I’ve always enjoyed running hills and with one exception I’ve always lived in states where there were ample opportunities to to roll up and down a running course. I seem to recall, many moons ago, reading in some magazine about a runner who said races are won on hills, that hills were the place to exert some effort, to pass and maybe even demoralize your competition. Well, if you’ve been reading any of the previous blogs here you know that I am not really out to win anything but still…

Yves D. emailed me recently: " Hi. I'm a recent cyclist - started it to lose weight. Lost 30 pounds, but still have a long way to go. 290, 6'3". I can ride pretty quickly on flats. I train outdoors and indoors and have made good progress in becoming a stronger rider. But HILLS!! At my weight, will I ever get faster on hills or is the physics just unassailable? I can get 16 - 18 mph flat. But a good hill will slam me back to 7 - 9 mph or worse. 

Any…