How to Tackle Hills
 

I am 63 just started back riding, how do get fit enough to do hills without getting out of breath and feeling like you just can't make it? I have no problem with distance riding, it is the hills that get me.:(

It is real simple. This is what I learned.

Start at the bottom in your easiest gears. Small front chain ring, rear cassette largest cog.

Try to see How Slow You Can GO up the hill,,,not how Fast.

Do not look at the top until you get there.

Have fun, make a game of it.

Once you become stronger it wiil be more fun.

It doesn't matter what strategy you take, except that you have to keep climbing them. Some of us used to be intimidated by freeway overpasses and now are climbing thousands of feet in a ride.

To make hill climbing easier, you have to climb a lot of hills. Keep at it, it will get better.

Thanks so much for the advice. I know not looking at the top of the hill helps, I also try to think about something to get my mind off the hill.

repeat the mantra 'The hill is there,get over it' . Hills are there to keep us humble,to teach us lessons in geography.And sometimes ,walk.

Another thing to take your mind off the hill is to focus on your form. I think it's easy to get sloppy with your pedalling form as you struggle up a hill. When I'm on a long hill I think about my pedalling form -- I do my very best to think about keeping my pedalling smooth, form perfect circles, keep even pressure on the pedals, etc. Gives you something else to think about...

As other have hinted, the biggest challenge is psychological. All the technique in the world, and all the gears in the world won't get you up a hill where you've already decided you can't make it. They can't make a hill easy if you've already decided it's hard. And they can't bring you joy at the top if you've already decided it's miserable.

When I started over again six years ago, I had neither the legs nor the lungs to climb. For a long while I didn't have the will either. I actively avoided climbing. In all the rest of cycling I was willing to do the hard work to improve, except when climbing.

I'd been 35 years between bike rides and I'd smoked for all of them. The upper lobe of my right lung is non-functional due to a motorcycle accident in my youth. When I encountered a climb, my breathing and heart rate took off in ways that frightened me. My breathing frightened those around me.

My second year, on my first organized ride weekend in the Finger Lakes, I learned how truly flat it is where I live. And how embarrassingly poor a climber I was. I resolved to fix that.

I learned the various techniques of climbing. I already had the gears, and the legs had been improving, so it was only a matter of seeking out hills rather than avoiding them.

There's a wintertime group ride in town and that Christmas we were doing hill repeats out of the river gorge. Not one, but two college students on MTBs puked over their bars after the third repeat. I turned my bikepath hybrid around and did a fourth.

The following summer, 14 months after that embarrassing ride in the Finger Lakes, 27 months after first getting on a bike, I rode to the top of the highest paved road in North America.

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...s-crop-960.jpg

In order of importance, what got me there were:

1. determination
2. perseverance
3. practice/training
4. technique
5. equipment
   
   Most of the advice you'll get here will focus on numbers four and five, with a bit of three thrown in. I still maintain that numbers one and two are the most important.
   
   This weekend I began training for what's billed as the toughest century in the east, next month's the Highlander Cycle Tour. On a route where I did two repeats each of five nearby hills, my heart rate averaged 139, and topped out at 166. My L5 threshold is 167 and my max is 181. In plain English, it was a challenging, but comfortable ride.
   
   And I did it with a standard double and my 12-23 "flatlander" cassette.

If you are struggling then you should look into lower gearing.

I like to look up the road as far as I can see (when I am not checking out the view- even racers like scenery). Sometimes I imagine huge rubber bands pulling me up the climb. Mostly I think about my form and how much effort to expend.

The more you climb hills the better you get at it.

As always, tsl, you are one of my heroes.

How to Tackle Hills

Repeatedly and often.

As a 200+ pound rider, I realized years ago that I will never be a fast climber. Lots of hills around here and all the rides seem to go up them, so I kept at it until I started to love the climbing.
I'm more of a spinner than a masher so I use low gears and don't try to grind it out if there is another gear left back there. If I lost some weight I could go up a little faster but I haven't figured out how to do that, apparently.

I can give strategies for getting stronger, but first, try my strategy for not getting demoralized. Before you're painfully out of breath (but not long before), stop and rest. Wait until you catch your breath.

Repeat this until you reach the top.

Others walk up, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

I repeat Hail Mary's in time with my cadence, as I climb the hill.

Note I said "climb." The goal is to get up them. Speed is not important.

The more hills you climb, the better you will get at climbing hills. By climbing often you will gain confidence in your ability. You will get stronger. You will learn which of the techniques and tricks work for you and you will come up with some of your own. You will start looking for more hills to climb rather than avoiding them.

Oxygen is your friend. Find a technique that lets you breathe deeply. I have learned the hard way that staying in the saddle instead of standing up is actually more effective for me. Standing up is more physically demanding, ramps up my heart rate and sucks all the wind out of me. Also, keeping my hands on the top of the handlebars or on the hoods (instead of down in the drops) allows a more upright posture that lets my lungs inflate more fully. Although I have yet to figure out how it is done, I have heard that breathing with the diaphragm, like opera singers do, is the best way to fully inflate your lungs. Also, all advice about using your easiest gears and going slow while you are building up strength should be heeded. The great thing about hills is that there is always a top. Wind in your face....That's another story!! Keep on keeping on. You'll get there.

I'm new to this sport, just started riding in May. I soon learned that climbing really hurts and can be very painful. On my first organized ride, I was quickly dropped on the first hill, then proceeded to struggle on the next 4 climbs. After a break, we hit the biggest climb where I completely ran out of air and had to stop midway to catch my breath. The hill after that I was gasping for air when both legs cramped up, they wouldn't move causing me to to almost fall over before managing to frantically unclip one foot. I was a mess and way over my ability. The people with me thought I would get discouraged and quit. Instead, I vowed to get stronger and also get some help by changing gearing.

I started doing short intervals; max effort for 1 minute with 1 minute easy spinning, followed by 30 seconds max effort then 30 sec. easy spinning, then high cadence spinning 100 - 110rpm for 10 minutes, followed with 15 minutes light spinning. Then repeat up to 3 times.

The gearing - I kept the 50/34 compact cranks and changed the rear cogs from 12-25 to 11-34. Yup, figured why not get the training wheels for an out of shape newbie. Now I have gearing for any situation and really like having such a large range.

My son also taught me how to breath when climbing and I think this has really helped. Instead of focusing on breathing in, he said focus on breathing out quickly. The idea is quick breaths out means even quicker breaths in since you'll always take in air. Except you only focus on exhaling. Now when faced with a big climb, I get in the right gears and just concentrate on breathing out. This has helped immensely and allowed me to climb 2 miles on a 10% grade.

I've improved some over that first organized ride. So two weeks ago I went back and rode that same route again starting from my house, which makes this a longer ride. I rode every hill without stopping and climbed most hills using only the 24 or 26 rear cog and dropped into the 30 cog only once. Total miles was 72, another personal best.

So don't give up, take it slow, get the gearing you need and focus on your breathing.

Best of luck....

Is this a record? Fifteen responses each one of them constructive and helpful.

My little trick on hills is to go full out for the last hundred yards or so to enjoy the sweet feeling of victory.

*Try not to "death grip" your bars. It becomes more difficult not to do this as the gradient of the hill increases.

*Ride on the hoods, just behind the hoods, or on the bar tops. Keep a more upright posture to open your chest and improve your breathing.

*Try not to go into your lowest gear immediately if you can avoid it. It helps sometimes knowing that you have the "granny" gear in reserve.

*Think to yourself, "I only have to get to that tree/sign/mailbox". Once it you make it to that point, pick a another.

*Move forward or rearward on your saddle to use your quads or hamstrings for more power as needed.

*Don't weave back and forth. You're making the climb longer.

Climbing is not a skill you were born with; it needs to be learned. The eastern end of the local bike trail ends with a short climb of approximately 6-7%. In 2008, I could barely make it up in a 30/25 gear. Now I typically do it using a 50/25. In preparation for a 70 mile/7000' gain ride last year, I think I climbed 18000' in nine days.
More hills will make you fitter, faster. Keep at it and don't give up.

I've tried wearing our local mountain down, but that hasn't worked... yet (I'm stubborn and still trying). It's still as long and steep as ever; however, crossing over it and back isn't as daunting a task as it once was. The first time I tried the whole mountain, I bonked on the way back over, sat under a shade tree on two different occasions, and finally made it back to the vehicle.

I have, however, done a lot of what has been recommended here, and those things do work.

I know this is blatant heresy in these parts, but I have a triple chain ring and a 12-27 cassette. I set a steady, sustainable pace/cadence and breathing pattern (for me) and do my best to stay with it. For most of the climb over and back, I don't use my lowest two cogs any more. I make sure I'm well fueled and hydrated along the way.

Stay with it!

There's lots of great advice above. I suggest finding a short little hill in your area that taxes you. Ride it repeatedly as often as you can... but don't ruin your fun in the process. Spending some time in the upper registers of your heart rate, even on the flats, is also helpful in the long run.

Use my scientific method:

Gear down
Go slow
leave your ego at the bottom

I guess that's not exactly "tackling" is it?

Marc

I like the idea mentioned several times already of setting "way marks" as you climb.

When I first started riding I would pick a sign, telephone pole or what have you and aim for that. When I made it that far up the hill, without collapsing into the ditch, I would add the next item as my new goal.

I remember one stretch of a particularly bad hill where I was counting beer cans in the weeds.

"I can make it to the Bud Light can, today - I know I can!"

Sometimes, when struggling up a hill, I will spot something, like a mailbox for example, several yards ahead and imagine throwing a lasso around it and pulling myself up to it. Then I'll look ahead for another object and repeat until I get up the hill.
There is one hill I ride fairly often that I have learned shift points on. It begins abruptly, so I work down into 34/28 as soon as I start slowing. I know that once I reach a certain mailbox, I can shift up once. At a certain driveway, I can shift again and then again at a power pole. The road briefly flattens as it passes a side street, and if I'm feeling strong I can shift into the big ring and build enough speed to stay in the 50/24 over the next rise and be really sailing along by the time I top the hill.

So many great suggestions -- and the post above covers a great range of the many aspects leading to incremental success.
*"Baby steps, Bob." Start by finding a hill that's not too steep or too long. Conquer it. On subsequent rides, do it twice. Then three times. Then do it in a higher gear, so that you have a "bail out" gear when your legs or lungs need a break.
After a couple weeks of defeating that hill, over and over, you'll have built your confidence.

*Bigger steps. As your legs & lungs and confidence increase, find another hill that's a bit more of a challenge. Using the same 'battle plan', conquer that hill.

*Remember that your body needs rest & recovery in order to get stronger. Make sure that you're not trying to "kill the hill" every day. As you begin your hill-conquering experience, allow several days between attempts. Alternate hard/easy days or long/short days or ride/rest days. Build on success but embrace your limitations and then push those limitations.

*Mental Mantras help! Find something that you can repeat -- out loud or silently -- that has a good rhythm and goes with your cadence, and that reinforces your determination. Years ago when I was a runner I found that some hills got defeated with "...and mile to go before I sleep". Shorter or longer, make it personal and focus. "Oh...yes...I...can..."

You can do it!

The lasso idea! I forgot that one. :)

And another great point here; if you know the hill, you know where you can shift up, maybe reach a false flat or a brief dip and build momentum for the next incline. The worst part of any climb is not knowing when it's going to end. After a few trips up any given hill you'll have a better idea what to expect.

I'm currently helping lead a series of rides with a local club to teach folks the fine art of hills. It's gratifying to see people riding up stuff they never would have thought possible a month ago.