How to Cycle Uphill?

Climbing hills on a bicycle isn’t everyone’s idea of fun… Yet, if you live in a hilly area or you’re traveling through hills, why deny yourself the pleasure of continuing to ride regularly just because of those steeper hills? Climbing steep hills on a cycle requires knowing a few tips about increasing your stamina, positioning yourself correctly on the cycle, and changing those gears. So hop back on your bike with this advice and find yourself a few steep hills to practice on until it feels much easier!

1. Accelerate on approach. Increase your speed as you approach the hill. If it’s an especially steep climb, your acceleration will be all that much more important. You need to gain and sustain the momentum to carry you instead of relying on your legs which are only the transmitters of power not producers.
2. Maintain high cadence. High cadence combined with acceleration will allow you to “breathe through” the climb instead of powering through it. This will make a major difference for you and your race results. Ask the 7 time winner of Tour de France Lance Armstrong how high cadence is working out for him.
3. Switch gears gradually from hardest to easiest. As you climb that hill it will become necessary to adjust your gears to accommodate your high cadence. Gradually switch from whatever gear you were on to a higher (easier) one and on.
4. Get off your saddle. When you feel like applying more efforts to climb, don’t make a deadly mistake of actually applying more efforts, but simply get your hips off your saddle, i.e. stand up. That will give you more power for less efforts. Pedaling in a standing position can and should be done without much sacrifice of cadence.