Please remember when your intensity changes, so does everyone else's in the paceline. In other words, if you are leading the paceline and starting to climb, you are NOT the only one who is struggling to maintain the same intensity as on the flats -- all those people behind you are struggling too! Believe me, they are just HAPPY that they are not the one in the front at that exact moment! They will thank you later when you get to pull behind them!

And YES, do NOT pull out on a hill or right before climbing. Not only will you have a hard time getting back in the paceline, you will throw-off the entire momentum of the paceline, possibly causing a complete breakdown or even a crash because EVERYONE behind you is affected by your actions and struggling to keep the paceline going. A sudden break of momentum can destroy the entire line. On very steep climbs, it has been my experience that the paceline breaks up anyway, just because the intensity is too difficult to maintain.