Originally Posted by
Machka
See now ... that's an area where I have a lot of trouble, and which gets me into a lot of trouble on my randonnees. My usual method of climbing involves seeing the hill, and making a plan of attack to get up it. When it is dark, or when the hill continues around the next curve, my energy from the initial plan of attack dissolves and I'm left struggling.
Just assume the hill is infinite and will never end. There is no reason you have to spend any more energy climbing the hill than riding on the flats. The mental aspect is that people focus on how fast they are going instead of just keeping their effort constant. With no external indication of speed you shouldn't even need to care that you are on a hill, especially you crazy long distance folk with the super-low gears.