[John Rogers]

You can simulate a hill in an area where there are none by wearing a loose fitting windbreaker (wind resistance) INTO a stout headwind and standing up in high gears to get nearly the same terrible feeling (zen?????).
A good pro shop can and should get your bike adjusted correctly and hopefully you did not buy it by straddling the top tube??!! Another item that can help are longer crank arms to help get longer levers and they can be swapped for regular ones any time.