Here are 3 tips I have learned (I'm not very good at any of them yet!)

1. point your toes down, and let the weight of the leg sort of "fall" down on the downstroke (from Jobob's DH)

2. place the hands out on the hoods for better stability (my LBS guy told me this) When I'm going up a hill in the saddle, I usually have my hands a few inches apart on either side of the stem, not on the hoods, and I was leaving them there when I stood - which is not so stable!

3. (this is what Dogmamma said) - position your glutes directly over the leg that is on the downstroke so the motion is straight down from hip to knee to pedal, then just a slight shift over to the other side for same thing - the bike stays as vertical as possible, but the cyclist moves just enought to get maximum power. (a cycling coach pal of SadieKate's explained this to me just last week.) I watch strong climbers go past me on hills all the time, and this is definitely what they are doing.

So now for my question: Now that I see these tips all in one place, it seems like maybe #1 is a technique for "resting" and breaking up the drudgery and pain of climbing in the saddle, as compared to #3, which is more a power and strength approach up the hill. Is that right? Hmm.

I'm doing a hill rde a little later this morning, and I'm going to practice...