I get out of the saddle and push at nearly every intersection that I had to stop at. I like to clear the intersection as quick or quicker than motor vehicles and always do. Maybe I'm not doing it right, but on hills standing seems to eat more energy than the forward momentum it produces, so I seldom do it.

So I was thinking about this thread as I was riding around town today. There were a couple of notable times I got up out of the saddle.

First a BMW 3-series pulled up alongside me then braked down to my speed and put his right turn signal on while continuing to drive directly alongside me. I stood up in order to speed up and make it obvious I was taking the right of way and he needed to get behind me.

Second a gentleman in a Saturn Ion decided to try to scare me by passing too close as I was taking the right lane (narrow lane, signed bike route) and my response was to hit his passenger's side window with an open hand. He responded by parking on the next side street, running out into my path (the middle of the right lane) and yelling "why the **** did you touch my car, *******?" while assuming a hostile posture. I stood up to get some speed and pass him in the left lane.

Occasionally I stand up when starting from a light...just depends on mood. I can still beat the motor vehicles across the intersection sitting down, just requires more shifting. I also stood up a few times to get some speed up to cross lanes to make left turns. I've found getting up out of the saddle is a good signal to others on the road that you may be speeding up.

I do it very rarely when riding on the road. I normally up the cadence to 100-110RPM and/or drop 1 gear (lower).

I guess I mean to lean forward and get my head/back flatter/lower - whether it helps or not I don't really know, but basically resting your chin on your handlebar stem - I certainly can't do that while sitting on the saddle properly.

edit: the above I never do while pedalling too hard, admittedly, it's usually just going down a big hill when I'm doing speeds of about 32 or more (very rare for me)

I stand when starting from a complete stop much of the time. Also on occasion when riding with one of my friends after 20 or so miles I may get up just to stretch a bit.

On a big hill climb I find it better to downshift, situp and even lean back a bit to shift my weight to the back wheel slightly making the front wheel dig into the road less. It seems to help me keep me from losing too much speed.

Oh and one I think I didn't see at all...

IF THERE'S A BUMP IN THE ROAD!

Goodness, if there's a bump or a uneven surface that'll vibrate my butt to pieces... I'd rather stand for a second and coast over it than ride through sitting down.

Plus it's hard to jump a bike a tiny bit when seated.

+1 When you only got one you do it all the time with out thinking about it in the least. I like it that way.

i noticed the other day that I never leave the saddle unless I'm going down hill. Usually leaning into one pedal down and the other leg resting, body catching all the wind. I love that.

Add railroad tracks to that. Standing and steady is the ticket.

I stand for road irregularities, crossing tracks and chasing down roadies :D

Only on weekends when I'm towing the kids, otherwise I would never get moving. Sometimes at stop lights I'll be standing already balancing on my pedals so I'll jsut keep standing till I'm up to 25-30km/h. ALso for any bumps in the road, which can be a lot here.