when i go riding on bainbridge island, i love the hills. they're rolling, sparsely driven on, and rarely contain traffic lights. i start fast, and if i feel like my spin is about to get out of contol, a few quick skips and my cadence is reduced. and there's no need to come to a complete stop.

city hills, of course, are quite different. rarely can i use the side-to-side carving technique, and often the hills are too long to go at a walking pace.

i agree: plan ahead. know the traffic patterns of the hill area, the length of the traffic lights, and watch for hidden driveways/street entrances!

i need to skid on some of the hills in seattle. they're just too long and steep. it will slow you down.

learnt to skid/skip with both feet forward. for a given distance, you'll theoretically be able to skip twice as much. and if you know that there's a traffic light at the bottom, try to control your velocity so that you'll hit it when it's green. sometimes this is not possible, so if you're going to run that red make sure you can see (and avoid) any crossing cars.

skip as much as you can.

prepare for the unexpected. recently, a driver attemped to make a u-turn (from the opposite direction into my lane) on my downhill morning commute. she wasn't able to make the turn was perpendicular to traffic as i was coming towards her. not something i planned, but i needed to do something to avoid slamming into her.

if you ride with clips, tighten your straps. if you ride clipless, replace your cleats every couple of months. worn cleats will pull out.

and, finally, think about how you would crash your bike as safely as possible. walk down the hill nand look at the objects that you can use to accomplish this.

these work for me riding brakeless in seattle. i use a brake sometimes, if my legs are tired or it's wet (often in the winter, then).