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06-30-02, 12:42 PM
Did a long solo ride this morning (4 hrs) in the hills and thought about posting this more as a question when I returned. As I rode though, the answer presented itself. First the question: I wondered why it helped to have someone like a team mate set the pace up long climbs. The effect of the draft is pretty much zero and it isn't like they're pulling you. I thought about the 89 Tour when Delgado had Rondon setting a blistering pace up to Alpe d'Huez (he eventually yelled at him to slow down!) or Ruttiman pacing Hinault in 85. I remembered Lemond saying that he saw Fignon in trouble a bunch of times, but didn't have anyone available to set a hard pace. But if you can't ride at the hard pace yourself, what's the point in having someone else do it - i.e. you can be dropped by a team mate too! And then, whoosh! A guy passed and dropped me about 100 feet short of the top of the hill I was climbing. I dug deep and clawed my way back before the descent. He tried hard to drop me over the next 10 km, but I stayed with him (didn't really feel like a wheel sucker because I'd already been out for 2.5 hours and we were in the hills). And that's when I realized, I was capable of climbing faster than I had been, I just hadn't had someone "setting a blistering pace". If this was a team mate, I could have him set the hardest pace that I could handle and try to burn off the other guys. Of course if I was baked, it really wouldn't make a difference. So.... I guess having a pacesetter is good if you're riding agressively and trying to drop other people, or just not riding as hard as you could (funny thing, I was riding with a hrm and it showed me pretty much redlining on all the climbs).