Originally Posted by
zoste
For me there is no question: I "burn out" much more quickly on the rolling hills. Last year I did back to back centuries (MS City to Shore and Seagull) on flat ground without any problems, but I had a much harder time completing Quad County metric and the Livestrong Philly in the hills of Montgomery County, PA. I never seemed to recover as much energy on the descents as I used climbing.
Since moving, I've also discovered that there is big difference between a constant long climb and a series of rollers...the rollers take much more out of me.
YMMV
I have been wanting to do the Quad County Metric but just can't seem to fit it into my schedule(it's 3 hours away from me and I have 3 kids that are involved in spring sports). I grew up in those sections of Montgomery County, PA where the Livestrong ride goes through and I know what you mean. I did the Univest Cyclosportif(60K) last fall and my legs were fried at the end from the hills but I had a lot of fun with it because I treated it like a race because we were being timed. The best part was I passed a bunch of skinny guys the last mile to the finish line.