed mountain bikes up hills. I've also pushed them over features I couldn't ride.

On road...well, I pushed my 24" SS DJ up a hill today (yes, I occasionally commute on a 24" SS DJ).

StephenH

Actually, riding a single-speed cruiser, I think I've only pushed it up a hill twice time. What I have done, lots of times, is stop halfway up a hill and rest my legs a minute, then get back on and ride.

Basically, if you can't go up because you're tired, the stop-and-rest method works. If you can't go up because the dang thing is just too steep to pedal, thats when you walk up.

The two times I've pushed it up a hill, was on very short hills, not more than maybe 30' high, but they were steep. I might have made it up either with a bit more speed. But on the first, I was standing on the pedals and came to a standstill. On the second, I was tired when I got to it. A 50' walk did the trick in either case.

jmack

I've read somewhere on this forum that walking is good for bone density. Maybe you're just working on that.

CCrew

+1 Would be funny if it wasn't so true! LOL

chrisch

I've also walked down hills that were too steep. Nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, some bikes are not well suited for hills: It greatly depends on your gears.

rbrian

On one particularly memorable "ride" I pushed up maybe half the hills which were just too darn rocky to ride. Then, I pushed most of the way down the other side, because they were too darn rocky to ride.

Reading the guide book a little more thoroughly afterwards, I discovered that the guy who wrote the book didn't actually try riding his route...

Zephyr11

Now that I won't do...I just fall down them instead.

Pat

There ain't a hill in the world that I can not walk!

No it is no disgrace. I have seen people kill themselves trying to climb steep hills. It makes more sense to get off and walk the dern thing so you have something in your legs for the rest of the ride. That being said, I have not walked a hill in years, but then again, I am a cycling fool. See, there are benefits to insanity!!! Hoo rah!!!

If you keep at your conditioning and get the right gearing, you should be able to climb the hills if that is important to you. If it isn't, well it isn't. There is more to life and cycling than hill climbing.

mawtangent

I think occationally walking up a hill can be a good thing (especially if you are prone to "pulling" muscles or having sore muscles after exercise. Walking for a bit seems to let my muscles relax and have a break from being in the "cycling" position. I usually am refreshed after just walking a couple hundred feet. Actually the walking would do this for me even if it wasn't uphill but it seems like a good time to take a break from riding (while I'm pointed uphill).

Having said that, I don't walk up hills nearly as much as I used to. For one thing I'm slow on the bike already, and I don't want to get where I'm going any slower by going 3-4 mph walking speed. There is one short 30-foot, but very steep, uneven, grassy/soft-dirt, hilly "shortcut" that I almost always walk. Usually though if I'm feeling winded and my muscles feel "tight" I am more likely to just stop, get off the bike, do a couple of quats while semi-pretending to look at my tires, get a drink of water, etc., and then in a minute or two I feel ready to go again.

seagullplayer

Two weeks ago I rode a very rural trip of about 8 miles, I pushed two hills.

Saturday I repeated the trip and only pushed one of them.

A biker I know told me he now hunts hills to climb, I am never seeing that in my future...

Thanks for all the replays, and positive support!

joe_5700

I know what the OP is talking about. I have only had to walk my bike up a hill once. On a long ride in 95 degree heat, I was riding on roads that I thought were paved (plotted the route online) but were not. On my way back going up several steep and loose gravel hills, I had to get off my bike (my hybrid) and push on the very last one. I felt like a complete and utter failure. I really did....

JimF22003

On last year's BikeVirginia ride in SW VA/Tennesee (I don't remember which) they had a section of hill where they required all the riders to get off and walk. It was seriously steep. They were worried about the carnage from riders wobbling up the road, not able get out of the pedals etc.

If I were doing it myself I certainly would have tried it, but I'm not sure I would have made it or not.

My story is that it would have been a cakewalk

capejohn

A lot of women and older men have to do that. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

hockey4mnhs

It depends on what kind of bike you have i can see myself doing it with a single gear bike but not with my road bike since it has so many gears.

KitN

So far I haven't had to but there's not shame in walking your up a steep hill.

I've stopped to ask people if they are ok or need any help -- for all I know the reason why they are walking the bike up is because of a flat, a mechanical problem, they're dehydrated or hungry or if they are hurt.