"Walking" the bike up a hill...

Last month my wife and I went over to Montery (she did window shopping while I rode my bicycle).  A lot of hills over there...very steep.  I live in the Central Valley with very little hills (98% of the time my rides have no hills at all).  Just wondering if some of you could give me some tips on how to "walk" the bike up a hill.  I know I put it into low gear...lift my butt off of the seat...and try and use my hands in tandem with my legs.  Any other thoughts??  If the hill is so steep do you have to get off the bike and walk beside it till you can ride?  Also the hill zaps my energy like nothing else...Thoughts.  Brian  PS  Below is the bike I ride...not for competition but for enjoyment...
 

Hello Brian,


Go for the granny gear, which it sounds like you are already doing.  That's the first step.
Secondly start into that gear sooner.  Don't wait until you get to the point where you have to shift into it.
Third don't try to maintain the same level of exertion.  That's a leg killer.  Take it easy, you don't have to power up the hills.
Fourth, practice, practice, practice.  The local bike shop guys and racers all say the same thing, to get good at hills, you have to climb hills.

I just went to look for the magazine but I can't find it.  There are a bunch of great article on active.com I like using their site they always have articles by pros and coaches etc.  You can get some good info there.

As for the sit or stand here is one opinion I found:

Sit or stand?

While you dont use different muscles to climb hills, you do use them in a slightly different position, which strains them in different ways.

Climbing in the seat allows a consistent, steady tempo on long climbs while the standing position is meant for high-intensity, short-duration attacks and jumps or accelerations. Usually, bigger riders do better sitting, while lightweight riders can stand for longer periods of time.

Seated climbing enables you to use more muscles in the leg group, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus, calf muscles and the anterior tibialis (as you "ankle" through the pedal stroke), according to Porter.

Biomechanically, standing is much less efficient, Porter said. This can only be maintained for a little while before you need to rest/recover and get back into a rhythm before you resume your pursuit.

The best option is a modification of the two where you accelerate while standing for short periods and then sit to recover and keep from blowing up.

Television doesnt do justice to the steep grades of the grand tours — the screen just cant capture the 25 percent angle or the endless road climbing to a distant ski station. Big or small, sitting or standing, steady or attacking, the riders power-to-weight ratio is there for everyone to see on the long climbs.

Remember that as you watch — your agony on the local climb is factored exactly the same way.

Scott

I cannot imagine enjoying going up long steep hills on that bike. Alot of your ability to climb well has a lot to do with power to weight ratio, also, the "Rolling Weight" of your bike (or how much it weighs) can play a big part as well... I am guessing your bike pictured there weighs roughly 25-27 pounds, which is pretty have... So the guys you see flying up the hills are strong, but also have bikes that weigh 15-17 pounds and are all carbon fiber, not aluminum... The only true way to get good on hills is to really just practice on them and get comfortable. If a hill is too steep for you, there is no harm in dismounting and walking to the top... At my last Ironman event in Austin aka "Hill Country", there was a sharp turn that led directly into a VERY steep hill and you could not carry ANY momentum into it, I saw 4 people fall over because they could not pedal up the hill... The smart ones who knew they could'nt make, dismounted and walked up it, no harm done... I am sure it beats having cuts and bruises and a wounded ego! Take care broand keep after it...