Yeah man just keep at it and you'll naturally find something that works for you. Today I just had a nice little hill breakthrough. Just keep the faith and try to use the bicycle for as many errends as you can and it will come.

Unfortunately, one thing Missouri has in good quantity is hills. Not enormous hills (see "Rockies") but big enough when you're trying to make those wheels go 'round and 'round. And not walk.

I believe you're right, MFPTMUS (lost the o's), I've been trying to ride more hills in the last couple of weeks (instead of so much flat ground, which frankly is harder to find around here) and have come to the realization that there are only a very few that'll make me walk. Or stop. Now I might be spinning up those suckers at 3 mph, but I'm still spinnin'.

It does help. I've been trying to get the hang of letting my shifting match my speed and effort, but I tend to run out of effort and speed before I can find low enough gears. But that's happening less, and I find that many 'rollers' that I used to have to gear down for I can just power over, or the ones I had to spin up on my smallest ring and the biggest cog I can now do with a few gears left over. As for mashing, I try not to do that (that is, if I want to walk the next day).

Tom, if this works correctly, you'll have a picture of my new lovely, Juanita. Of course she's been a little better equipped since this photo, but I'm just trying to get the photo posting thing down. More later.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...s/DCP_1364.jpg

I grew up in the flatlands of Texas. A few years back, we moved to Colorado and I got interested in hiking. Well, for 2 years, we lived right next to a county-owned park, and a service road from that park came within 100 yards of our house. I would get out and hike up that service road every evening, and it was a good uphill road, too. Did in in the dark, did it in the snow, but I did it. And I did get a bunch better at it. Before we moved out of state, I had gone up several of the 14'ers, and had been on the 20 highest peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. I think I went from 42" waist to 38" waist in that time.

It seems to me that the single biggest problem is just sitting around the house. You can have a great workout planned, but, too, you can always find excuses why you can't do it- too dark, to cold, too late, etc. So I see the bike paths around here full of overweight people when the weather is nice, and when it's cold, no one is out. Just get out and do something somewhere anyway.

On the gears- just use whatever works best. Using too high of a gear will just wipe your legs out- you may go up faster, but you won't on that 2nd hill or the 3rd one.