Originally Posted by
BigUgly
...My question is: Which will drain your energy quicker? A flat ride where you are continuosly pedaling to keep going or a longer hillier ride where you get to rest sometimes on the descents and other areas of the ride?
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