I grew up in the flatlands of Illinois and Minnesota where you really had to go out of your way to ride up a hill (and such short hills, besides). Since 1979 I've lived in western Pennsylvania. There's no such thing as flat here. You have to go out of your way to ride without a climb.

There's this myth about recumbents that they can't climb hills. I have to disagree. I think this myth comes from cyclists who've ridden diamond frame bikes for 10 years or so and jump on a recumbent and try to ride up a hill. Recumbents use your muscles differently. From everything I can gather, it takes months, if not years, to fully develop cycling muscles.

Steve Ashley (Trailman, kanbear@aol.com) attributes this wisdom to the late Mike Bryan, a strong hill climber from Lawrence Kansas:

Learn to ride hills by riding hills. Some people spend all of their time trying to avoid climbs and wonder why they can't ride them when they have to. The only way to get better is to practice.

I've had a lot more practice riding hills in the last year and a half than in the rest of my life. And it's working. If you want to bike in Western Pennsylvania, you gotta love hills. You work up one side and fly down the other. Both sides feel great, but in different ways.