ColonelJLloyd 

Finally a helpful answer.

I kid. Some good stuff so far. Thanks!

P_M

No downhiller has chimed in yet with "chairlift".

khatfull

My paradigm too...and with gravity you get a boost in speed along with the rest. The average speed on my after dinner loop went up 2mph when I started doing this.

And again, not for climbs....climbs are long, hills are short.

Maddox

Clembuterol steaks?

That video is incredible. I love the part where he talked about moving your jaw, dropping your shoulders, and wiggling your fingers to avoid tensing. I've been doing that a lot recently, and never realized WHY I'm wiggling my fingers...

fender1

Stop being such a baby.....man up & pedal!

jan nikolajsen 

Hate rollers, so I read many of the tips above with great interest. Luckily most inclines around here are miles and miles long. For those you need endurance more than explosive speed, even though both can be handy to reach the top ASAP.

Say you have 6 mile hill with a 6-8% grade, but cruxing at 12% in a couple of places. Before getting to the base I try to find some flattish stretches to get a few minutes of low impact spinning to recover from the previous miles. Drink a little, maybe a gel.

Then I get my head ready. Feeling strong today? Or maybe things aren't flowing? If it's a good day then I ramp it up from the get go, pretty much convinced that I love the pain. Most likely the climb will be awesome with that attitude. Otherwise I approach with some apprehension, slowly warming up to the strain, sitting a bunch, lower gear.

With a fast pace I switch between short stretches of standing and longer sits. If there's a little bulge I use that as an excuse to get out of the saddle initially instead of gearing down. Helps spreading the load. As I go back in the saddle, in that short moment of letting up a little, I downshift.

When standing I really focus on keeping my heels low to use my calves.

Right before getting to the 12% steps I will want to eek out a small breather by slowing down just a hair. For this really steep stuff I almost always stand for the duration, with focus on getting into a sustainable rhythm. Blowing up in the middle of the maximum grade is painful.

Climbing huge hills confidently and fast takes a good deal of practice. The more you do them the smaller they get!

The ideal climbing bike, we are being told, is stiff in BB area and light - with the lightness focused in the wheels. My Merckx Corsa Extra gets the job done so much faster than my Woodrup Giro. The EM is several pounds lighter, steeper headtube, more aggressive riding position. It also lacks the ultra low bail out gears, forcing me to maintain a higher speed.

20grit

I'm actually very much the opposite on a MTB by the way. I generally take things a bit easier on down hills and the right before the hill pick up and power through.

rat fink

Keeping in mind that most climbs I do are multi-mile climbs, I do a little bit of everything. I usually gear for a specific steepness based on what my legs are telling me. The steeper the average grade, the more often I have to change my plan of attack. Right now, I have my main bike with a 39-25 low gear and my secondary bike with a 39-28 low. I'm not a masher, but I do tend to spin big gears. If I'm in a gear that I can't stay on top of, (in other words, if my gear is too hard for me be able to sustain above a certain minimum RPM), then I will change down a gear, usually before that happens so that I can be more efficient.

due ruote 

Dang. I only wish there were some hills around here. The only bright side is I get to run corncobs, which look cool.

lostarchitect 

I get up a lot of speed before I hit the uphill if I can, but once I'm there I shift down and putt-putt up in a low gear. Which still tires me out.

khatfull

Best reply yet!

Doohickie

Be careful what you wish for.

Ex Pres 

Attack a hill? No, they attack me.

I'm much more of a flatlander, but I live in the foothills. Tomorrow my group is going on a local sufferfest (for me, anyway), climbing multiple 2 to 3 milers with grades mostly 6 -12%. I'll be OTB/ last or near last over each & every hill [except maybe the shallow one that's only ~4% max]. So I'll have to suffer going down hills to catch back on to the group. Rest? I do get to rest on the flatter sections, but I'll be so burnt from the climbs even that won't be like normal days.

So do I have any hints? - yea, don't be old, overweight and on hypertension medication.

20grit

Didn't ride much during your time in Blacksburg, eh?

Ex Pres 

Used to ride down to the River and back, and we had a loop that headed N first (a screaming downhill) and then E around Blacksburg. But that was in the late 70's, and 40# ago. Not that I was really any good on hills then, either.

jptwins

+1

I like to hit the beginning of the hill with some momentum, but if i'm too exhausted from the previous hill, there's not much energy left over.

On my rolling hill rides, i've started sprinting up the hills, and have noticed that the hills are becoming easier and easier. no, not "easy", but certainly more enjoyable!

20grit

I really find I'm much more exhausted at the top of a hill if I try to spin it out in some granny gear than if I mash through it. Maybe I'm just weird.
It really just feels like lower gears suck the energy out of me.

JunkYardBike

I feel the same way, but the longer the ride gets, the more I realize mashing is more taxing on the muscles. You can sit and spin all day for miles and miles.

Shorter, faster rides with more standing on the pedals does seem to help with strength, great for training for those long spinning rides.

EDIT: pretty much what bobbycorno said.

noglider 

I re-read your post, Justin. Honestly, my way of attacking hills is by using a gear that isn't too low. Some have pointed out that you develop technique if you have a single speed. That's pretty much true, and it's similar whether you have a freewheeling or a fixed single speed. Now that I'm good at hills, I don't need that kind of bike to teach me the technique. My approach is to equip my bike without a granny gear and to try as hard as possible to NOT use the lowest gears that my bike has. This forces me to pedal hard, and if I do it enough, my strength will eventually rise to be able to do the job I'm trying to do.

That's why I chuckle when I hear about "needing" a certain gear size and it's much lower than anything I've had, even when hauling lots of weight. Sure, it's nice to have if you don't want to suffer while climbing, but it's not going to build strength, nor will it make you feel strong.

And I gather building strength and feeling strong are the words between the lines in your question. I don't think you're asking how to survive killer hills. If you were asking that, I'd say get a lower gear.

Velognome 

I've learned a few lessons as of late:

Observing Zaphod B. I learned that posture is very important. He keeps a very straight spine and open chest. The engines gotta breath!

nlerner ( without consent or awarness) schooled me in the virtures of momentum. Riding at a pace just above leasurely spin; rollers disappear and small hills are conqured with a quick moment out of the saddle just to keep the momentum

And finally the Weekend Warriors; they like to fly past me as I'm enjoying the scenery; but when we hit a grade, they stay in their high gears and mash away regardless of the lenght of the climb. I always smile when I catch up, still in my saddle, spinning away.

I guess I've learned:

1- Keep your chest cavity open for efficientcy.
2- Momentum is your friend, and standing to keep it on short climbs is worth while.
3- Sit and spin to keep the momentum you've already got.
4- When you exhausted 1,2 & 3- it's time to walk.

shrinkboy

in order to win in the TT's, Big Mig had to not lose time in the climbs-- and so, while not a 'climber' as such, he nevertheless developed the capacity to stay where he needed to be, which was at the front-- i believe i recall reading that while 6'2"/3", he eventually worked his weight down to the 170s

wrk101

+1 I spin. Eventually, I run out of air. At that point, I pull over, might only be for 15 to 20 seconds, and then back on it.

Around here, hills are easy to find. I've got plenty, they start within 50 feet of my door (I have just about the only flat lot in town).

I've developed a couple of training routes, with pretty steep hills (for me). Its a way to measure progress, or the lack thereof. Of course, conditions outside can make any hill harder or easier. Been avoiding one for a while, I need to try it next week. Should be sobering...

Based on my performance on hills, just watch whatever I am doing, and do the opposite, that should work very well for you.

khatfull

So you both are like me....legs of nothing but slow-twitch muscle. I'm not a good sprinter, but I can go on forever with a lot of continuous muscle tension.

When I was on the trainer last winter I played around. I have a Kurt so it's easy to get a constant resistance with a constant speed. On several different days I spun 20mph at 75rpm, then at 20mph at 100rpm for 20 minutes or so at a time. Enough for my heart rate to level off to the exertion. One day I did 75 first, some days 100. In all cases the 75rpm (and lower) kept my heart rate up to 20% lower than the 100rpm. I could hold the same speed for the same length of time but it was far less taxing on me to do the lower cadence.

When I transferred that to road riding it played true as well. Since then I call myself a masher

-holiday76

i attack hills with my mind. Sometimes i crush them with my fingers like this:



I always win. Always.

cycle_maven

Even though I'm a Clyde, I will typically pick up about 2-3 seconds over better climbers by attacking over the top of the hill! When the hill starts getting flatter is when you want your speed up, which carries into the downhill stretch (where I have an advantage due to avoirdupois). Loafing and resting over the top is a good way to lose time, no matter how you actually climb.