Originally Posted by
chasm54
I'm sure you've got stronger, but the weight is the thing. The extra power required to haul seventy pounds up a hill is huge. According to my calculator, if I put on 70lbs I'd need an extra 80 watts or so to achieve the same speed up a 6% gradient.
I have lost about 13 pounds over the last 2 months, and the other day I found myself riding comfortably in the drops...........and noticed my knees were not hitting my gut!! Today on a couple of steep hills I felt strong and confident.....now I just have to keep up the momentum and keep down the beer and ice cream consumption.
