Originally Posted by
Bob Dopolina
Ok. Now tell me where this 'potential energy' is stored on the climb? In my waterbottle? In the Tesla thingamgiggie I have in my seat tube? In my laterally stiff but vertically compliant frame? Where?
Oh yeah, what happened to the wind resitance theory you mentioned?
This is gibberish.
The higher in elevation you go, the more potential energy you have. This is because you can drop in elevation (i.e. come back down a hill) with no energy required on your part, and as a result you lose potential energy.
This is why it's so hard to go up hills, it requires energy - but all that energy is not lost and can be recaptured by dropping back down in elevation. The amount of energy available is based on weight and elevation difference.
It's a physics term
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_energy