PITA hills.
 

What is your strategy - Attack, pace, mash, walk, avoid?

I'm sure most of us have at least one or two that make running one ratio a bit interesting.

Your poll lacks one possibility, namely N/A.

don't be such a *****. i take on the steepest hills ATX has to offer. Going down them w/o brakes is another story, though haha

I avoid going down big ass hills to avoid using my brake too much. In SLC it's pretty easy to use roundabout ways to make descents/accents less dreadful, so my main strategy is avoid. If I have to go up a big hill then I mash

If your answer is N/A then just don't vote.

There are a couple streets out here that are just too much for me, even at 38x17. Actually, there is one that I have only been able to conquer on a 1:1 baby gear on a geared road bike with mtb triple crank.

I hate having to avoid, but taking a stepped approach, or going the long way around is often easier, even with gears.

http://www.amitycreek.com/photograph...e_W_Duluth.jpg

I live at the top of a very steep hill. I don't gear my FG just so I can ride up that one hill. I walk that hill, unless I'm on one of my geared bikes.

Are you Republican?

I use to mash here in Seattle, but lately I've been trying to pace, climbing without leaving the saddle. some hills it's just not possible, but I've been getting some pretty good results.

Mash, bro! There's only one "uphill section," thanks to the Florida DOT engineers, but I stand up and mash it on my way home everyday.

what's the difference between mash and attack?

Suppose I should have elaborated, attack with speed/spin keeping rpms up/making you puke when you crest.

^
ah.

I got one hill that I have to hit every time I leave my house. I usually tell myself that I'm going to pace myself up it, but most of the time once I get there I just go all bezerker and start to attack it. Occasionally I will finish it strong (it's a little over a mile long) but generally I end up mashing up the last 3/4s of it. Some days I just feel superhuman, others I wonder why I feel so weak. There doesn't seem to be anything in between.

For me, attacking is only good for short steep hills - can be very satisfying but most of the time I am out on longer rides and I usually climb those with the mindset that theres still a long ways to go so I work on conserving energy

Those are called sprinter's hills, and they cannot take more than a minute to complete or I just blow up completely. Anything longer requires keeping my heartrate below 85% of my maximum. Actually, I use hill interval repeats as part of my training. Of course, there's no way I'd make it up the OP's hill in my FG gearing.

I take the scenic route.

I start playing Dragonforce and it takes care of itself

awesome. this almost makes me want to start listening to music while riding. almost.

Stand and get in the rhythm. Best way to climb on a FG. And it feels good too.

How about attacking the bottom part of the hill, then as you slow down, start mashing?

This works too, though:

Dismount and run up cyclocross style.

There are a few 30% hills out here, this makes me curious if anyone has done it fixed gear

Depends on the hill. If it's short, I attack. If it's average, I mash. If it's longer, I pace.

Running ~80GI, there are some hills where an attack is the only option.

Luckily, I live in a town flat enough that I rarely have to deal with major hills.

Major Taylor would mash up crazy hills to train on track gearings.