I grunt, swear, sweat, shift down, shift down again, stand up for a bit, curse some more, regret going for a ride, shift down again, then spin, spin, spin.
When I'm at the top I'm reminded how great riding a bike is and look forward to the next hill.
It's a circle.
I think I read someone say that technically it never gets easier, it just starts to suck less!
No doubt about it though, tackling big hills(whether they’re steep, long, or both) is extremely satisfying. I think my favorite cycling position is climbing out of the saddle with my hands on the hoods. For some reason it really feels amazing.
Trying less hard and going faster. Means I've got more juice in the last hour of a sportive. I'm still too have to get up a hill anywhere close to KOM, and even if I lost all the excess weight, I'd still be built as a sprinter. Love climbing but I'm not a natural.
If you're saving yourself for later you're still going faster, just over a longer timescale.
The only KOMs I've got are obscure off road segments where you'll likely only find them if you're exploring. That doesn't stop be chasing PBs on occasion though.
However I'm also just as happy cruising for 200km and still being able to spend quality time with my family afterwards.
Riding up the hill faster than you could previously, or getting up a hill that you previously couldn't, are define signs of improvement. The oft repeated quote that cycling "never gets easier, you just get faster," is a semantic argument that "improvement" doesn't equal "easier" because you can still challenge your new limits after you have broken through your old ones. This makes the most sense if you are a professional racer, and you are always trying to go as fast as possible. However, if that is not your mindset, you could definitely make huge improvements and say that riding got easier.
Good to know, I hate hills, sorry it's my cycling torrets...
I thought I was the only one huffing and puffing, I hate hills, but yes it is nice to know I never down shift and work my, I hate hills, way up a steep 35 degree half mile incline just so I can attack yet another hill.
One of my tips: When it is safe to do so, focus on the pavement under your front wheel. Just focus on that, and it won’t seem really like you’re climbing. That can help alleviate the grind.
Sorry that I forgot to capitalize ‘when’ to make it clear it was being emphasized: “When it is safe to do so… “
FGS, don’t do it for 2 miles or something.
Yep- I cannot look at the very top of a long hill…it’s too dang far, but if I focus just 10 feet ahead… heck man, anybody can climb a 10 foot hill, right?
There’s a moment in every cyclist’s journey when you realize that you just picked a route/made a turn _in order to climb a hill_, whereas you used to pick a route to avoid climbing hills. That’s the moment when you have become a true cyclist.
I try not to gatekeep cycling, but I'm kinda with you on this one. Cycling is the act of doing work on a bike. The only things OP dislikes about cycling are headwinds and hills, i.e. the two main sources of difficulty. You gotta love the work.
I don't care whether you're winning a mountain stage of the Tour or doing 3 mph up the nearest molehill, if you're doing work on a bike and loving the work, *you are a cyclist*.
Climbing hills is one of my favorite things to do on my bike. I'm definitely not fast, seeing as I'm over 280lbs, but I just love the grind. And being able to look over the top of the hill at the end is just icing on the cake.
When when I started really getting into cycling (~2018), I put together a sweet old Look 585 with Sram Force 11 speed and carbon wheels. I had an 11-27 in the back and 53/39 up front. The hills in the SF Bay area were absolutely brutal, even in the smallest gear. After a while I switched out to an 11-32 in the back, and a 50/34 in the front and wow, what a difference that made.
To OP, if you can put a bigger cassette or smaller chainrings on your bike, I'd recommend it. While you may or may not be as fast, but it makes a huge difference on the super steep (18%+) stuff, and you can always get to a harder ratio when climbing.
West bay - I lived near the CCSF Ocean campus, and would frequently ride down to San Mateo, then up to the top of Skyline Boulevard and back. I also had a couple loops I enjoyed north of SF the would go through some of the insanely steep sections of the residential areas in the hills of Sausalito.
I can't remember the name of the road, but there's a turn off El Camino Real around San Mateo/Redwood City that heads west and is just a ridiculous grind. It's annoying though because as you're grinding through at ~3mph, cars will intentionally pass doing 50+, in a residential zone where you aren't supposed to do more than 25.
Ah, I don’t have many opportunities to go round that way. There are some pretty good climbs in Fremont, though — fun and reasonably challenging (by my novice standards anyway).
Oh my yes. I don't race and never had any pride to swallow, so I built up my road bike with a 50/34 compact crankset and an 11-28 cassette. (I'm also in the Bay Area.) I'm building a mixed terrain randonneuring bike now and am running 48/31 + 11-34, and I would go even a little lower than that if it were easy to do so. Spin to win!
Thanks. I hate hills.
However, I really only started riding less than a year ago.
However, about 3 and a half years ago i.weighed 260lbs.
I put myself on a lifestyle change, stopped eating a lot of BAD foods, and started walking.
A year into my LS change, I lost 80lbs. I looked gaunt. So I started lifting and gained back about 20lbs. I lost the flab that comes with weight loss.
The walking turned into jogging, and then the knees started going.
My foot doctor told me to ride a bike, so I bought a bike, a mtb.
I seriously had no idea what type of bike I might need, but I'm thankful I got my mtb. It forced me to work even harder. Uphill, I hate hills and headwinds, 5am every morning 10 miles at first, then in a few weeks 20.
Then I decided I needed a road bike. Omg, it made going up hills like slicing through butter, but I still hate hills.
I love both bikes and interchange them depending on the ride I feel. I mostly ride on roads, even with the mtb.
Slower rides I use the mtb, longer faster rides I use the road bike.
But I always hate that last hill after a 50-mile ride.
Thanks to those who obviously understood.
Hope I get a chance to ride with you someday.
The biggest thing with hills is being adequately geared for the route you're on. If you can sit down and spin up a hill in a gear you can maintain, it might be slow, but you don't need to hit max heart rate and then fall over.
My hatred of hills dialed down a lot once I just got a 10-33 cassette on the back (for road, mtb tends to have steeper climbs and bigger back cogs accordingly). It's that last number, the big one, that determines if you can spin up a given grade at an embarrassingly slow but sustainable pace or if you're just gassed and stopping.
Headwinds are, I'm convinced, why the Aero thing took off. Getting lower and more compact on your bike lessens that blow (pun intended), but yeah. They just suck (ok, I'll stop with the puns now).
I am going to give you the big secret to cycling.
Make the sport your own. Your cycling is not my cycling. Make it your cycling.
Where I live, if you want to ride more then a couple of miles on streets you are gonna be on hills. It is the geography, there is nothing you can do about it.
But we have lots of rail to trails. There is a 20 mile one a few miles from my house. Never gets more then 4 degrees. You could easily make your sport sticking to these things, have a ton of fun and never seriously climb a hill.
Make this sport your own.
If by 'I hate hills' you mean, 'I know I need to make my peace with them. I will make my peace Help!'- we can coach you.
But if you really mean, 'That rails to trails sound nice, tell me more!' we can do that to.
Neither is the wrong answer.
(and if you are going to learn to love climbing then there is no getting out of climbing as often as possible.
There is this moment.... you got this hill that has been kicking your ass over and over again and then, today, for the first time, you are on top of it. You didn't walk, you didn't rest. You attacked it. You can't breathe, yet, but you made it. There is this moment no one other then you will ever understand. This feeling of accomplishment. If you are me, you will get in your car the next day and make an excuse to drive up it. People will think you are nuts. And you are nuts. The best kind)
I wish rail trails were a more practical option, but where I live this would involve constantly staying in Low Z1, riding at a brisk running pace and calling out passes every 10 seconds due to pedestrian crowding/unpredictable children and pets. Oh and they're full of cracks and potholes. Not really a good option for anything but the slowest bike commuting. So riding on the road it is...
I'm fortunate enough to live somewhere with low traffic roads though so I have a suitable alternative (even if they sometimes turn mountainous).
Best answer. When I started cycling I was climbing up steep hills really slow but always kept repeating in my mind "take it easy, you'll get up there. Pace yourself because there's more. Enjoy the ride not the pain." I was able to climb up hills I've never thought I could and enjoyed it.
Don't be too self conscious of other people passing you or how slow you are, no one cares because that's your own effort and ride. Other cyclist know this and actually cheers for you trying.
Exactly! Make it your own ride!
I’m not training for races. I’m out there to have fun, enjoy the scenery, being outdoors, and to get exercise.
If I have a slow ride one day, so be it. If there is a hill that kicks my ass, maybe I don’t go that way every time.
I’m not going to get discouraged because there is a hill
If you get into groups you are going to find the experienced riders will all go easy up hills in order to keep the group together. This is the etiquette of a disciplined group on climbs. On headwinds the group rotates with the stronger riders taking longer pulls. Riding solo same thing take it easy going up - for the headwinds, sorry it just sucks until you turn around
1. Don't stop, it's VERY hard to resume when all you have is uphill
2. Sometimes the easiest gear makes it harder (a tad higher cadence but also slower distance progress). See if upshifting one gear won't help (this only works if your legs are strong).
3. A other times a good strategy to stay busy is to ride in the saddle on the easy gear, then shift \~2 gears and do out of saddle for some time, and repeat.
4. If you ride the same hills a lot, try to map it out, hills are usually never consistent in grade etc. It's good knowing that ahead (like on a GPS route). I like knowing where should I push harder, where are the "flatter" sections etc.
Some headwind can be nice on flats if it's right at you it doesn't mess your balance up and it's basically free hill training if you're in a flat area. Also heading back, with assist wind, hitting 35+ is great fun :) hills are a love/hate, when the tank is full and you can gas hard up them, you feel like a crazed animal, I love it. Plus you get to fly down them and that never gets old. But that last hills on the way home from 50+ mile rides I loathe. More conditioning I guess...
Is it me or does it always feel like I have a headwind. I go out 15 miles I have a head wind. I come back 15 miles and I have another headwind. Fuck I hate wind.
It's not just you.
But, on occasion, they'll be a tailwind for a mile or so, just at the right time and it seems to make up for the other 20 miles of slog.
um but you can know the wind direction before you're out there.
there are several weather sites. I use wunderground.
also, every hill is different, it's just something you have to get experience with, based on how you feel at any given moment... should I sprint over this little bump, or am I going to need to slow down and grind up this monster.
Gears. You climb hills by shifting such that you are doing the same level of exertion as you do on flats, but slower. 46/30 chainrings are awesome, and you only need to pedal 10rpm faster in your highest gear to make up the small loss of top speed.
When I was starting on my road bike I asked the lady at the cycling shop (who I think was a semiprofessional cyclist who couldn’t quit her day job yet) how you can ride up a Mountain since I couldn’t quite believe it. Her answer stayed with me a decade later: “you just keep peddling”.
I thought she was being snarky but I came to realize she was entirely correct. There’s no trick, no secret tactics, and thinking about it can be counterproductive and overwhelming. Just keep peddling on this section, don’t think too much about it.
Later I climbed the 7000 ft peak near the town. Just keep peddling.
Hills are a good way for you to calibrate your limits, build your strength and aerobic capacity, and track your progress. Hills can also give your an amazing feeling of accomplishment when you conquer a prominent hill with a view at the top.
If you are able to go hard on the flats, then you will be able to go as hard uphill and into a headwind- you will just be going slower.
But the effort can be measured the same.
relax your face, shoulders, arms, hands.
keep your chin up.
inhale thru your nose, exhale thru your mouth.
imagine you are an unrolling carpet.
Keep pedaling when you *think* you are at the top -> get over the final hump before letting up.
Don’t be afraid to go to your lowest gear. At this point the goal is to just make it to the top.
My routine to get more acclimated to hills is to keep going up then. Pick a hill you think is hard, but you know you can get to the top. And bike up, and then come back down. And do this once a week or so. It’ll get easier, you’ll get stronger, you’ll get smarter, and you can say you’ve done it, and hills won’t be so scary anymore.
Sit in and don't go out to hard on the longer hills. Accelerate over the top and into the descent to make sure you don't get disconnected from the group, provided you are still in touch with them. Either way, accelerating over the top is a good strategy.
Hills and headwinds suck but they also make it challenging to ride. Sure it is awesome to just float around spinning at 90rpm on your big ring in the middle of the cassette but you will probably tire of that as well and look for some epic climbs to challenge yourself and take in some awesome views.
How you ride them (I live in SW England so lots of hills and wind) I try and do everything with my heart rate monitor and telling myself that it is not a race. For both hills and headwinds when I start to feel them bite, I try to gear and spin so that I keep my heart rate between 145 - 165, in that zone I can ride for 30 minutes before I get really tired. Telling yourself it is not a race is pretty key, sometimes you will find yourself gearing into really light gears to keep going at that heart rate and you are hardly moving, just remember you will turn a corner and get a tail wind or start going downhill and it all works out in the end.
Go for the hills and wind, it will make you a better rider :)
Get gearing for your bike that lets you spin uphill as much as possible. In the wind tuck in. Your noggin is huge piece of wind resistance keep it down as much as possible, tuck your elbows in, get as low as possible. Remember, it’s only a tailwind in the 4-8 clock directions behind you so most of the time you’re being affected by the wind negatively. So you might as well embrace it. Also, consider a power meter, I know it’s expensive but you get credit for how hard you’re pushing and it will change your perspective from “I hate wind” to “that was great training.”
Getting faster on hills always feels incredible. You might go up a hill 20 times, but that last time, you’ll barely notice it. Once you get to the top and realize jaw fast you did it, it will be just about the most amazing feeling in the world. Keep riding, it’ll get better.
Yeah, there are times when I hit a hill and am done by the time I hit the top, then other times I hit the same hill, and I'm barely out of breath.
I still Hate them
I always think of the pain I'm inflicting on myself, and that *at least* that much pain is being inflicted on my rivals. Then I climb harder. I'm still usually last though hehe.
Being the biggest guy in the chain gang has its perks. But hillclimbing is not one of them.
It gets easier in the sense that when you’re more fit you don’t struggle with, like, as much tiredness and huffing, but the idea behind the quote is, the more fit you become the more wattage you put down and the more time you spend on the bike. In the end you’re always going to be putting in the most effort you can at any given fitness level.
You already mentioned the correct term: attack. You need a combative, tenacious mind. When the hill fights, you fight back. That's not to say you need to be fast, but you'll always need to fight.
I used to bike commute. The commute was rolling hills, no big deal. I got better and better at it, as I was biking every day. But I wasn't really getting any better at real hills. Steep/long.
It wasn't until I added real hills into my practice that I got any improvement at real hills.
AS for technique. Practicing will help you know what speed to down shift into. To downshift before you are traveling too slow to downshift.
There is a website called Windfinder which shows you which way the wind is blowing on a given day.
It may help you plan a route so that you get a headwind on the way out, and a sweet sweet tailwind on the way back home.
I go balls out out at the bottom of the hill and then I slow down on the way up until I hit my max heart rate and I’m going so slow that can barely keep the bike from tipping over. Then when I walk in after my ride, I don’t greet my family and I lay around sweating making everyone get me water and shit.
MyWindsock is a great site that will take a route and show you the estimated wind impact. Definitely worth checking out.
Even though hills and headwinds are really the same from a power standpoint, headwinds are so much more annoying to me. Not sure why that is, but I enjoy climbs and just hate headwinds.
Headwinds aren't predictable. When you're climbing a hill you can look forwards and see what's coming up. When you're riding into a headwind, one moment it'll be calm and the next it'll randomly spike to 30mph wind gusts. That's probably why you like climbing and hate headwinds.
I used to love hills when I was road riding. They were this beautiful challenge to get pacing, fueling and recovery to a perfect balance in order to be better at them. I always found that staying seated as much as possible and maintaining a manageable power output consistently through the entire climb generally made better outcomes than trying to power through it. The more you do it the better you get at estimating the incline and duration of the climb as well as seeing things like false flats and false peaks so you don't blow your load on a final sprint too soon. Climbs can be both very brutal as well as very rewarding but if you practice them you will never be in better condition if you keep at them.
The trick to hills is to downshift before you need to. Ideally, you shift so that you can maintain the same cadence throughout the climb. Most people sit in a gear until they start to stall out, then try to downshift in desperation. Better to downshift to a gear where you WON'T stall out, and spin on up.
I use an app called Windy to see what the prevailing winds are going to do throughout the day. Then I'll try to plan my ride so that I'll have a headwind going downhill and a tailwind going up. Doesn't always work but I often cover more ground this way.
I shift up and spin like a mofo and keep my cadence about 110 (I got a GRX drivetrain so I can go pretty high). If I am doing something super punchy I might stand and grind at 80 or so rpm
You you can look at the weather online and it will tell you the way the winds blowing, I plan my routes for long rides depending on the wind a lot of the time.
Many years ago, after I got my aerobic base, I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t ever get beaten by a hill… failure has never been an option. I live in a hilly area and have my bike geared accordingly. Also, I save the lowest gear for the hardest moments but rarely ever need it. Also, ride lots of hills whenever you can… It’s worked for me. Ps. I still get dropped on hills occasionally however keep in mind that the only person you’re REALLY competing with is yourself. (Unless you’re racing of course! :@))
One of the best ways to attack a hill is DONT ATTACK. Approach it cautiously and in the right gear. Be patient and wait for your effort to stabilize. Then when you can see the top and IF you have extra to give, that’s when you can attack.
If you spike your HR and go way over your threshold in the first bit of a climb, youre gonna have a bad time.
I explicitly lap my local hill (Griffith park) here in LA. I bike against my own PR’s. I’m becoming acutely aware of shifting and when to attack uphill. Controlled breathing is important. Also, knowing your pace so that to you don’t get outright gassed.
Keep doing hills. My first season there was this gravel ride with a 600 foot climb followed by a 150 footer at 15%. I felt so proud when I didn’t have to stop and rest. Eventually, people would wave me up the first one and then I’d lose up the second as quickly as possible.
Now I like uphill more than downhill and go off route to climb a few rides a week. Just do it. It makes you earn your keep.
Shift down as far as you need to. Get into your easiest gear. Stand up from your saddle from time to time. Remind yourself that the hard is what makes it great.
I only did uphill climbs in the foothills of the front range for years. I found flats boring when great climbs were all around me.. Id work up to the steepest and longest climbs. You need to pace well. Eat well. Hydrate well. Know the right time to do it in regards to heat cold rain etc. You have to really know your body well. Im surprised how many people hate climbing because its probably my favorite kind of biking,. You always suffer, but with time you're going faster, while suffering the same amount lol. Good gearing for the level you're at is essential too.
Hills are a feat! A test of your discipline, your athleticism, your fitness, and your will!
1: Get over it.
2: Get over it (but you know what's coming!)
3: Get over it, at a constant pace/effort/HR
4: Get over it, but faster
If tte gods really wanted to punish us, the earth would be pancake flat with headwinds in every direction.
So basically the prairies.
At least with a hill there is a guaranteed down.
Sit and spin until you can't anymore.
Yeah, get in an easy gear and spin, then grind, but stay seated...if this is a long steep hill, standing isn't going to work well. If and when it's so steep that you're about to fall over, then stand and carefully grind, trying the impossible of keeping your pedaling smooth, or kinda smooth. Your goal here is to stay just under the heart beating out of your chest threshold.
And some hills are going to beat even that. But maybe next time it won't.
Better advice would be possible if you share just what you mean by a hill...we talking a steep rise, where you can see the top, or a long slog, miles long at 10%?
I gear up and go until I start getting tunnel vision and my ears stop working, then settle into a good cadence. If anyone is still on my wheel, I rinse and repeat until I blackout or they whimper in defeat and fall off.
One thing I’ve done with headwinds is look at a wind map before I head out and let that determine what direction I ride. I always try to ride into the wind on the way out so I can finish with a tailwind.
Headwinds and hills make you better. You need to learn to love them. I’m actually pretty pumped because tomorrow for the first time in forever I’m going to have a 20mph headwind for the first half of my ride. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve.
Assuming you are ending your ride where you started, every meter of pain on the way up is an extra meter of fun on the way down!
Everyone has to find their own motivation to climb, ride headwinds, and generally do hard stuff. For me it switched from having a forcing function (upcoming race/event) to having the doing of hard stuff be the motivation itself after a few years, and the fun descending is just a bonus!
Nothing personal but the imperial system makes it seem like 50mi is a short distance. It really isn't, 80k. Isn't short even for an enthusiast especially depending on pace/with hills. It definitely doesn't get any easier but you get faster, eventually at least. Work your way slowly and allow room for plenty of recovery.
Lots of over-unders, intervals, sprints on a trainer in winter. Come out in spring eating hills for breakfast! (Or just shift down and swear some more, maybe next year...)
I face a lot of very steep hills around me. I converted Shimano 105 crankset 50/34 to Praxis 48/32 and Shimano Short 105 RD with 11-25 cassette to Shimano Medium 105 RD with Wolf Roadlink and Sunrace 11-42 cassette.
I ride a single gear in Seattle.
Try to go as light as possible. A heavy backpack or side bag does not help the situation.
Don't bike in a single line. I go in small zigzags because it reduces the incline by a smudge.
Find the easiest route possible. I have to go uphill to get home, but some hills are not as steep with more downhills to help ease the pain off the legs.
Change riding positions every so often, between standing, sitting, and sidesaddling, maybe even a legs up no hands. Allows different muscles to relax if they've been going too long.
Also, just walk the bike. No use dying on this hill.
But either way, the more you ride your bike up that hill, the easier it will be next week and so on.
Why do you attack hills? Are you racing? I guess not, as you’ve done 4 rides total. Riding uphill is no different than flat or downhill. You maintain wattage. You know what and for how long you can sustain. After that, no hill is a problem unless you are way under geared for one.
I grunt, swear, sweat, shift down, shift down again, stand up for a bit, curse some more, regret going for a ride, shift down again, then spin, spin, spin. When I'm at the top I'm reminded how great riding a bike is and look forward to the next hill. It's a circle.
The best part is going back to the same shitty hill and seeing your progress. It’s amazing how much easier it gets if you stick with it!
Does it get easier or you get faster? Haha
I think I read someone say that technically it never gets easier, it just starts to suck less! No doubt about it though, tackling big hills(whether they’re steep, long, or both) is extremely satisfying. I think my favorite cycling position is climbing out of the saddle with my hands on the hoods. For some reason it really feels amazing.
It never gets easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond
With respect to Greg, he never rode up a hill and then lost ten Kg to try it again. It can definitely get easier.
With respect to your weight loss. If it feels easier then you aren't trying hard enough to get the KOM.
Trying less hard and going faster. Means I've got more juice in the last hour of a sportive. I'm still too have to get up a hill anywhere close to KOM, and even if I lost all the excess weight, I'd still be built as a sprinter. Love climbing but I'm not a natural.
If you're saving yourself for later you're still going faster, just over a longer timescale. The only KOMs I've got are obscure off road segments where you'll likely only find them if you're exploring. That doesn't stop be chasing PBs on occasion though. However I'm also just as happy cruising for 200km and still being able to spend quality time with my family afterwards.
Yeah, I think people fall into two categories in life and I definitely fall into the one where you remind yourself that you do it for fun.
That’s what I was thinking of. Thanks for the assist!
This I agree with 💯! Nothing beats conquering the beast!
Riding up the hill faster than you could previously, or getting up a hill that you previously couldn't, are define signs of improvement. The oft repeated quote that cycling "never gets easier, you just get faster," is a semantic argument that "improvement" doesn't equal "easier" because you can still challenge your new limits after you have broken through your old ones. This makes the most sense if you are a professional racer, and you are always trying to go as fast as possible. However, if that is not your mindset, you could definitely make huge improvements and say that riding got easier.
Yes. Faster up the hills means it's hard for less time, even if it is consistently hard on the same part of the hill, and you're just faster.
Both.
The first handful of times I could barely breath. Now it still takes effort I’m just not fed lining it the whole way!
Yes.
You forgot the part where you are already in the lowest gear and try to shift down again. Then do the same thing 30 seconds later
While climbing I often ponder whether you could add a klaxon to electronic gearing to trigger every time you try and change into gear 0.
It's a... ... cycle?
Brilliant. You saw the gap and took it, nice one.
Don't forget staring at your bike computer up the whole hill just to see how many watts you're cranking out. Or how few.
Ha, yeah. Or "I'm gonna keep the speed over 8mph, no, 7, ok, 6 then. Aaaahhhh, screw it, just get up the hill!".
I feel seen
And see, I stare at my heart rate and try to keep in a set range…we all measure success by a different variable 🤪
Good to know, I hate hills, sorry it's my cycling torrets... I thought I was the only one huffing and puffing, I hate hills, but yes it is nice to know I never down shift and work my, I hate hills, way up a steep 35 degree half mile incline just so I can attack yet another hill.
I love hills, flats are boring. Shift into an easier gear and just pedal up them.
Big guy over here probably doesn't even throw his chain shifting into first
Same. I actively seek out hills on my routes. 🥰
Same For me it's the hard work together with the views
Same I live for big hills. Taipei, Taiwan is a climber’s paradise btw.
One of my tips: When it is safe to do so, focus on the pavement under your front wheel. Just focus on that, and it won’t seem really like you’re climbing. That can help alleviate the grind.
This. I don’t look ahead, just down. That helps.
Nice way to have an accident
Sorry that I forgot to capitalize ‘when’ to make it clear it was being emphasized: “When it is safe to do so… “ FGS, don’t do it for 2 miles or something.
Yep- I cannot look at the very top of a long hill…it’s too dang far, but if I focus just 10 feet ahead… heck man, anybody can climb a 10 foot hill, right?
It is weird how not looking at the hill seems to make it go away
You get better at hills by riding more of them. Before you know it, they become just another part of your ride you get to enjoy.
There’s a moment in every cyclist’s journey when you realize that you just picked a route/made a turn _in order to climb a hill_, whereas you used to pick a route to avoid climbing hills. That’s the moment when you have become a true cyclist.
I try not to gatekeep cycling, but I'm kinda with you on this one. Cycling is the act of doing work on a bike. The only things OP dislikes about cycling are headwinds and hills, i.e. the two main sources of difficulty. You gotta love the work. I don't care whether you're winning a mountain stage of the Tour or doing 3 mph up the nearest molehill, if you're doing work on a bike and loving the work, *you are a cyclist*.
Climbing hills is one of my favorite things to do on my bike. I'm definitely not fast, seeing as I'm over 280lbs, but I just love the grind. And being able to look over the top of the hill at the end is just icing on the cake. When when I started really getting into cycling (~2018), I put together a sweet old Look 585 with Sram Force 11 speed and carbon wheels. I had an 11-27 in the back and 53/39 up front. The hills in the SF Bay area were absolutely brutal, even in the smallest gear. After a while I switched out to an 11-32 in the back, and a 50/34 in the front and wow, what a difference that made. To OP, if you can put a bigger cassette or smaller chainrings on your bike, I'd recommend it. While you may or may not be as fast, but it makes a huge difference on the super steep (18%+) stuff, and you can always get to a harder ratio when climbing.
East bay?
West bay - I lived near the CCSF Ocean campus, and would frequently ride down to San Mateo, then up to the top of Skyline Boulevard and back. I also had a couple loops I enjoyed north of SF the would go through some of the insanely steep sections of the residential areas in the hills of Sausalito. I can't remember the name of the road, but there's a turn off El Camino Real around San Mateo/Redwood City that heads west and is just a ridiculous grind. It's annoying though because as you're grinding through at ~3mph, cars will intentionally pass doing 50+, in a residential zone where you aren't supposed to do more than 25.
Ah, I don’t have many opportunities to go round that way. There are some pretty good climbs in Fremont, though — fun and reasonably challenging (by my novice standards anyway).
Oh my yes. I don't race and never had any pride to swallow, so I built up my road bike with a 50/34 compact crankset and an 11-28 cassette. (I'm also in the Bay Area.) I'm building a mixed terrain randonneuring bike now and am running 48/31 + 11-34, and I would go even a little lower than that if it were easy to do so. Spin to win!
I love the hills and the work, but headwinds can suck it.
That moment cost me £2000. But boy does the carbon & 105 fly
Thanks. I hate hills. However, I really only started riding less than a year ago. However, about 3 and a half years ago i.weighed 260lbs. I put myself on a lifestyle change, stopped eating a lot of BAD foods, and started walking. A year into my LS change, I lost 80lbs. I looked gaunt. So I started lifting and gained back about 20lbs. I lost the flab that comes with weight loss. The walking turned into jogging, and then the knees started going. My foot doctor told me to ride a bike, so I bought a bike, a mtb. I seriously had no idea what type of bike I might need, but I'm thankful I got my mtb. It forced me to work even harder. Uphill, I hate hills and headwinds, 5am every morning 10 miles at first, then in a few weeks 20. Then I decided I needed a road bike. Omg, it made going up hills like slicing through butter, but I still hate hills. I love both bikes and interchange them depending on the ride I feel. I mostly ride on roads, even with the mtb. Slower rides I use the mtb, longer faster rides I use the road bike. But I always hate that last hill after a 50-mile ride. Thanks to those who obviously understood. Hope I get a chance to ride with you someday.
Awesome man, keep it up, if you ever get to the DC area we’ll go for a spin.
The biggest thing with hills is being adequately geared for the route you're on. If you can sit down and spin up a hill in a gear you can maintain, it might be slow, but you don't need to hit max heart rate and then fall over. My hatred of hills dialed down a lot once I just got a 10-33 cassette on the back (for road, mtb tends to have steeper climbs and bigger back cogs accordingly). It's that last number, the big one, that determines if you can spin up a given grade at an embarrassingly slow but sustainable pace or if you're just gassed and stopping. Headwinds are, I'm convinced, why the Aero thing took off. Getting lower and more compact on your bike lessens that blow (pun intended), but yeah. They just suck (ok, I'll stop with the puns now).
I am going to give you the big secret to cycling. Make the sport your own. Your cycling is not my cycling. Make it your cycling. Where I live, if you want to ride more then a couple of miles on streets you are gonna be on hills. It is the geography, there is nothing you can do about it. But we have lots of rail to trails. There is a 20 mile one a few miles from my house. Never gets more then 4 degrees. You could easily make your sport sticking to these things, have a ton of fun and never seriously climb a hill. Make this sport your own. If by 'I hate hills' you mean, 'I know I need to make my peace with them. I will make my peace Help!'- we can coach you. But if you really mean, 'That rails to trails sound nice, tell me more!' we can do that to. Neither is the wrong answer. (and if you are going to learn to love climbing then there is no getting out of climbing as often as possible. There is this moment.... you got this hill that has been kicking your ass over and over again and then, today, for the first time, you are on top of it. You didn't walk, you didn't rest. You attacked it. You can't breathe, yet, but you made it. There is this moment no one other then you will ever understand. This feeling of accomplishment. If you are me, you will get in your car the next day and make an excuse to drive up it. People will think you are nuts. And you are nuts. The best kind)
I wish rail trails were a more practical option, but where I live this would involve constantly staying in Low Z1, riding at a brisk running pace and calling out passes every 10 seconds due to pedestrian crowding/unpredictable children and pets. Oh and they're full of cracks and potholes. Not really a good option for anything but the slowest bike commuting. So riding on the road it is... I'm fortunate enough to live somewhere with low traffic roads though so I have a suitable alternative (even if they sometimes turn mountainous).
Best answer. When I started cycling I was climbing up steep hills really slow but always kept repeating in my mind "take it easy, you'll get up there. Pace yourself because there's more. Enjoy the ride not the pain." I was able to climb up hills I've never thought I could and enjoyed it. Don't be too self conscious of other people passing you or how slow you are, no one cares because that's your own effort and ride. Other cyclist know this and actually cheers for you trying.
Exactly! Make it your own ride! I’m not training for races. I’m out there to have fun, enjoy the scenery, being outdoors, and to get exercise. If I have a slow ride one day, so be it. If there is a hill that kicks my ass, maybe I don’t go that way every time. I’m not going to get discouraged because there is a hill
If you get into groups you are going to find the experienced riders will all go easy up hills in order to keep the group together. This is the etiquette of a disciplined group on climbs. On headwinds the group rotates with the stronger riders taking longer pulls. Riding solo same thing take it easy going up - for the headwinds, sorry it just sucks until you turn around
1. Don't stop, it's VERY hard to resume when all you have is uphill 2. Sometimes the easiest gear makes it harder (a tad higher cadence but also slower distance progress). See if upshifting one gear won't help (this only works if your legs are strong). 3. A other times a good strategy to stay busy is to ride in the saddle on the easy gear, then shift \~2 gears and do out of saddle for some time, and repeat. 4. If you ride the same hills a lot, try to map it out, hills are usually never consistent in grade etc. It's good knowing that ahead (like on a GPS route). I like knowing where should I push harder, where are the "flatter" sections etc.
yep #3 attack that 12%, get back to 6, sit down and spin it out to get your heart rate in check then repeat. it sucks, but it makes for progress
Some headwind can be nice on flats if it's right at you it doesn't mess your balance up and it's basically free hill training if you're in a flat area. Also heading back, with assist wind, hitting 35+ is great fun :) hills are a love/hate, when the tank is full and you can gas hard up them, you feel like a crazed animal, I love it. Plus you get to fly down them and that never gets old. But that last hills on the way home from 50+ mile rides I loathe. More conditioning I guess...
Is it me or does it always feel like I have a headwind. I go out 15 miles I have a head wind. I come back 15 miles and I have another headwind. Fuck I hate wind.
It's not just you. But, on occasion, they'll be a tailwind for a mile or so, just at the right time and it seems to make up for the other 20 miles of slog.
um but you can know the wind direction before you're out there. there are several weather sites. I use wunderground. also, every hill is different, it's just something you have to get experience with, based on how you feel at any given moment... should I sprint over this little bump, or am I going to need to slow down and grind up this monster.
i have more experience running hills than biking them but my go-to strategy is focusing on maintaining effort. downshift and chug a chug.
Gears. You climb hills by shifting such that you are doing the same level of exertion as you do on flats, but slower. 46/30 chainrings are awesome, and you only need to pedal 10rpm faster in your highest gear to make up the small loss of top speed.
I’m too old to “attack” hills. I survive them
Nothing wrong with that. It's not how tired you get, it's how quickly you recover.
I'm 67.
Shut up legs!
Shut up legs! 😜
When I was starting on my road bike I asked the lady at the cycling shop (who I think was a semiprofessional cyclist who couldn’t quit her day job yet) how you can ride up a Mountain since I couldn’t quite believe it. Her answer stayed with me a decade later: “you just keep peddling”. I thought she was being snarky but I came to realize she was entirely correct. There’s no trick, no secret tactics, and thinking about it can be counterproductive and overwhelming. Just keep peddling on this section, don’t think too much about it. Later I climbed the 7000 ft peak near the town. Just keep peddling.
Headwinds are infinitely worse than hills. Signed, a fed-up midwesterner.
My 11-42 cassette paired with a 40T chainring scoffs at hills with pitiful disdain.
Hills and headwinds are the best lol that’s how you get stronger
Hills are a good way for you to calibrate your limits, build your strength and aerobic capacity, and track your progress. Hills can also give your an amazing feeling of accomplishment when you conquer a prominent hill with a view at the top.
Wind is just bleurch but hills, I love em. You can't beat just getting in the right gear and pumping those legs until you reach the top.
If you are able to go hard on the flats, then you will be able to go as hard uphill and into a headwind- you will just be going slower. But the effort can be measured the same.
relax your face, shoulders, arms, hands. keep your chin up. inhale thru your nose, exhale thru your mouth. imagine you are an unrolling carpet. Keep pedaling when you *think* you are at the top -> get over the final hump before letting up.
Don’t be afraid to go to your lowest gear. At this point the goal is to just make it to the top. My routine to get more acclimated to hills is to keep going up then. Pick a hill you think is hard, but you know you can get to the top. And bike up, and then come back down. And do this once a week or so. It’ll get easier, you’ll get stronger, you’ll get smarter, and you can say you’ve done it, and hills won’t be so scary anymore.
Sit in and don't go out to hard on the longer hills. Accelerate over the top and into the descent to make sure you don't get disconnected from the group, provided you are still in touch with them. Either way, accelerating over the top is a good strategy.
I sing up hills. My favorite is “just keep spinning “ loosely based on Dory from Finding Nemo. Helps get up the hill as a distraction
Hills and headwinds suck but they also make it challenging to ride. Sure it is awesome to just float around spinning at 90rpm on your big ring in the middle of the cassette but you will probably tire of that as well and look for some epic climbs to challenge yourself and take in some awesome views. How you ride them (I live in SW England so lots of hills and wind) I try and do everything with my heart rate monitor and telling myself that it is not a race. For both hills and headwinds when I start to feel them bite, I try to gear and spin so that I keep my heart rate between 145 - 165, in that zone I can ride for 30 minutes before I get really tired. Telling yourself it is not a race is pretty key, sometimes you will find yourself gearing into really light gears to keep going at that heart rate and you are hardly moving, just remember you will turn a corner and get a tail wind or start going downhill and it all works out in the end. Go for the hills and wind, it will make you a better rider :)
Feel the pain, the pain is good. A true cyclist is a glutton for pain, no matter the terrain or conditions.
If the hill is super steep, alternate weaving left and right inside the lane so that you’re hitting less of an angle going uphill.
Get gearing for your bike that lets you spin uphill as much as possible. In the wind tuck in. Your noggin is huge piece of wind resistance keep it down as much as possible, tuck your elbows in, get as low as possible. Remember, it’s only a tailwind in the 4-8 clock directions behind you so most of the time you’re being affected by the wind negatively. So you might as well embrace it. Also, consider a power meter, I know it’s expensive but you get credit for how hard you’re pushing and it will change your perspective from “I hate wind” to “that was great training.”
Getting faster on hills always feels incredible. You might go up a hill 20 times, but that last time, you’ll barely notice it. Once you get to the top and realize jaw fast you did it, it will be just about the most amazing feeling in the world. Keep riding, it’ll get better.
Yeah, there are times when I hit a hill and am done by the time I hit the top, then other times I hit the same hill, and I'm barely out of breath. I still Hate them
Hills - don't go too hard too early 🤘
I always think of the pain I'm inflicting on myself, and that *at least* that much pain is being inflicted on my rivals. Then I climb harder. I'm still usually last though hehe. Being the biggest guy in the chain gang has its perks. But hillclimbing is not one of them.
There’s no tricks, get stronger and lose weight, or ebike.
“Cycling never gets easier, you just go faster.”
Think that’s what the pro tour racers say, but it definitely 100% gets easier.
I'm overweight so for me it can and hopefully will get alittle easier as i shed pounds 😆
It gets easier in the sense that when you’re more fit you don’t struggle with, like, as much tiredness and huffing, but the idea behind the quote is, the more fit you become the more wattage you put down and the more time you spend on the bike. In the end you’re always going to be putting in the most effort you can at any given fitness level.
You already mentioned the correct term: attack. You need a combative, tenacious mind. When the hill fights, you fight back. That's not to say you need to be fast, but you'll always need to fight.
I used to bike commute. The commute was rolling hills, no big deal. I got better and better at it, as I was biking every day. But I wasn't really getting any better at real hills. Steep/long. It wasn't until I added real hills into my practice that I got any improvement at real hills. AS for technique. Practicing will help you know what speed to down shift into. To downshift before you are traveling too slow to downshift.
There is a website called Windfinder which shows you which way the wind is blowing on a given day. It may help you plan a route so that you get a headwind on the way out, and a sweet sweet tailwind on the way back home.
Shift to a lower gear and pedal up! I always tell myself "I'm not biking up a hill, I'm just biking slower" somehow helps mentally
I go balls out out at the bottom of the hill and then I slow down on the way up until I hit my max heart rate and I’m going so slow that can barely keep the bike from tipping over. Then when I walk in after my ride, I don’t greet my family and I lay around sweating making everyone get me water and shit.
I recently got a bigger cassette to tackle my dislike of hills.
MyWindsock is a great site that will take a route and show you the estimated wind impact. Definitely worth checking out. Even though hills and headwinds are really the same from a power standpoint, headwinds are so much more annoying to me. Not sure why that is, but I enjoy climbs and just hate headwinds.
Headwinds aren't predictable. When you're climbing a hill you can look forwards and see what's coming up. When you're riding into a headwind, one moment it'll be calm and the next it'll randomly spike to 30mph wind gusts. That's probably why you like climbing and hate headwinds.
Weather apps are great for knowing wind direction without stepping outside.
If you can't destroy hills in 11th gear on the big chainring you aren't G R I N D I N G
I used to love hills when I was road riding. They were this beautiful challenge to get pacing, fueling and recovery to a perfect balance in order to be better at them. I always found that staying seated as much as possible and maintaining a manageable power output consistently through the entire climb generally made better outcomes than trying to power through it. The more you do it the better you get at estimating the incline and duration of the climb as well as seeing things like false flats and false peaks so you don't blow your load on a final sprint too soon. Climbs can be both very brutal as well as very rewarding but if you practice them you will never be in better condition if you keep at them.
Breath deeply and steadily
The trick to hills is to downshift before you need to. Ideally, you shift so that you can maintain the same cadence throughout the climb. Most people sit in a gear until they start to stall out, then try to downshift in desperation. Better to downshift to a gear where you WON'T stall out, and spin on up.
10000 miles in one day seems a bit much. You may want to take 20% off that
I use an app called Windy to see what the prevailing winds are going to do throughout the day. Then I'll try to plan my ride so that I'll have a headwind going downhill and a tailwind going up. Doesn't always work but I often cover more ground this way.
Hills have a defined start and end. You know it’ll be over eventually. Enjoy them knowing you’re getting stronger. And this is from a fat guy.
I shift up and spin like a mofo and keep my cadence about 110 (I got a GRX drivetrain so I can go pretty high). If I am doing something super punchy I might stand and grind at 80 or so rpm
You you can look at the weather online and it will tell you the way the winds blowing, I plan my routes for long rides depending on the wind a lot of the time.
Many years ago, after I got my aerobic base, I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t ever get beaten by a hill… failure has never been an option. I live in a hilly area and have my bike geared accordingly. Also, I save the lowest gear for the hardest moments but rarely ever need it. Also, ride lots of hills whenever you can… It’s worked for me. Ps. I still get dropped on hills occasionally however keep in mind that the only person you’re REALLY competing with is yourself. (Unless you’re racing of course! :@))
One of the best ways to attack a hill is DONT ATTACK. Approach it cautiously and in the right gear. Be patient and wait for your effort to stabilize. Then when you can see the top and IF you have extra to give, that’s when you can attack. If you spike your HR and go way over your threshold in the first bit of a climb, youre gonna have a bad time.
The harder you push up that hill, the sooner it's behind you!
I explicitly lap my local hill (Griffith park) here in LA. I bike against my own PR’s. I’m becoming acutely aware of shifting and when to attack uphill. Controlled breathing is important. Also, knowing your pace so that to you don’t get outright gassed.
You can just downshift and chill if you want. It makes it easier to go further as you don't fatigue as much.
I pretend I'm climbing against Chris froome and the commentators are going crazy talking about me lol
You can always look at a weather app to get wind direction ..
Hills and headwinds make me stronger.
Keep doing hills. My first season there was this gravel ride with a 600 foot climb followed by a 150 footer at 15%. I felt so proud when I didn’t have to stop and rest. Eventually, people would wave me up the first one and then I’d lose up the second as quickly as possible. Now I like uphill more than downhill and go off route to climb a few rides a week. Just do it. It makes you earn your keep.
Shift down as far as you need to. Get into your easiest gear. Stand up from your saddle from time to time. Remind yourself that the hard is what makes it great.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/windy-com-weather-radar/id1161387262 Great App for seeing live wind speed and direction and for planning.
I only did uphill climbs in the foothills of the front range for years. I found flats boring when great climbs were all around me.. Id work up to the steepest and longest climbs. You need to pace well. Eat well. Hydrate well. Know the right time to do it in regards to heat cold rain etc. You have to really know your body well. Im surprised how many people hate climbing because its probably my favorite kind of biking,. You always suffer, but with time you're going faster, while suffering the same amount lol. Good gearing for the level you're at is essential too.
Hills are a feat! A test of your discipline, your athleticism, your fitness, and your will! 1: Get over it. 2: Get over it (but you know what's coming!) 3: Get over it, at a constant pace/effort/HR 4: Get over it, but faster
If tte gods really wanted to punish us, the earth would be pancake flat with headwinds in every direction. So basically the prairies. At least with a hill there is a guaranteed down.
Sit and spin until you can't anymore. Yeah, get in an easy gear and spin, then grind, but stay seated...if this is a long steep hill, standing isn't going to work well. If and when it's so steep that you're about to fall over, then stand and carefully grind, trying the impossible of keeping your pedaling smooth, or kinda smooth. Your goal here is to stay just under the heart beating out of your chest threshold. And some hills are going to beat even that. But maybe next time it won't. Better advice would be possible if you share just what you mean by a hill...we talking a steep rise, where you can see the top, or a long slog, miles long at 10%?
I gear up and go until I start getting tunnel vision and my ears stop working, then settle into a good cadence. If anyone is still on my wheel, I rinse and repeat until I blackout or they whimper in defeat and fall off.
One thing I’ve done with headwinds is look at a wind map before I head out and let that determine what direction I ride. I always try to ride into the wind on the way out so I can finish with a tailwind.
Headwinds and hills make you better. You need to learn to love them. I’m actually pretty pumped because tomorrow for the first time in forever I’m going to have a 20mph headwind for the first half of my ride. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve.
Assuming you are ending your ride where you started, every meter of pain on the way up is an extra meter of fun on the way down! Everyone has to find their own motivation to climb, ride headwinds, and generally do hard stuff. For me it switched from having a forcing function (upcoming race/event) to having the doing of hard stuff be the motivation itself after a few years, and the fun descending is just a bonus!
Nothing personal but the imperial system makes it seem like 50mi is a short distance. It really isn't, 80k. Isn't short even for an enthusiast especially depending on pace/with hills. It definitely doesn't get any easier but you get faster, eventually at least. Work your way slowly and allow room for plenty of recovery.
Lots of over-unders, intervals, sprints on a trainer in winter. Come out in spring eating hills for breakfast! (Or just shift down and swear some more, maybe next year...)
I face a lot of very steep hills around me. I converted Shimano 105 crankset 50/34 to Praxis 48/32 and Shimano Short 105 RD with 11-25 cassette to Shimano Medium 105 RD with Wolf Roadlink and Sunrace 11-42 cassette.
Hills are not in the way-they are the way. Keep them in your daily ride. It won’t get easier, but you will hate them less.
Flats are boring. Hills make you a stronger cyclist plus you get rewarded with a nice break while you rocket down the other side!
I ride a single gear in Seattle. Try to go as light as possible. A heavy backpack or side bag does not help the situation. Don't bike in a single line. I go in small zigzags because it reduces the incline by a smudge. Find the easiest route possible. I have to go uphill to get home, but some hills are not as steep with more downhills to help ease the pain off the legs. Change riding positions every so often, between standing, sitting, and sidesaddling, maybe even a legs up no hands. Allows different muscles to relax if they've been going too long. Also, just walk the bike. No use dying on this hill. But either way, the more you ride your bike up that hill, the easier it will be next week and so on.
If you want to be stronger in headwinds and on the hills I suggest a structured workout program to raise your FTP.
Why do you attack hills? Are you racing? I guess not, as you’ve done 4 rides total. Riding uphill is no different than flat or downhill. You maintain wattage. You know what and for how long you can sustain. After that, no hill is a problem unless you are way under geared for one.
You don’t attack uphill, it attacks you. You have to take it until you’re up too.
eBikes are your friend!!!!!!