With modern gear ratios and bikes that are super-light, reaching the summit on a mountain bike has never been more attainable. You can climb just about any hill you want. Give yourself an advantage over the hill by following a few time-tested techniques, and remember, like the saying goes, "It's just a hill... get over it."

Don't attack the hill -- this is the most common mistake a cyclist can make. When you ride out hard and fast you deplete yourself before you reach the top. Known as blowing up or hitting the wall, it's when your respiration goes aerobic, your lungs can't replenish blood cells with oxygen and your muscles, including your heart, can't get what they need. You feel sick, lose power and eventually drop in your tracks. There is a point in everyone's physiology known as the aerobic threshold. This is the point where you hold a steady pace as your blood transfers oxygen at a regular rate to your muscles as they need it. If you exceed this rate you won't make it up the hill. When you feel yourself running out of breath, back off until you can maintain the pace.

Drop it into granny. Don't be afraid to use your lowest gear -- that's what its there for. Sure you will climb slow, but if you try to be macho and push high gears uphill your legs will cramp. This is inefficient and you can't keep it up. Spinning lower gears allows you to keep the bike upright while conserving wind in your lungs. When you start up the hill, keep your fingers on the shifters. Drop it into the smallest gear on the front of the bike with the chain centered on the stack of gears in the back. Pedal at a regular rate. As the hill steepens, click down one gear at a time in back. The steeper the hill, the faster you click until you're in the lowest gear while spinning at a regular rate. Keep climbing in low gear until you've reached the top.

The urge to stand up on the bike can be overwhelming. Don't do it. Sure, standing up feels good and can even make you climb faster, but you'll expending energy at twice the normal rate. Remain sitting down on the seat until you've reached the top. If your bike is equipped with handlebar extensions -- those things that make your bike look like a longhorn steer -- use them. They allow you to get your torso over the pedals better and use the weight of your body to help you push down on the pedals. If you don't have extensions, hunch over the handlebars, but don't stand up. Slide forward on the seat to get as much weight as you can above the pedals. This position can also help your front end from lifting on seriously steep climbs.

Your mind can also stop you from reaching the top. Your brain works in conjunction with your body to ensure that you stop climbing before you hurt yourself. The experience of fatigue is not completely physical. Your mind works as an emotional regulator designed to maintain your body as a whole. Muscle fatigue is also an exhaustion of your nervous system, which is regulated by what the mind considers safe. When you feel like you might explode, or you just want to stop and cry, think about anything that is a sure-fire distraction, whatever that might be. Music is a great distraction as well. And remember, your mind won't let you hurt yourself by pushing too hard. You can't distract it that much.

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