southpawboston

I've become a spinner lately, but for shorter, rolling hills, I prefer to stand and mash. But this also tires me out quickly, so I don't find it suitable for long, sustained hills. For those, I gear down and spin. Also, unless it's a really short hill (<1/4 mile), I don't approach it by trying to sprint into it. I don't feel it gains me anything, and it wastes some of the energy that's needed once I'm climbing. Rather, I try to start into the hill relaxed, then as I slow down I begin to mash, only downshifting when needed, and never dropping into the lowest gear sooner than I need it. I also try to make sure I breathe deeply. Sometimes I forget just how important that is, and I have to make a conscious effort to do it.

And gearing does play a role, depending on the nature of the ride. For shorter hill training rides (15-30 miles with 1500-3000 ft of elevation gain) I can make do on a road bike with 42/28 gearing and mash for much of the climbing. But for really long, sustained climbs on all-day rides (like D2R2), well, let's just say there's no way I could have done it without 1:1 gearing (or sub-1:11, as on my Shogun-- even then I had to do a small amount of walking). That said, I saw plenty of racer types who were mashing up 20% grades with 39/28 gearing, and some of them made it look easy.