Originally Posted by freighttraininguphill

I feel your pain. I'm still trying to lose weight, so my climbing sucks. I'm 5' 4" and 155 pounds. That means I'm hauling 30 pounds of useless blubber up every hill. Here's one of my videos from 4-10. This is Ridgeview Drive in El Dorado Hills, CA.

I had just put an 11-34 cassette and 24-tooth small chainring on my Specialized Sirrus hybrid, so I figured what better way to test it out than by climbing a steep hill I've never ridden before. This one had a lot of 13% and a maximum of 17% according to my Garmin. I think I managed to stay in the second to lowest gear though. I've ridden this bike on several other steep climbs since this video and so far I haven't had to use the lowest gear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UoYR4Awhfk