Originally Posted by
fat_bike_nut
One thing I've noticed that's helped me with hill-climbing that hasn't been mentioned so far is BREATHING. I find that I can maintain a good pace on a slightly harder than optimal gear going up hills when I can control my breathing rate. Also, I remember in another thread related to hill climbing that paying attention to your breathing rate helps you figure out when you need to shift to an easier gear during the middle of your climbs.
Definitely this. I've been riding a lot of hills recently on my fixed gear bike, including many that I thought were way out of my league running single speed. I've found the best thing to do is focus on steady breathing and not elevating my heart rate. If I feel my heart start working harder, I slow down. I actually tend to climb faster when maintaining an "all-day" pace like this than I do when I try go aggro and just muscle up a hill.