I like the pedal til I run out of gears then coast plan, myself. On the descents I'm willing to have anything to do with speed on anyway! There are descents where I coast and grip my brakes like my life depends on it -- I'll need to stop and rest so my hands get a break when I get on a really long descent sometimes!

(Do you know how HARD it can be to keep your speed under 10mph on a downhill? Yes, there are runs I do NOT want to do at 30+. Then there are runs _DH_ does not want me to do at 30+ -- that's the rest of them!!!)

I've been curious, reading this thread, about the definition of "slowly spinning up a hill" -- I know I'm slow, but this year I feel like I'm flying up at 6-8 mph on hills that last year I plodded up at about 3-5 mph -- and felt like I was doing pretty well just to make the climb!

Personally, I don't mind being passed on a hill or flat -- sooner or later, I'll catch up, or at least reach the destination!

Karen in Boise