do you want to know a secret?

[Shadow]

Chapeau, gavroche!

I agree with M.R. above, once a certain level of fitness has been reached, hills are fun. I used to hate hills, now I enjoy them. They may still 'beat' me but I go back, and back again, until conquered! Just a different way of looking at them in the mind's eye.

Different hills require different approaches; some require sit-in-the-saddle grinds, some require out-of-the-saddle peddle dancing, and some a combination of the 2; ultimately, what is best is what works for you.

 

[fossyant]

Steep stuff you need to be out of the saddle is you don't have a low enough gear to maintain a reasonable cadence sat down.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Steep stuff you need to be out of the saddle is you don't have a low enough gear to maintain a reasonable cadence sat down.

Absolutely, as I've found to be the case FossyAnt. It actually helps when I do sit down again but it's the total opposite of what I initially thought.

 

[jdtate101]

I have always dreaded going up those hills ( as only some of you do on here!) so today I set off with a very definite objective: to conquer one hill i couldn't do before and carry on with a few more. In other words, i set out to do hills.
So what so good about that you might say? well, before, i was alright at the bottom but slowly ground to walking pace at the top or stop all together.
Not today!
I attacked each hill with a higher gear to get some momentum, then stood on the pedals and finally down the gears as it was getting harder.
The secret? keep pushing hard on those pedals, keep a good rhymn and get plenty of air in your lungs.
Also look down just in front of you as looking too far ahead will appear as if you are not moving.
I only did 19 miles today and my average was 12.5mph with quite a few hills so i am well chuffed.
There is still lots of life left in this soon to be 61 years old!

I know what you mean. I have a regular hill that I use to gauge my progress. It's just an average 5%, but kicks to 10% at the end. First few times I had to get off, but now I can finish it in one go, and it's getting easier each time. It's nice when you can see (and feel) the progress happen, gives you that little spur to go for it just a bit more.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Congratulations, gavroche!

I also have a secret to divulge: I'm moving house to get closer to my favourite cycling hills.

Although I've been cycling all my life, I never got into it as much as when I moved to Melbourne 2 years 10 months ago. I'd stopped riding for a few years, and was in rotten shape, so even a 40km ride on the flat was about my limit. I had to gradually work up to longer and hillier rides, and now I love the hills.

Several months ago, I began planning to move again when my current rental lease expires in mid-November. I've specifically targetted an area of the Melbourne metropolitan area that is as close to the Dandenong Ranges and Kinglake as possible, while still being within a manageable commute (approx. 30km) from work in Melbourne's CBD. My current location is on the coast of Port Philip Bay, and a ride to the Dandenongs is currently about 35km, just to get to the foot of the mountains, so a Dandenongs ride tends to be a bit lengthy. Ditto Kinglake; my one and only ride to Kinglake and back was 175km round trip - fun but I could have done without the lengthy ride through suburbia just to get there.

I'm looking forward to riding up and down more hills, while not having to ride quite so far just to get to them.