Andy Hampsten was once asked what was the best way to maximize climbing speed, spin low gears or grind big gears. His answer: spin big gears. My reality: grind low gears. My main functions on hilly group rides are (1) giving everyone else nice breaks at the tops of hills waiting for me and (2) making everyone else feel better about themselves ("At least I don't climb as slow as
that guy . . . .").
As a point of reference, compared to me,
genejockey is a spindly-legged climbing fart. Gravity is very much not my friend going uphill.