Accept that riding uphill is more effort. Once you stop fighting it mentally, you can spend more time motivating your body and learning how to make the ride easier on you. Get excited about the challenge of making it to the top of the hill. This is something that you’re quite capable of doing and proving it to yourself can be a lot of fun in between the agony! Don’t expect to go fast. That’s unrealistic and likely to wear you out before you’ve hardly begun. Understand the benefits to your body of cycling on hilly terrain. Hilly terrain builds your fitness levels up by helping your body learn to use oxygen more efficiently. Also, the process of climbing the hill on a bike uses different muscle groups as you shift about on the bike to maintain maximum power. The climb allows you to work hard, and the descent allows you to recover, providing a perfect exercise workout per each hill. [1] X Research source
Shift your body in time with your legs. Keep your back straight and your chest open to aid good breathing. [4] X Research source
Shift the gears in anticipation of or just before each terrain gradient change, not once you’ve already reached each gradient. Keep pedaling while you change gears, so as to maintain momentum. [5] X Research source The aim is to keep your effort as constant as possible. A low gear is needed for going uphill (you’ll need the higher gear for going back down).
Start with shorter hills and gradually increase your trials to steeper ones.
Breathe regularly and deeply. Keep it slow and gradual in the early stages of the hill climb. This isn’t a race, it’s about economizing your energy usage. Select the low gear that will still allow for reasonably fast pedaling. Sit up and hold the outer edges of the handlebars. This will ensure that your breathing is made easier by an open chest. Once the hill gets much harder, and you notice you’ve no lower gears left to use, grip onto the brake hoods. Pull them to give you more power when pedaling. Only now use standing briefly if needed. At this point, you should intuitively know what feels best for you in the combination between standing and sitting in the bike, for the most economic use of your energy. Stay focused on a steady, rhythmical climb that makes the most of every turn of the wheels to pull you up this hill. This kind of slower but powerful riding takes time to master but it’s efficient and is good for longer rides, such as when traveling through hilly country for long distances. You are far less likely to tire out than using the method that requires standing to get you up the hills.
If you’re descending over uneven terrain such as on a mountain bike trail, it’s best to get out of the seat and let the bike take all the bumps for you. The steeper the descent, the further back you should place your weight while looking forwards. [8] X Research source
