What Gear do leaders ride in: lessons from biking

As I rode up and down several hills yesterday, I wrestled through a few key thoughts on shifting or stay in gear as leaders. What gear do you ride in as a leader and why?

First, an explanation on bike gears, so that my leadership points have context:

• Front gears are called chainrings (mine has 2 with 53 and 39 teeth), and the rear are called the freewheel (mine has 10 ranging from 11-29 teeth).
• That means that on it's "highest" gear ration, for each pedal stroke, my bike will move 9.5 feet and at it's "lowest", my bike will move 34.3 feet. At 90-rpm rate, I would be riding on "highest" gear at 9.5 mph and at "lowest" geat at 35 mph. At 120-rpm those speeds jump to 12.5 and 44.5 mph respectively.
• Typically, a rider would put their bike in the highest gear going up steep mountains and in the "lowest" gear going down the mountain.

Now, what does that mean for leadership.

• First, if you keep the bike in the same gear, you'll fall over. One can't climb hills in the same gear as racing downhill, and expect to ride for long.
• If you want to look like you're riding really fast and spin a lot, you'll keep it in the highest gear, but also not get very far. However, you'll look like you're going really fast. If you just want to look like you're getting somewhere, pedal fast while in the easiest gear.
• Others want to show their great strength, so they ride in the hardest gear uphill, but their strength gives out and they, either give up, or fall over. Out of pride, you can keep stay in a harder gear going uphill, and then burn yourself and others out.
• Leadership doesn't require choosing one gear and riding for as long as possible, but constantly adjusting the gears based on the slope of the journey and your (or your team's) strength.
• You can shift to an higher gear to rest, ride easier, or get up an incline. Some shift to higher gears just so they can relax and take it easy (go slower, but work less). A leader needs to discern the right gear for maximum speed and efficiency. I don't want to ride easier, I want to ride at my maximum speed whether going up or down hill. That means I must shift up to go uphill, and shift down when going downhill.
• It's better to shift to an easier gear and pedal slower to rest while riding on flat straight-aways than downhill. Usual if there's a downhill, there's an uphill ahead, and you'll need the momentum/ speed to get up the next hill. So, keep pedaling. Plus, you're maximizing each pedal stroke- meaning you're going further for each stroke than if you were on a flat ride, so enjoy the momentum and go faster.

What lessons are you learning about leadership? Love to read your thoughts.