Originally Posted by
StephenH
Side note on technique: I was on a charity ride a while back, and was going up a hill at 11-12 mph. There was a fit young man on a CF bike riding out of the saddle, and I actually managed to pass him. When we crested the hill, he passed me up, and I didn't see him again. I think he was pedaling at too fast of a cadence, and also had a lot of bike-flop-side-to-side going on. He could probably have done better just pedaling from the saddle.
He was probably maintaining a relatively constant power so 250W on a climb may be say 10mph but that same 250W on the flat may be 22mph. That versus what most people do which is 350W on the climb then have to recover on the top and drop to 200W. These numbers are just for demonstration purposes, yours may vary.
Similar thing happened to me on a recent climb where I tried to keep at or slightly above FTP on climbs and I could hear someone catching me from behind. When I hit the top I felt great and dropped to just under FTP and had a corresponding speed increase. A mile later I look back and I see this little tiny speck on the road I'm guessing was the other guy gasping for air.
It's my experience, that if I stand and don't increase my power, that my HR usually goes down, unless I'm standing because I'm overgeared. That said, I still usually prefer to climb seated unless I need the extra power. I usually use it like an afterburner.
+1