Here be hills

If there's one thing that really jumps out at when you start riding in Atlanta it's that we've got a lot of hills.  In a car it's easy to ignore the rising of the falling of the land.  On a bike every hill becomes a challenge to be conquered.

 

So how do you handle a hill?  Thankfully most bikes today have a wide enough gear range to get you up and over the steepest hills but you've got to prepare yourself mentally and physically.  I'm not ashamed to admit that on my very first commute to work I had to get off and push my bike up a hill.  But the more I rode the stronger my legs grew and the less daunting the hill became.  Instead of an insurmountable obstacle it became a nuisance.  What I discovered was the best way prepare yourself for climbing hills is to climb a lot of hills.