There's a saying in cycling, "The hills don't lie." You can oftentimes fake it on the flats and certainly going downhill, but when the roads tilt up, the fit folks come to the front. But what many people don't know is that there are quite a few techniques you could and should be using to maximize your abilities and get you up and over the summit. And it should be noted that while these techniques can work in racing, they are really more oriented to just getting on up the road efficiently and effectively.

Shift before you need it – you may have heard this term before, but what does it actually mean? All too often riders will grind up an incline and then just when they are about to come to a complete stop, they will try and shift to an easier gear. The usually result is a terrible gnashing sound as the chain tries to find its new source over the slowly spinning gears. So what to do? Think. You can tell when you're starting to slow down, and that's usually the time to make the shift. That might be at the base of a climb, or it might be as you sense your momentum slowing. That's the time to do at least two quick shifts to an easier gear while your RPMs are still up, resulting in a smooth shift and an easier climb for you.

Putting your saddle nose where the sun doesn't shine – I use this technique many times at the bottom of a climb. I picked it up from the MTB community as they use it to get a stronger effort while keeping the rear wheel in contact with the ground. The process is pretty simple: stay seated and slide forward in the saddle till the nose of the saddle is in your groin area. No, it's not the most comfortable of places to have this and I don't recommend doing this for a long time. But what it does do is it puts you into a seated power position and lets you drive on up without the added stress and strain you get from standing up completely.

The "Miracle Shift" – I read about this years ago and the credit goes to Davis Phinney. The situation is that you're climbing up at a steady pace and you need to stand but want to just maintain your effort. SO what you do is just before standing, shift to two gears HARDER (so you don't overspin), and then smoothly go up to a standing position. You then focus your standing position on shifting your body weight back and forth to the pedal doing the work. When you get tired of this standing technique, sit down and shift back two gears EASIER and press on.

Accenting quads or hamstrings – this technique allows you to focus on one of the two major muscle groups, essentially giving the other a rest. It can also help if you're experiencing cramping in the legs, too. Pretty easy to do: think about a clock face - if you want to rest the hamstring area (the top / back of the legs), then accent the quads (the top / front of the legs) by pressing down firmly from 1 to 5 o'clock and rest on the back portion of the stroke. To rest the quads, concentrate your effort more on the 7 to 11 o'clock position and rest on the front part of the pedal stroke.

Break it up – this is more of a mental process than physical. All too often we see a climb, look up to the summit and are basically defeated by just the thought of having to make it all the way. So what you do is focus on short term goals that are achievable: a mailbox 100 yards away, a billboard sign, a funny looking tree, and so on. Before you know it, the summit will be at hand!

Power standing – this is the technique we often associate standing with, that powerful burst we see racers use to attack their rivals. But sometimes the recreational rider needs to do this as well. While the strong and smooth powerful transition is pretty much a no-brainer, it's what you do afterwards that makes the difference. Pulling up on the handlebars on the same side you're pedaling your downstroke allows you to deliver more force to the pedals, and go faster. Note this does take a lot of physical effort and can usually only be utilized for short periods of time, so pick your spots carefully.

Power seating – we've seen the epic battles between Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso as they rode away from the peloton, seated practically the entire time. But what you may not notice is their hand position. Once they are in the gearing they want, they place their hands close to the stem (the piece that attaches the handlebars to the bike), drop their elbows, and then pull backwards. What this does is essentially locks you into the bike, it's a very rigid position, and makes you feel as if you're literally one with the bike.

As you can see there are many ways to go uphill, and I hope some of these techniques will help you become a better cyclist. Are there other ways to climb? Of course, but these basic concepts should be in all cyclists' arsenal of tricks. Until the next time, ciao for now! – Cb…