Not an expert here, but a beginner who has finally begun to figure out a bit of the hill thang.

Some tips that were given to me that I noticed really helped.

Of course, the shifting. Always shift before you start mashing your pedals. Once you get into your lowest possible gear, good luck.

Don't dismount on a hill. Just... keep... going. It sucks, but getting back onto your bike and clipped in on a steep sucks much more (especially if there are cars). I talk to myself all the time telling myself I can do this, just get there, don't dismount. My goal on any given strenuous hill is just to NOT DISMOUNT. I don't care about speed or whathaveyou, I just won't let myself dismount (if possible, of course).

For longer hills, set yourself small goals. I fixate on an object ahead (say, a speed limit sign or tree) and tell myself I need to make it there. Then I rinse and repeat until I'm at the top.

Try to stay in the saddle as long as possible. When you're standing you've got the weight of your body to help you with those pedals, but it will burn your energy at a higher rate. In other words, It'll give you a nice boost but after a minute or two you will burn out, especially if you're not used to standing. Of course, on short steep hills sometimes it's worth it to just stand and get up it as quick as possible (these type of hills are the ones I usually stand for... get as much speed going into it and then stand for a few pedals to get to the top)

If the hill is really long and sustained, something I've noticed that helps a bit when I'm at my limit (thinking about stopping) is to stand for a few strokes. Not enough to kill myself, but enough to use some different muscles. THen sit back down and continue. There is one hill around here that I have to do that several times on, and once you do the up/down thing once or twice it becomes a bit less awkward. Doing this changing of positions seems to refresh my muscles by giving them a bit of a reprieve.

Of course, when it all comes down to it, it's just practice and figuring out what works for yourself. What I've found DOESN'T work for me is walking up a hill. Between the embaressment and the uncomfortableness of walking in my cleats, and the fact that it doesn't rest my muscles at all, I'd just as soon stop and let my legs rest than push my bike up a hill.

K.