What's the best leaf regen brake strategy: ride the brake all the way down, or brake heavily?

What's the best strategy for maximizing regeneration on a long downhill?
In my case, on a 2011 Leaf.

I can either lightly feather the brake the entire time, trying to keep a constant speed.
Or coast to each stop sign, and brake firmly.

Of course #2 is faster. Is #1 more efficient?

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Is there any way I can tell, with LeafSpy or otherwise, then the friction brakes have come on, so I can learn to avoid that?

Don't brake firmly.

See these:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=15435&hilit=regen#p345989.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=261127#p261127

I wish I could find TickTock's video of his tool showing how much braking force was from regen vs. friction brakes.

Also note that regeneration goes down as your speed increases. As such, I try to find a slower speed (perhaps 45 MPH) which will allow the regen to hold the speed constant (unless traffic conditions would make that approach unsafe). Unfortunately, in the wintertime there is simply not enough regen available to hold the speed constant, so some braking is unavoidable.

no pat answer here.

I do hills all the time and some hills are not steep enough for me to maintain a high enough speed while others are but only for short distances.

your best bet BY FAR is to never touch the brake pedal at all. If you are in a situation of new surroundings this could be a challenge but if not; use your experience to anticipate your speeds.

I have a few mile long downhill to downtown Oly at 25 mph. I switch between coasting in drive with a few quick shifts to neutral to gain a bit of speed on the flatter sections.

This is normal. Even on very steep section of freeway like Highway 18 or 512 dropping into the Puyallup Valley, I have to do quick shots of neutral frequently to speed up a bit.

Now keep in mind; regen loses its ability to slow the car after a certain speed is reached which may require a touch of the brakes. Unlike my 2011, I cannot brake without some friction brakes on my 2013 at "any" time so the less touch, the better.

See also: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=6702&hilit=braking
"After driving a while with the audio cues, I've found that I can eliminate nearly all friction braking by slightly over braking and then very subtly easing off. If you keep static brake pressure or slowly increase pressure, the friction brakes stay engaged so I've learned to do my braking with slightly decreasing brake pressure as I approach the stop. When I do this, I can come to a complete stop with (almost) no friction brakes at all."