I think that it's all about experience, and reasonably low gearing. I have a good idea of the pace/effort I can maintain on hills of different grades and distances. My 34 front / 32 rear lets me use moderate pedal pressure on fairly steep hills, and a less extreme effort on the really steep ones. Staying seated with moderate pedal pressure lets me climb for a longer time, as long as the hill isn't too steep for my seating cadences.
So hills don't worry me anymore.
"Defeat the hill"
I'm not sure what your goal is. Are you trying to enjoy a hilly ride more, or wanting to increase your climbing speed and power? (For some riders, hills intimidate them, and they obsess about the upcoming climb for miles before reaching it. So I could see that they feel the hill is trying to defeat them.)
For the fastest times on a climb, it's usually good strategy to go harder on the steepest parts. That's where you save the most seconds.
Last edited by rm -rf; 06-21-20 at 06:52 PM.