Attacking Hills: What's Your Modus Operandi?
There are a lot of hills where I live. I'm a masher so I don't enjoy sittin' & spinnin' up a steep hill for hundreds of yards. If I'm piddle-fartin' around that's one thing, but sometimes I want to go a little harder.
I'm not a trained cyclist. I've never had an expert teach me about proper form or any of that. I just do what feels natural. With most sizeable hills I just build up speed, usually stand up as I begin to incline, grab the drops and keep hammering. This is followed by heavy breathing, a sweaty forehead and the need for water once I'm on top (yep, still talking about bikes).
So, how do you attack a hill? If someone pointed to a bike in your collection and you said, "Oh, that's my hill climbin' bike", what would that bike look like? Anything special? I know a lot of you have or still do race in some capacity and I'd like to tap the pool of experience.
Note: My question is not related to touring bikes, MTBs or nouveau porteurs. i.e. "Get a lower granny gear" or "How about a power assist?" are wrong answers in this context.