Can they climb hills?
For the first 6-9 months I was slower up hills on the trike than I was on the upright. On the upright I got up hills relatively quickly before by simply standing up in the pedals and mashing down as hard as I could for as long as I could, using gravity to assist in the push downwards as much as possible. For short hills this technique does get you over the top. But you pay a price – first in exhaustion, because this is not an energy-efficient technique, and second in the extreme stress you put your knees under in the process. On the trike it’s not possible to stand up and mash your way up hills. So, you need to use the technique of spinning instead (you’ll find a brief description of spinning here). It has the two advantages of being a lot less effort than mashing ever was, and it’s hugely easier on your knees. The disadvantage is that, especially for small hills, it’ll be slower when you first try it. The more you ride the better you get – it took me about 6 months before I really sta
