Going uphill is my favorite kind of biking. Uphill, your speed is linearly proportional to your effort. On a flat road, it's proportional to the cube root of ef

Going uphill is my favorite kind of biking. Uphill, your speed is linearly proportional to your effort. On a flat road, it's proportional to the cube root of effort. So it's more motivating to work hard going uphill. A more forward posture (which you get with dropped handlebars) and clip-in pedals help.