Carpinteria Triathlon... Can't get up hills!

Are you properly using your lowest gears when climbing? What gearing do you have and is it possible to get lower gearing (e.g., a bigger cassette) before your race.

Sounds like to me you went out to hard on the effort...maybe trying to keep up with your friend?

The Ruby comes with a double and sufficient gearing to get you up the hill...unfortunately for you...you answered your own question with VERY little time to fix the problem...the problem being the lack of hill interval training...you will not have time in two weeks to be a better climber...but here is what I would do...the hills are there and are not going to change gradient...so you need to change how you ride them...ride the hills at YOUR pace...not anyone elses...yes your going to lose time on the hills...but climbing at 5 or 6 mph is a heck of a lot faster than walking...be really careful not to try to spin over them with a super high cadence or you will blow up before the top...try for around 60/65 on the cadence...just a nice steady effort...keep focused and RELAX...get a drink and keep on turning the pedals over...don't look up the hill...look right in front of you and when you get to the top power on over the top and get your momentum back up and then spin at a higher cadence than you normally would at that speed for a little active recovery time for a minute or so...get back into your groove and hit the next one the same way...

When you recover from the ride and get back on the bike I would hit the hills hard...hill intervals should definately be in your training routine...damn things are everywhere around here...rollers from hell as I like to call them...I used to hate hills until I learned to ride them properly...now I hardly ever come out of the big ring for them and I have a triple...as for time it took me about 4 weeks to get it figured out and get the quads primed for them...

good luck and let us know how it goes...

I lived in Carpinteria for many years and know both hills well. First let me tell you these can be a b*stered to get up. They are not long climbs by any measure. It is the % grade that makes them difficult. I found that if you start Ortega easy at the bottom and find a rhythm you will find only the last 50-100 feet difficult (assuming you are heading to Santa Barbara - if you are taking it the other way, I am not sure what is giving you problems except maybe the last right hand corner). As for Toro Canyon, it is just a b*tch. I used to find myself out of the saddle early on the climb (a couple of turns past the intersection with Foothill Rd). I never found an easy way up and always was pulling hard on the bars until the park at the top of the climb. These type of hills require strength. You might get out of your saddle and try pushing a much bigger gear for part of workout. Do a few of these in each workout. You can do this on your trainer as well. With so little time, I think the most you could do is 2-3 of these workouts. I always knew my level of conditioning based on how fast I could climb Toro.

One other recommendation on Toro. The hill climbs in steps as you head up. Use these flatter areas to sit down and pedal in your lowest gear. If you can't do this, fight off the impulse to pick up your cadence. These are opportunities to gather yourself and recover. They are not a time to make up time.

 Now if you have the time, I would make the time to climb Gibralter Road. It is a classic, and it is very long. Many pro teams (including Lance's) used the climb to train on. I preferred the opposite approach - Old Stage to Painted Cave. Either way you can do a big loop and ride along a ridge looking down 4000 ft on Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands. On a clear day, as beautiful a ride as you'll find anywhere in the world.

Take H20's advice on Toro.  I just did the Santa Barbara tri a couple weeks ago, follows a similar route.  Toro is indeed in steps.  Work the steep, then go EASY on the little flat(ish) parts, get your breath back, then go again.  much easier to take in little bites.  We didn't do Ortega, but I know it's a hard one.

And frankly, you will not be the only one walking if in fact you end up having to.  there's no shame in it, and if you keep at it and go back next year, you will be amazed that the super hard hill turns into something that's just hard.

Good luck!