Strava can be wonderful in telling you how you are progressing or it can confirm just how low your effort is compared to others....I am in the 2nd camp.

I am wondering the best way to tackle getting better at hills - the hills around here are short and not very steep, or a bit steep and really short...
I put the bikes in the truck today and we headed up to a closed road hill to practice. (i know I should have ridden but its 30kms each way and a bit nervous on the road atm)
Its only 3.5% average and about 3 kms long - - did 3 repeats with as small as break in between as possible - so total riding was only 16.5 kms.
My 'best' efforts are a good 6.5 minutes slower than others on strava.



At the moment I put the bike in the easiest gear right at the bottom and try and be as consistent as possible in cadence over the length of the hill , but am wondering if should I start in a harder gear and only change to an easier one once I cannot go any further? Would that be a better way of developing some power? If I do that and run out of legs, should I turn around and go back and start again or should I go into an easier gear to the end?
I need to add that I cannot for the life of me stand up and pedal so have to sit for the hills - doesn't matter how steep or how long - just have to stay sitting..... has been a problem when riding on unfamiliar hills on longer rides
I need to get much much better - I have a date with Alpe D'Huez in 2013 - looks like June at this stage...


Not expecting miracles but just want to make sure I am doing the right thing at the moment. If I cannot manage a decent ride on Gyndier, I will suck at ADH....

thanks in advance fiona