Originally Posted by
duc_181
I'm inclined to agree with you, but how do you explain the faster times in Strava?
I think it's a pretty handy tool - hills that I've ridden many times with the date, elapsed time and average HR. E.g. the day after a hard 60 miler, I went 20 seconds faster on a 5 minute local climb (>5% faster), with an avg HR that's 10 bpm lower than my previous best (5% lower). I'm assuming, after a week of hard riding, I'd be cooked and wouldn't set
PR's.
Just find it interesting and wondering if it's common among riders.
I've had good results on back to back rides in the past. I have also observed higher HRs for the same power after a few days off the bike. If you have a few days off and then ride two days in a row I would expect the HR on the second day to be lower. I don't know why but I assume the stroke volume of your heart goes up for some reason (cardiac output = stroke volume x rate).
If you're seeing 5% power jumps it also sounds like you are on an upward slope of increasing fitness. Those jumps become harder to obtain as the years go by.