I have climbed very few tough hills, but on the ones I climbed the best I reserved the lowest gears for when the climb got really tough, and each time I shifted down I felt relief in having another gear, which increased my mental (and physical) momentum. That is a trick I hope to remember on the tough hills in my upcoming metric.
Originally Posted by
BikeWNC
I would say your strategy is backwards. I think you should shift to an easy gear that you can spin at a good cadence very early on the hill. You'll need to work at spinning to have this technique feel right. If you can ride at 85-90 rpm at the bottom of the climb it will save your muscles for the harder effort if the hill steepens. You might also have a gear left that you can drop down to to maintain the cadence. If not, you will be no worse off than if you pushed a bigger gear at a lower cadence and dropped down as you climbed.
As you get near the top of the climb, shift to a harder gear and use those muscles you saved earlier in the climb. Proceed to pass your riding buddies and show off your climbing skills.
I think BikeWNC's technique is spot on, but I also like to add a bit of Yen's mental trick by setting my bikes up with gearing that allows me to keep a gear or two in reserve just in case I miscalculate which gear will get me up a tough hill. Another apect of the mental trickery is how strong I feel when I do not need to resort to using those extra gears.
This price of going with this strategy can be giving up the joy of having small steps between gears. This is one reason I like having a triple crank so I can have tight gearing and bailout gears.