I was talking to a colleague who is regularly defeated by Headington Hill in Oxford. Can't say I blame her. Headington is a bit of a monster of a hill, especially if you are caught at the traffic lights at the bottom. A hill start with no momentum behind you is knee creakingly hard. I don't profess to be an expert in this area - everyone attacks hills differently, but there are some useful tips to be had if you are finding hills hard.
Let's start with the easy stuff - your technique. It's really tempting to go up a hill in as high a gear as you can. I have admit being guilty, but those in the know tell us that it's much better to go up a hill in a low gear and simply spin your pedals. You'll get to the top slower, but you'll be in better condition once you get there.
At a lower gear, you are far less likely to get to the stage where you simply can't go on. There's nothing worse than getting halfway up a hill, then having to give up - bad for any cyclist's fragile ego.
Another way to improve your technique is using the one, two, three method. If you emphasise the one', you will get a much more efficient way of cycling with each leg only working hard once every six pedals. Having a rhythm really helps take your mind of the fact that you're putting in a lot of hard work.
There are some hills you just won't be able to do straight away. Sometimes you need to know a hill to be able to get up it. There's nothing worse than giving it your all to get to the top, only to discover another uphill section round the corner.
Once you know a hill, mind games can be useful. If you haven't been able to do the hill previously, set yourself small targets to get further than you did previously. The sense of achievement once you manage to do this is often all you need to spur you on to do the rest of the hill. It's also a good time to remember how good cycling is for you and how it's adding years to your life expectancy (even if it doesn't feel like it half way up a hill!).
With better technique and a bit of mind over matter, hills should be less of a problem. Equipment can also help a little. Anything which attaches your feet to you pedals means that you get a lot more power for you pedal. Instead of only pushing down on the pedals, you will also be pulling them up.
There's a choice of toe clips or clip less pedals (to which you can attach cycling shoes). I was extremely sceptical about toe clips initially. I was convinced I wouldn't be able to get my toes out of the clip in time and would be performing a comedy topple every time I stopped at the lights. Half clips came to my rescue - easy to slip in and out of, but still getting you that extra bit of power from your pedal.
I suppose there are also electric bikes for those who really can't face the hills, but to me, that just sounds like cheating. A combination of technique, positive mental attitude and equipment should mean that you can tackle any hill Oxfordshire geology cares to throw at you. And if the worst comes to the worst and you really don't think you can carry on, just think about the downhill on the other side!
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