# I never realized how hard hills are.



## dandar (Mar 31, 2012)

I bought my 2011 Lime/black GT GTR Series 4 today and took it out on the road for an 11 mile trip. Had to walk 4 times today. Even hills I thought were going to be easy were kicking my butt. My tracks said I wasn't moving for 5 out of the hour fifteen minutes it took. I never did, though. When I wasn't riding it, I walked with it. 

Got home a few hours ago and am starting to feel my legs now. I'm 5'10 190 and about 35 pounds overweight. Hopefully commuting with it will make the difference. My first road bike and my first bike in 18 years. Fun, fun, fun!


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

There's a simple cure for that.... keep riding hills.


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## bonknkrash (Jun 17, 2011)

I started riding last year, I am 5'7" and weighed in at about 180. So, I can relate. There is a short steep hill out of my neighborhood area. Its only about 1/8mile or less, but I can hit 40mph on the way down. 

It took me 3 seperate attempts before I could climb that hill on the way home without having to stop and walk it.

The good news is the more you ride, the easier hills get; and the more you ride, the more weight you drop, the more weight you drop the easier hills get.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

tlg said:


> There's a simple cure for that.... keep riding hills.



Absolutely.


On a route I take to work, there is five miles of various size hills one after another. The first two weeks were torture but I kept the notion in the back of of my head that each time I do the route I will get stronger. What used to take an hour and ten minutes (For the whole route/15 miles) now takes me 45 minutes   !


And rule #10 really applies to doing hills: 

_*It never gets easier, you just go faster.*_ Climbing is hard. It stays hard. To put it another way, per Greg Henderson: “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.


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## slow.climber (Nov 25, 2010)

Playing around with this handy on line calculator that calculates Power based on Speed

it looks like 15 MPH on the flat requires almost exactly the same power as 3 MPH on a 8% hill.


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## dandar (Mar 31, 2012)

bonknkrash said:


> The good news is the more you ride, the easier hills get; and the more you ride, the more weight you drop, the more weight you drop the easier hills get.


Love it. I tracked my route with mytracks, I'll be doing this route as often as I can and track my progress. I'll also be doing a 10 mile commute to work and back. That one should be interesting. I'm thinking on my way back I'll do a 2 mile detour to go around a mile long uphill climb. Maybe in a year if I can do all the other hills I'll attempt that one.

I should also get some clipless pedals and shoes. I did running shoes in clips and wasn't a big fan of the system, though these shoes were good for walking the bike up a hill


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

If in two weeks or so you're still having to walk parts of hills, you can probably put a smaller chain ring on your crank. That'll make a fair difference.

Your fitness is going to improve pretty dramatically for the first couple weeks of regular riding, so I wouldn't start throwing money at the problem too soon.


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## mtnbikerfred (Jan 2, 2008)

Rule's V & Ten. Don't avoid the hills. Attack them and cuss at them until you defeat them utterly. Then, go buy yourself a beer. You will have earned it


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

dandar said:


> Hopefully commuting with it will make the difference.


Of my several commuting routes, one incorporates a section of hills from a training ride I call "The Elevator". Goes up and down, up and down across the whole chain of hills along the southern border of the city.

I try to hit it going to work on Mondays with full panniers and again on Wednesdays unladen.


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## brucew (Jun 3, 2006)

AndrwSwitch said:


> If in two weeks or so you're still having to walk parts of hills, you can probably put a smaller chain ring on your crank. That'll make a fair difference.
> 
> Your fitness is going to improve pretty dramatically for the first couple weeks of regular riding, so I wouldn't start throwing money at the problem too soon.


Age is a factor too. For those of us in our 50s, it takes considerably longer, with more hill repeats, than it does for those of you in your 20s and 30s.

Then again, most of us in our 50s already have learned the lesson of perseverance.


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## mac4095 (Mar 29, 2012)

I hate hills. It's on my list of things to work on soon. Going to ride with a buddy tomorrow, when I asked about hills he just laughed...


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## Ibashii (Oct 23, 2002)

AndrwSwitch said:


> If in two weeks or so you're still having to walk parts of hills, you can probably put a smaller chain ring on your crank. That'll make a fair difference.
> 
> *Your fitness is going to improve pretty dramatically for the first couple weeks of regular riding, so I wouldn't start throwing money at the problem too soon.*


This. The good news about being new to riding and a little out of shape is that, if you stick with it for just a little while, the fitness curve is VERY satisfying.

Maybe I need to start a new sport to relive that glorious feeling of moving from beginner to average...


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## InvisibleRider (Nov 17, 2011)

It happened to me twice during my rise but I take it slow and steady. The hills are tough


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

Ibashii said:


> This. The good news about being new to riding and a little out of shape is that, if you stick with it for just a little while, the fitness curve is VERY satisfying.
> 
> Maybe I need to start a new sport to relive that glorious feeling of moving from beginner to average...


I'm planning to try track this season. The stated reason is that with races on week nights, it will conflict a lot less with the rest of my life.

But there's a real reason too.


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## wwells (Apr 13, 2012)

Hills? I'm just happy my 20 minute ride on a slight rise was only 17.5 minutes today. Time and conditioning will help over time, I'm sure of it. It surely feels better than parking in the recliner and thinking about riding.


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## Erion929 (Jun 10, 2010)

When all you've done is drive your car, you forget how devastating to the lungs/heart/legs hills can be on a bicycle....even the mild grades. You just have to stay with it, improve each ride, and soon you're moving on to bigger hills. I look at hills as the fun, intriguing part of my ride...flats are boring.


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## JayTee (Feb 3, 2004)

Hills are very mental. Can you allow yourself to slow to a crawl without getting off the bike? On a supersteep above Boulder I rode (yes, rode) at 1.8 mph. I couldn't catch a guy ahead of me who was walking. But dammit I wanted to keep pedaling. And you know what? I kept getting faster. Stronger. Walking never gets you that. 

If there's truly no physical way to keep the bike moving forward and pedaling, then you need to evaluate whether your gearing is good for where you live


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## dandar (Mar 31, 2012)

It took a week but I can now ride it. Took everything I have but I did it.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

JayTee said:


> Hills are very mental. Can you allow yourself to slow to a crawl without getting off the bike? On a supersteep above Boulder I rode (yes, rode) at 1.8 mph. I couldn't catch a guy ahead of me who was walking. But dammit I wanted to keep pedaling. And you know what? I kept getting faster. Stronger. Walking never gets you that.
> 
> If there's truly no physical way to keep the bike moving forward and pedaling, then you need to evaluate whether your gearing is good for where you live


Wow :eek6: !!

I'll call you Miss Perseverance  ! 


Were you on a triple? Or a standard double?


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## JayTee (Feb 3, 2004)

cda 455 said:


> Wow :eek6: !!
> 
> I'll call you Miss Perseverance  !
> 
> ...


A triple. And i claim no pride in this story, but I do think there's value in "too proud to walk" if we can mentally allow ourselves to slow so much.


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## Ibashii (Oct 23, 2002)

JayTee said:


> Hills are very mental. Can you allow yourself to slow to a crawl without getting off the bike? On a supersteep above Boulder I rode (yes, rode) at 1.8 mph. I couldn't catch a guy ahead of me who was walking. But dammit I wanted to keep pedaling. And you know what? I kept getting faster. Stronger. Walking never gets you that.
> 
> If there's truly no physical way to keep the bike moving forward and pedaling, then you need to evaluate whether your gearing is good for where you live


LOL...reminds me of a moment in a cyclosport event last season when, on a really long and steep climb, most of the riders around me were walking their bikes. I was too stubborn for that...but a couple of them pulled away from me.

ouch.


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## MySpokeIsABroke (Sep 24, 2011)

I am in the same boat. Probably 45 lb over weight. There is no flat ground where I live. Even the long flats are not,there is slope and it matters. Last Saturday I took on the big one, it's about 280 feet in about 1/4 mile, but part of it is steep. The crews and teams that come up here from the Central Valley/city must relish it as a warm up on their 30 and 50 mile into the Sierra rides. All I know is that I was dead at the top and had to walk around to keep from simultaneously coiling up like a spring and foaming spit froth at the mouth.

But I felt great blasting back down and all the next day. Yeah, I never realized how easy a car makes going up a hill. It's insane. Waiting for the break of day to get at it again.


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## bikin_pat (Apr 16, 2012)

dandar said:


> I bought my 2011 Lime/black GT GTR Series 4 today and took it out on the road for an 11 mile trip. Had to walk 4 times today. Even hills I thought were going to be easy were kicking my butt. My tracks said I wasn't moving for 5 out of the hour fifteen minutes it took. I never did, though. When I wasn't riding it, I walked with it.
> 
> Got home a few hours ago and am starting to feel my legs now. I'm 5'10 190 and about 35 pounds overweight. Hopefully commuting with it will make the difference. My first road bike and my first bike in 18 years. Fun, fun, fun!


After awhile they do get fun. :thumbsup:


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

bikin_pat said:


> After awhile they do get fun. :thumbsup:


True.

Especially when you take the same hill(s) week after week and you start seeing and feeling the difference of your efforts. You see yourself recovering faster between hills, feeling the sustained effort while climbing a long hill, etc.


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## dexetr30 (May 6, 2010)

At one time, I hated hills. Now I can't get enough. I'm slow but I never walk and I never turn around because of one. 

One of the most difficult things for me on hills was learning how to pace myself. Listening to your body and knowing when to slow down a bit is very important.

Keep riding the hills. You'll get better.


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## GRAVELBIKE (Sep 16, 2011)

It's just like the t-shirt says:

Hills hurt, couches kill.


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## Lastplayboy (Apr 17, 2012)

ouch!


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

I'm very light. I love hills.


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## tystevens (Jul 10, 2008)

True, there is no substitute for just doing it and getting in better shape. 

That said, you can take a realistic look at how long it will take you to get in shape, whether there are steeper hills to climb, etc, and evaluate whether a gearing change is the right way to go. I geared down my cassette to a 12-27, because I knew it was going to be a while until I'd be able to push the 24 up any of the longer climbs I wanted to do, and there are always enough steep climbs around here in Utah that I can't imagine ever outgrowing the 27 cog. It was worth the $40 or so to me.

Keep it up!


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

dexetr30 said:


> At one time, I hated hills. Now I can't get enough. I'm slow but I never walk and I never turn around because of one.
> 
> One of the most difficult things for me on hills was learning how to pace myself. Listening to your body and knowing when to slow down a bit is very important.
> 
> Keep riding the hills. You'll get better.



Two things that really helped me on hills, especially long ones:

1) Reverse breathing: Slow forced exhale; passive inhale.

2) Kind of a yoga meditation: Start with your head and slowly work down; trying to relax all parts of your body except legs. The index and thumb are wrapped around the handlebars but relaxed. All energy is focused on the legs.


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## Samadhi (Nov 1, 2011)

dandar said:


> I bought my 2011 Lime/black GT GTR Series 4 today and took it out on the road for an 11 mile trip. Had to walk 4 times today. Even hills I thought were going to be easy were kicking my butt. My tracks said I wasn't moving for 5 out of the hour fifteen minutes it took. I never did, though. When I wasn't riding it, I walked with it.
> 
> Got home a few hours ago and am starting to feel my legs now. I'm 5'10 190 and about 35 pounds overweight. Hopefully commuting with it will make the difference. My first road bike and my first bike in 18 years. Fun, fun, fun!


It doesn't get easier. You just get faster.


BTW, how do you like your GT? I have the Series 2 GTR and love it!


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## pmpski_1 (Oct 7, 2009)

As I was at the bottom of my least favorite hill today, a kid in a brand new pickup almost hit me, and I yelled a few not so nice things at him. All the way up the hill I kept thinking that the next car coming up behind me was going to be that kid trying to run me off the road. Today was my best time ever for getting up that hill.


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## SFTifoso (Aug 17, 2011)

I'm 5'11" 200 lbs, and on hills I just keep focus, and I tell myself "keep spinning" (the pedals) over and over again. Every week I can go a little bit faster and finish stronger. I'm also losing about 1 lbs per week, so weight is paramount. So burn that reserve energy you carry around your waist! Great for when you're starving, not so great for cycling.


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## dandar (Mar 31, 2012)

Samadhi said:


> BTW, how do you like your GT? I have the Series 2 GTR and love it!


I like it allot. It feels like it just wants to go. I need to ride it more often though. Only have 40 miles on it in two weeks.


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## MudSpec (Apr 4, 2012)

In my short time of road biking (I started a couple of months ago) I have found that while I mildly dislike hills, I hate headwind...I am loving riding though so bring it all on.


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## mtnbikerfred (Jan 2, 2008)

Two things every cyclist knows: 

1) The world is not flat. It's mostly uphill.... In both directions....

2) headwinds suck! At about 10mph, the air has a density roughly equal to bricks being thrown at you...

V & Dime.


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