Do you sit or stand going up hills?

[indysteel]

I have heard it both ways - "stand and climb" or sit, downshift, and try to maintain the same cadence. Can you go between the two? I am tackling some big hills today, and could use some advice. Thanks!

I mostly sit, unless I feel like standing. How's that for a rule of thumb? I usually won't stand unless it's a pretty short hill or a short steep section of a longer hill. It wears me out.

I wouldn't say that I maintain the same cadence even when I remain seated though. That would likely send my heartrate sky high. I've seen a rule of thumb that suggests spinning at about 75% your normal cadence (on flats), but even that doesn't necessarily work for me on all climbs. I found myself spinning at a slower cadence in a bigger gear this weekend. On long climbs, I'm more apt to spin at a faster cadence in a smaller gear. We don't many of those in Indiana though.