dygituljunky

I've found that it's easiest for me to forget about speed and just keep a do-able cadence and amount of pressure on the pedals. Even more, I find it good to just forget about the numbers altogether and just drive the bike (except for making sure I don't use the gear combos that make the chain not straight). (EDIT) I don't even bother counting my leg revolutions to monitor cadence, I just spin at a comfortable rate and pedal pressure.(/EDIT) I may not be moving very fast but I do keep moving.

Rather than thinking in terms of speed or the gear combination needed to get to a certain speed, I think in terms of just going as fast as I can with the power available (I'm in no danger of breaking the speed limit). My engine only has so much torque but I have a good bit of stamina.

In regards to the gear combination, just gear down to the gear necessary to go up that hill and gear up to the point that you're putting pressure on the pedals but not burning out your legs. Think about it this way: you supply the juice to the gears, the gears convert it to either high-speed/low-torque output for the downhills, low-speed/high-torque for the uphills, or something in between for flatter terrain.

I've become well accustomed to knee pain and any mashing of the pedals makes it worse. I've been quite pleasantly surprised to find out that spinning not only didn't make the knee pain worse, my knee pain is almost gone after the last intense-riding week. That's right, spinning out as many miles over the last four days as I used to mash in a month has made my knees nearly stop hurting.

Hope that helps.