Originally Posted by
kleinboogie
I'm big and I do better descending and on flats. I consider uphills payback to gravity for the help on the other side. I just try to stay near my climbing power and not blow-up. Worst situation for me is burning too much ascending and having to coast or under-power on the descent and flats. GL
I don't agree with the philosophy of going harder on the downhills. As your speed increases, the power required to go faster increases exponentially. Mainly due to drag. To increase from 20 to 25 mph, there is something like a 75% increase in the energy required to achieve that additional 5 mph.
"At 20 mph, four-fifths of your total power is already spent overcoming air resistance. To go 25% faster, you need to increase your total power by 83%." --cycling mathmatics
It's just not worth it, I'd rather expend the energy when my bike is going slow. (Obviously this doesn't apply to short TTs)