When cycling in a mountainous region such as Colorado one will invariably encounter a hill, or mountain, that must be ascended. For some the experience will be one of elation at conquering an obstacle of mountainous proportions. But for most,the pain and the frustration of making it to the top will be enough to the rack the bike and to take up golf. The experience shouldn't defeat anyone, and by applying proper climbing techniques the mountain pass in front of you in the distance will become a challenge rather than an intimidation.
The simplest solution to improving your hill climbing is to incorporate hills in your rides. Obviously avoiding hills will not improve your ability to climb them. So you've decided to include some training rides that have hills various lengths and incline and you need to know how to approach, attack, and survive the first of many such inclines. There are several variables to be considered when climbing a hill during your bike ride.
The first of these variables is gearing and shifting. Do not down shift too soon as valuable momentum will be lost. When this happens a high RPM spining effect will be noted resulting in the rider to work harder to regain this lost momentum. Conversely, do not shift too late as this will result in a waste of energy by pushing too large of a gear as well as tiring the legs early with a considerable amount of the climb left to encounter. The idea with gearing and shifting is to maintain a comfortable cadence, shifting when you become uncomfortable and the RPM'S start to drop, yet before you bog down in your present gear. Greg Lemond recommends a gearing to allow for a cadence around 80 RPM upshifting as you near the top. However, Alexi Grewal prefers climbing at a lower cadence, noting the higher the cadence the more oxygen you will consume. This backed by a recent article in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" that found that maximum sustainable power to be greater at 60 RPM than at 100 RPM, and blood lactate responses to be greater at the higher RPMs. The "comfortable cadence" guideline seems to be the key here. The second variable to climbing involves the decision to climb out of the saddle or out, and the positioning for both of these techniques.
A simple rule that you might start with is that if the hill is long, climb in the saddle, and if the hill is short, stand. Often it becomes a matter of preference as well as what you as an individual feel more efficient at.
One note here is that even if the hill is along one, periodically standing is recommended to stretch the back, increase momentum, and to shift the focus from certain muscle groups allowing them to momentarily rest before continuing the climb back in the saddle.
Let's look first at climbing techniques in the saddle. For a smaller framed individual, sliding back on the saddle helps generate more force through the top of the pedal stroke, throughout the downstroke, and during the pulling of the pedal at the bottom of the stroke. The heel of the foot drops to allow for more power. The hand position can be either on the top of the brake hoods or the top of the handlebars. Keeping the hands relaxed and periodically changing them is advisable. The torso should not be crunched and the shoulders should be open to allow for the lungs and the diaphram to open as ventilation increases with intensity. A relaxed upper body is beneficial as any muscle tension increases oxygen and caloric demands. A taller person will benefit from sliding to the front of the saddle positioning their hips over the crank, giving them more leverage as the muscle force demands increase with the grade of the incline. In general climbing in the saddle requires less energy, less oxygen, and is done at a lower heartrate intensities. Yet there are times when one must stand. The need to come out of the saddle usually happens when the grade of the hill increases, certain muscles fatigue from climbing in the saddle, the climb is short, or an increase in power is needed to crest the hill or drop a fellow rider.
Coming out of the saddle should be done on the down stroke to minimize the lost of momentum and a rider can usually shift to a larger gear prior to standing. The riders weight should be over the cranks to maximize power during the pedal stroke. This means that one should not lean to far forward or place their weight on the handlebars. Keep a relaxed touch on the bars with the hands being on the brake hoods. Again keep the shoulders and the torso open to allow for maximum breathing capacity. Bouncing on the pedals is not advisable yet there will be shifting from side to side as each leg powers the pedals during the downstroke. Think in terms of running on the pedals and establish a smooth rhythm from side to side. With both forms of climbing, breathing depth and rate will increase and establishing a rhythm will help with increased oxygen demands. Often with an increase in intensity a person will almost hold their breath. Work on maintaining a rhythm with the focus on forced expiration to rid the body of CO2 and relax on the inspiration. For the most part if you relax during your breathing the body will take up it's own natural rhythm.
By practicing the following techniques the hills and mountains encountered during your rides will not get any shorter, they'll just feel that way.