Originally Posted by Anthony8858
I'll try to answer all questions:
I have a 2007 Specialized Elite road bike. When facing a hill, I do change my gearing to something with a higher spin, but my HR shoots to almost 100%....then I'm done. As soon as I get out of my "comfort zone" of 70-75% HR, I IMMEDIATELY burn out. It's so frustrating!
OTOH, On flat terrain, I could maintain 70-75% HR for 30-40 minutes (or more) without issue.
My schedule allows me to ride either early mornings or evenings for about 30 minutes, and I'm going 4 times a week.
Your posts are very encouraging, and much needed. Thank you.
Here's the fun part....What goes UP, must come down. Yesterday, I managed to scale the hill that's been killing my ride. I took your advice, and took a break or two half way up, and eventually made it to the top. ( I felt like jumping up and down while listening to the "Rocky theme" ) At that point, I turned around and rolled all the way home. :-)
To give you an idea how steep that SOB is....I managed to ROLL down that hill up to a speed of 50mph! It was the most exhilarating feeling I've had in 15 years!
Well done! Sounds like a steep hill, but I'm sure you'll be able to cycle up it without stopping before the end of Summer.
Do you know what the gearing is on your bike?