Unexpected climbs!!

Get more appropriate gears.

i think the saying goes "hills don't get any easier, you just get faster". So, if you are looking to go up hills better then the best way is to go up them more often. Look at the pros doing TdF climbs, none of them are smiling but they are just going faster than you would. As Jibberjim says, the right gears make a big difference but so does technique...and practice makes more of a difference (as that will help you make the rigth gear selection too).

I have learned the hard way of knowing where my own red line is and ways to deal with it (the redline being the point which you are max suffering and which is unsustainable for any length of time). You cannot push through the redline so you need to know when/how to back off and still maintain momentum. This really applies to hills you cannot climb but the advice still holds for hills you struggle with.

If the hill has some variations then try to use these to your advantage (I stand where I need to, sit where I can or vary to keep fresh and for the hell of it). Same goes for gear changes, if I stand and feel it getting easier, I often go up a gear as that greatly increases speed but equally I am not afraid to drop a gear when sitting to make the cadence feel right and more sustainable. If you are struggling mid-climb then learn how to handle a bike at slow speeds on a steep incline (without weaving all over the place) and use patience as the magic ingredient.

Pick a hill you currently struggle with and do it once a week until you don't struggle with it. Then, do it twice in one session before moving on to the next challenge. BR has a few good articles about technique and there are a few threads on here so have a shufty around. Learn to enjoy the suffering

The big mistake is trying to avoid them in the first place. Hills are an enevitable part of cycling so the more you do the easier/faster it gets.

You need to think about your fitness if you have to knock 20 miles off your ride just because you had to ride up one hard hill and have a lie down at the top! :shock:

ineedalager wrote:

It will come in time try and put a couple of hills in your regular rides the more of them you do the quicker you will get to the top the tough ones never get any easier but the small hills are a piece of cake when you do enough of them.
Have a look at your gears there's a sticky at the top of this section on gears makes good reading. You may need to change the cassette to help you until you get fitter or if your carrying excess body weight that's going to hinder you on the hills.

One of my regular hills is 17% .8 of a mile long and rises 350ft and 4 years ago when I started MTBing I used to have to walk up it. Then after 18 months of walking it and some weight loss I made it half way up and then pressed on and did the all of it. That was on the granny ring in first gear. A year later I could ride on the big ring on the front in 3rd gear on the back.
I now do hill reps on it and ride that hill 5 times in a row get to the top coast down and ride it again 5 times.

I can now big ringing it up there on the road bike by it still doesn't get any easier. Improving climbing is not going to happen over night it takes lots of hills and time to get better at it. Just pat yourself on the back at getting to the top next time it won't kill you quite as much and you'll have a bit of energy left. If I was you that would be my target do the same route again tackle that hill until you beat it and complete the 50 miler aswell.

Phew!!! +1

Charlie - embrace the hills. Learn to love them and you'll enjoy cycling so much more. Box Hill isn't particularly steep or long so get in a low gear and go up it. It doesn't matter how long it takes, just don't let it beat you.
One of the great things about hills is coming down the other side - you don't get that on the flat.

Hitting the hills / climbs is what its all about for me, your testing yourself a lot more and as they say biking is all mental if your fit enough, you get a massive relieve when you reach the top knowing you can then kill it all the way down

as said the more you climb the easier it gets in theory does nothing for your avg speed

i always hit my biggest hill 40+ miles in on my routes never at the start when im fresh :shock:

It's the expected hills that do me in. Beforehand I end up winding myself up in knots about it and my legs go like lead weights. When I'm actually on the hill it's never as bad as I thought it was going to be, and getting to the top gives a great feeling of achievement, even if I did only wobble up in the lowest gear...

Returning to cycling after several years and with 4 stone of excess baggage I suffered the humiliation of walking a few hills. Some I knew were there but had never appeared hard in my younger days whilst others were roads I'd never ridden and I wasn't sure where the top was which meant I ended up stopping whilst I still had the momentum to unclip safely. I have now re-ridden all but two (on numerous occassions with some of them) and none got the better of me the second time. I'll be ticking off the final two some time soon and know I can do the one comfortably (Symonds Yat Rock - I originally hit it knackered and in the pouring rain so couldn't get traction).

Keep at it and soon you will be actively trying to fit as many hills as possible into your rides - it makes the ride more 'enjoyable'.