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Old 07-07-12 | 04:45 PM
  #18  
carpediemracing
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Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Tariffville, CT

Bikes: Tsunami road bikes, Dolan DF4 track

I'm pretty sure I've ridden those 10% grades (the trail next to the highway). I've also done the repeats in Clearwater.

The two sets of hills are a bit different, at least that's how I saw them.

10% trail hills - they're sheltered, narrow, and make you feel fast even when you're not going fast. It favors power/weight because there's no wind. If you can roll a huge gear that helps, and if you sprint up the hills you go fast. Since the hills are short it's more anaerobic than fitness and someone with a decent amount of short term power will get up them quickly.

The bridges where various riders do repeats are exposed to the wind. It's wide up there so you feel slow even if you're moving. They're much longer so you can't do a 20 second effort to get up the thing. This favors a stronger, more fit rider who can push through. If you scampered up the trail hills you'll be great for the first half of the bridge. The second half will hurt you because you'll need to sustain a pretty high output to maintain speed.

The latter favor more conditioned riders, more experienced ones.
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