Originally Posted by cubewheels

You got it. The gradient will give you a "pull" and your setup will affect how that pull will increase or decrease your riding comfort.

If I'm just going to have 1 hour ride doing loops in the hills, I'm going to tilt my saddle down at home before I leave. For >2 hour rides with plenty of flats, I'll keep the saddle level.

Tilted down saddle can be uncomfortable on long descents obviously. One way I deal with it, is stand over the down pedal but without changing my arm position so my butt is still over the saddle and still hunched down in an aero position. The position relieves pressure on the hands and butt and is a very comfortable position to descend.

This is one extreme example of a bike setup for Hill Climb Championship, note the maximum forward position and saddle tilted down. I suspect the event will be involving some long very steep climbs that's why the saddle is tilted that far down.