Lots of good replies in this thread.

Power to weight ratio is the name of the game in climbing, as well as increasing lean muscle mass and reducing body fat....which takes a lot of hard work and effort. To effectively lose weight, combine weight training (upper body as well as lower body) with cycling this winter. Concentrate on good form, and keeping your repetitions around 10-12....so you can use some weight, but you're not trying to overload your muscles with really heavy weight and 4-6 reps.

I had to stop running a couple years back, as I had stopped riding prior to that and wanted to complete a marathon. To make a long story short, I got injured, and had to stop running. Ballooned up to 180 pounds (5'7"), my heaviest ever. With riding and somewhat watching my diet (although not that strict), I got down to around 162 pounds in about a year. Now, this winter I have added weightlifting back in (I've lifted on and off since the age of 13), and I'm down to around 155 pounds. Back when I was in my "prime", I was 135 pounds.....and while I probably will never see that again, I would be happy with 145 pounds, possibly 140 if I'm really motivated......

Obviously, I'm climbing faster at 162 than I was at 180....and even at 155 or so now, I'm noticing that I'm keeping up a fairly easy effort (base season has begun), and climbing at the same speeds on some of the hills that I was killing myself on at 175. It's a kinda weird but nice feeling. Once I get back down to my fighting weight....and hopefully begin racing next season....I should be in fairly decent shape.

Good luck....and remember, hit those weights, the bike, watch the caloric intake, and garbage in = garbage out.