Advice for going uphill on my new recumbent

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Any good advice on how to conquer hills on a recumbent? I'm in decent shape but am about 250 lbs. I just went half-way around Lake Tahoe and had to walk my bike about 1.5 miles total.:)

Same way I would do it on any other bike. Keep the bike in a gear low enough that you can push a high(-er than normal) cadence and spin away at it.

But I have a feeling there's something that's preventing you from doing that here, but what?

And of course dropping the weight helps.

Thanks, Julian. I know that I have work ahead of me. I'm finding that the recumbent uses a new set of muscles than I'm used to. Guess I was hoping for some kind of magic uphill pill.



Same way I would do it on any other bike. Keep the bike in a gear low enough that you can push a high(-er than normal) cadence and spin away at it.

But I have a feeling there's something that's preventing you from doing that here, but what?

And of course dropping the weight helps.

Any good advice on how to conquer hills on a recumbent? I'm in decent shape but am about 250 lbs. I just went half-way around Lake Tahoe and had to walk my bike about 1.5 miles total.:)I agree about low gear/spinning.
Practice helps, like doing hill repeats.

One thing to watch out for is don't pull too much on the pedals. I climbed a big hill once a couple of years ago and it was so steep I had to leg press with one leg while simultaneously yanking with the other. I strained the anterior tibialis muscle on my left shin (the muscle you use to flex your foot). It led to one of those naggy little injuries and hasn't fully cleared up after more than two years.:(

You might get more advice on the recumbent sub-forum here, or at bentrideronline.com

Thanks for the advice and the other forums. By default, I guess, I have figured out that it really helps to shift to an easier gear early and to be patient. Also, I found that, because I was trying too hard to conquer the hill, I was hyperventalating and thus was out of breath way early.

I agree about low gear/spinning.
Practice helps, like doing hill repeats.

One thing to watch out for is don't pull too much on the pedals. I climbed a big hill once a couple of years ago and it was so steep I had to leg press with one leg while simultaneously yanking with the other. I strained the anterior tibialis muscle on my left shin (the muscle you use to flex your foot). It led to one of those naggy little injuries and hasn't fully cleared up after more than two years.:(

You might get more advice on the recumbent sub-forum here, or at bentrideronline.com