How to Bike Uphill

Biking Uphill: You can do it!

For many people, cycling seems like a great sport – you get plenty of resistance exercise, putting your leg muscles to work, without exercising your joints too hard. It also takes you into the sunshine, gets you out of the house, and puts you immediately into the fresh air. What’s not to like about cycling?

Well, that all sounds great until you reach the dread hill. You might already be imagining what it’s like to slow down your bike before an uphill trek, wondering whether or not you should tackle it. And if you don’t, you wonder, then what kind of cyclist are you, anyway?

Don’t fret – biking uphill is indeed part of the experience, and if you do it right, biking uphill will also provide some of the best growth for your physical body as well as your spirit. If cycling was simply sitting in your basement and hammering away at the wheels, it’s simply not as exciting. It’s the ups-and-downs of cycling that make cycling so thrilling and involving. So let’s look at how to tackle this problem.

First, realize that no one finds it easy to bike uphill – especially uphill.

There’s nothing wrong with being a beginning cyclist who’s not really used to this whole “biking” thing, feeling sweaty and exhausted after your first hill. Sheesh, you might even think as you look back at what you’ve accomplished: that hill really wasn’t even that big.

Have some faith. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step – or in this case, a single revolution of the pedal. Make the decision right now to start embracing these challenges, feeling the burn in your quadriceps, so that you can feel like you’ve really had a complete cycling experience.

Second, be realistic.

Though you want to have a “let’s do this!” attitude to get yourself to pedal the bike upward, you don’t want to put too much undue stress on yourself. Biking uphill is difficult, but you can make it easier with a little preparation. First, decide that you’re going to stretch before the biking session – this will loosen up the muscles and get you ready for bigger amounts of exertion.

After you’ve done this and you’re coming up fast to that hill, it’s time to take it on. But don’t try to do it all at once if you can’t. Feel free to get off the bike – often, steering it sideways will help balance so you don’t fall backwards – and simply walk the bike up the rest of the way. You don’t have to conquer the mountain on the first try, but try to keep that warrior’s spirit going and tell yourself that you live to fight another day.

Photo Credits: rkimpeljr

Originally posted 2009-03-31 05:16:27.

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